Digital marketing can encompass a number of marketing and advertising tactics, some more effective than others, and some, well, so effective that every business with a goal to expand and grow should use. One of these is, of course, social media management and marketing, a tactic used to fuel many important processes in a modern company – everything from customer acquisition and retention, all the way to brand reputation and recognition. But that’s just the tip of the social media iceberg.
In essence, social media is a powerful sales tool, and if you know how to approach your social media audiences and optimize your content, advertisement, and communication for their unique sensibilities, you can easily boost the conversion process. Here are the five ways to boost sales through meticulous social media management and marketing.
Know your audience and relevant platforms
When you hear the word “research”, you probably don’t get overwhelmed with energy or zeal. Still, it’s the first step towards an amazing social media strategy. To be more specific, you have to research your online audience as well as every individual platform, in order to find out where your potential customers hang out on a daily basis, and how to approach the complicated task of managing your account on each social platform. What’s more, it’s important that you research your competition as well, so that you can gain valuable insights into the things they’re doing right, the things they’re doing wrong, and how you can capitalize on that knowledge.
First, find out where your target demographic spends most of its time. Next, research the best practices for each of these platforms, when to post, how to post, how to communicate with your audience and the like. Don’t forget to research your top competitors and discover those unique customer pain-points that they haven’t been able to resolve – this is your ticket in.
Promote your business with user-generated content
Customers trust other customers more than they trust your brand. Your messaging might be on point, your brand values might be inspirational, and your social media voice might be entertaining, but that doesn’t mean much if a potential customer can’t verify your brand’s reputation and trustworthiness via user-generated content. This is why one of your priorities should be to inspire and incentivize your existing followers to post honest reviews, publish photos using your products or enjoying your services, and more. This is what build’s your brand’s social proof.
Coincidentally, this is what drives the social media sales cycle as well. Leveraging user-generated content to persuade potential customers to try your products or services themselves is a great way to acquire new customers, but that doesn’t mean that you should leave anything to chance. Instead, stay in control by sharing this content on your feeds, thanking your customers for publishing, resolving disputes and answering questions, and most importantly, turning negative reviews into success stories.
Become a source of valuable information
Social media grants you access to a global audience, and it’s an opportunity for your brand to shape the mindsets of thousands of people around the world, so don’t waste it on “salesy” content. The modern social media dweller is not scrolling to find something to spend money on, they’re instead looking for engaging stories, articles, videos, podcasts, and brands that share valuable information for free. If you want to drive sales from social media, you need to become a source of relevant information.
This is exactly how an innovative direct mail agency PostcardMania drove $72,000 in sales from LinkedIn alone, just by delivering knowledge to their followers and potential customers for free. Apply the same mindset yourself, and provide your social media followers with valuable information that they could only get for a hefty fee elsewhere, and help them better their lives. This way, you will easily build brand trust and recognition, which will boost sales as a result.
Get in touch with prominent social influencers
Word of mouth marketing is a big deal nowadays because people trust the words of their social media idols. You might be just some company trying to sell them a product or a service, but a social media influencer is selling a lifestyle, and they can persuade your potential customers that your products are an essential part of that lifestyle. Find prominent influencers, work out a sponsorship deal, and let them be your brand advocates in the social media world.
Don’t forget about paid advertising
Of course, all of this talk about various “pull” tactics shouldn’t discourage you from investing in paid advertising. When optimized for your audience with proper content and landing pages, a social media ad can help you boost conversions either by selling to the customer directly or by directing them to one of your sales agents – either way, you get the chance to close the deal fast. Most importantly, though, social media ads will put your brand in front of the right audience and increase your brand’s visibility in the cluttered social media world, so be sure to invest in ads on all relevant platforms.
Social media is one of the most lucrative marketing prospects and a sales tool like no other in the modern business world. These are the platforms where your customers hang out every single day, so use these tactics to reach them, engage with them in a meaningful way, and seal the deal.