4 Tips For More Sales From Social Media

Making money directly from social media can be a headache. After all, who knew a medium where advertising is free would be so difficult? However, when you consider the sheer number of people looking to do the same thing you are, it can be tough to get ahead, which is why you might want to revamp your social strategy. Here’s how:

Learn Where Your Audience Is

A big part of selling more on social is the ability to identify where your audience is and how to grow it. This needs to be a process that can be repeated as your marketing efforts scale and you hone in on what will be the primary audience. Being great at growth will take not only exploring some demographics but how likely they’ll be to engage with you. Even if this might sound overwhelming at first, the process is much more simple and intuitive than you might imagine.

To begin, let’s take a glance at where your current audience has been and why that’s successful. For example, as noted by Pew Internet, 71 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds are on Instagram, which is having a younger audience, is also one of the better platforms for engagement. Because your company can sell on Instagram directly using the platform’s functionality, it becomes much easier to engage. Go through which demographics will work best for your brand, as this is knowledge base will help you quite a bit during expansion.

Pick Up On The Tools

Another important aspect of social media marketing is knowing how to use the right tools. As social media is largely based on practices including quantitative analysis, A/B testing, and engagement metrics, learning how to utilize these tools will be wildly beneficial in seeing the success and growth of your social efforts. From Instagram Tools to retention rates, being able to arm yourself with the right insights is key to doing better with sales.

In regards to the type of tools you should implement, there are probably some that seem relatively straightforward from your personal use. For example, according to SproutSocial, 7 out of 10 hashtags are branded, which is a great way for a company to start a conversation around their product or service. Furthermore, utilizing analytics with this can see the type of visibility the hashtag received as well as what’s effective for your community. Try to run some tests on the types of tools that might be worthwhile for you, as with the right strategy, these marketing techniques can help you gain more traction and visibility quickly.

Focus On The Story Behind The Product

When it comes to producing content for social media consistently, it’s essential to remember that everything you sell has a story, which your customers want to hear. Not only does a story empower them in their consumer decision, but additionally provides more value to a product. In fact, according to a study published by AdWeek, items with stories ranked 5 to 11 percent more valuable than those without. Why is that the case? Because stories give an attachment to a product it otherwise didn’t already have, which can be crucial to share on social.

When compiling your round of posts, ask yourself what type of story this product possess in separating itself from the competition. Is it the type of material used? Where it’s from? The process the product goes through?

These little things are what ensure trust (as well as provide bragging points to friends) which you should include on your social posts. Try to keep these concise, honing in on the golden rule if it’s something you, yourself, would genuinely read. Remember, this isn’t necessarily writing an ad or anything to the like, but rather just explaining what you find great about the product and why.

Regularly Implement A Call-To-Action

Finally, as any social media marketer will tell you, your posts should almost always include a call-to-action. According to Protocol80 adding a CTA to your Facebook page can increase click-thru rate by 285 percent, which follows a pretty similar pattern across the board. Call-to-actions are a must for any of your posts, giving you a better chance of closing the deal.

If you’re not familiar, these are the actionable solutions that brands include in their copy. For example, “swipe up to learn more” or “click the link in our bio for 25 percent off”. The goal is to create an action that’s quantifiable, giving you the metrics on what’s working with your messaging or product and what’s not. Add some variation and have fun with this, because although it’s something you should work towards with social media, it’s also the first step in the rest of your sales process, which any clicks you get a win.

What are you most excited about in selling more product via social media? Comment with your answers below!

-- ZylaCourtney - 03 Jul 2018