Can You REALLY Increase Sales with Social Media?

In a word, Yes. But that’s about as simple as this faceted topic gets! You can read 100 different blogs on how to increase sales through social media, and you’ll find 100 different spins on what tactics you should be using to do so.

Hashtag! Video! Pictures! Flash sales! Contests and Giveaways! Coupons, the list goes on!

But while these are all excellent tactics, they tend to lack power when you don’t have a clear strategy and substance behind them.

So instead of rattling off yet another list, today’s blog will be about whether or not these really work and how you can make sure yours DO.

What do the numbers say?

According to DreamGrow.com, social media now has a global penetration rate of 45%. That means a whopping (almost) half the world’s population is on and using social media!

The downside of that? 80% of your competition knows this and is also representing their brand and offerings online –though only 8% of their consumers feel they’re effective in delivering excellent customer experiences. 

In my opinion, this means the defining edge isn’t necessarily all the tactics you use to sell on social media. Instead, setting yourself apart relies on the experience and value you deliver to your consumers.

It all starts with a good strategy.

As with anything else you’re doing to cultivate sales and success, you need a clear strategy to pick and employ marketing tactics that suit the desired result.

Very quickly, strategy encompasses your overarching goals or plans, while tactics are the specific action elements that will see that goal or plan come to life.

This phase of your social media strategy requires you to figure out:

1. Why you want to be on social media in the first place.
2. Who your target audience is.
3. What you plan to share.
4. Where you plan to share it.
5. When you plan to share it.

It isn’t enough to say, “I want to make more money and increase sales.”. Of course you do! But dig a little deeper.

Buffer has a pretty concise and straightforward free template you can grab and use to make sure you’re covering all your bases.

Now you’re ready to explore those tactics.

If you’ve done your strategy correctly, this step will be a breeze, so don’t skimp on that! You must understand your audience and intentions before you can pick tactics that will help you meet your goals.

For example, if you’re selling B2B products or services in marketing or finance, you aren’t likely to get as much traction with Instagram as a media production company will.

Your tactics need to match your audience and the actions you want them to take. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when picking those:

1. Go where your ideal clients are. What social media channels and features are they using? 
2. Create a fantastic content plan that delivers value more than it screams, “BUY NOW!” in every post or video. Individuals are more likely to purchase from companies who’ve made a positive impact through their content, no matter how small.
3. Make it easy for them to buy from you. Many businesses jump the gun and drum up interest with a catchy ad but aren’t prepared to handle sales when they begin closing. Don’t let your plan crash and burn before it really takes off! Make sure you have your sales tech, processes, and funnels set and tested before you start driving clients into them. 
4. Give them clear guidance on what to do at each step of their client journey. Attention spans are short, and patience is even shorter. Don’t make your prospects struggle to become clients with vague CTA’s and overwhelming options.
5. Don’t forget your follow-up! Once people purchase, you want to continue feeding and establishing the relationship. Have something in place for this to avoid making your new client feel like only a number.

With the wide variety of tactics currently in use and many more developing every day, don’t let yourself get too caught up trying to use them all. Pick a few you can do incredibly well, test them, analyze them, and make changes as needed.

Better to have a few super-powerful tactics over a ton that only do okay.

Next, you’ll create an experience your followers are willing to become customers for.

Once you defined WHO you want to reach, WHAT you want them to do, and HOW they need to do it, –in other words, you have your strategy and tactics set, it’s time to add your company’s secret sauce.

Your brand personality and experiential flavor!

This sets you apart from all the other like-services and products floating around the cyber marketplaces alongside your own.

It’s not enough to rely solely on a strategic plan. You have to make it an experience your prospects WANT to have.

If you’ve read any of my previous content, you know I’m a huge advocate of using relationship selling to take your conversion and retention to the next level. This is a natural element to incorporate into your social media marketing and outreach strategy.

One of the best ways to do this is by understanding and integrating your unique communication and relationship connection style into your content and client journey. This allows you to speak to their head AND heart to create know-like-trust, sharability, and recurrent interaction.

People LOVE to talk, give them something fantastic to talk about!

Are you unsure of your communication style in business and sales? Check out my FREE Communication Style Assessment HERE to have everything you need to make your social media interaction pop and convert better than ever!