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It’s more than obvious that social media networks hold immense power in the world of business. Customers and prospects spend a lot of their time on these platforms, socializing, commenting, liking, and sharing.
For a start, you should know that:
- Facebook shares have a huge impact on Google search rankings.
- 53% of people recommend companies and products on Twitter.
- The average user spends 89 minutes per month on Pinterest.
And did you know that 5 million images are uploaded to Instagram every day?
It’s clear that you need to make the most out of social media platforms if your goal is to generate more sales and boost revenue in your business. Take a look below at six effective strategies that will help you increase revenue through social media.
Drive Referrals to Your Website
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Referrals need to be among top priorities when building and promoting social media content.
It’s very simple – you can’t drive or track conversions with no referrals. On top of that, you need to make sure that the landing page you drive referrals to is optimized for conversion.
Here are some tips that can help you drive referral traffic:
- Include links to your products or services in your social media posts. Customers usually don’t like to browse through the entire website to find a product. Help them buy from you by adding a specific link.
- Comment on your audience’s posts and answer their questions. Engaging with your customers builds trust and shows that you care. Plus, you can always add a link or two to your comments.
- Share your content in Facebook groups, but don’t spam. If group admins allow you to sell products in their groups, then include a referral link.
- Reach out to influencers. Social media influencers can be a great source of referral traffic, just make sure to find the right ones.
Generate Leads Through Social Media
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When driving referral traffic from social media, you should focus on turning those individuals into leads instead of trying to convert them directly there. If you run a business with a typically long sales cycle, it would be especially wise to put this tip into practice.
Every collected lead from social media networks can easily go into your regular sales funnel.
And when it comes to the contact collection process, try directing social media traffic to a page that collects emails for an opt-in to your newsletter or a giveaway.
It’s worth noting that you will need an email capture tool to collect emails from social media visitors. You won’t have a hard time finding a good tool of this kind, since there are many such tools online. Setting up a basic form that feeds into your CRM pays huge dividends in the long run.
Build Relationships
Engagement is one of the most impactful marketing tactics that can get you more sales leads. When you connect the dots, it’s quite clear that social media makes it easier than ever to interface with your audience in real-time.
Once you establish a presence on various networks, you will need to connect with your current and potential consumers by getting involved in discussions that are happening online, commenting on customers’ posts, answering your audience’s questions, and so on.
You should reply to both good and bad reviews. Never ignore or try to delete someone’s review if it’s negative. Instead, ask your customers what you can do to make things better and fix the issue. It shows that you’re approachable, that you care, and that you’re a customer-centric brand.
Don’t forget to respond to messages that arrive in your inbox or Direct Messages. There are a lot of businesses that never check their social media DMs, but those who do really earn extra points with customers.
When you develop a relationship with your consumers, you will not only win their respect, but you will also better understand their needs and expectations. And critically, you will also find ways to sell your products without coming off as too pushy.
Remember: Social media networks are all about meaningful connections that lead to strong, mutually-beneficial relationships.
Give Customers a Reason to Buy
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It doesn’t matter if you are in a service-based or product-based industry, you can always boost revenue by encouraging customers to make purchases more often.
For service industries, this may include promoting add-on services, upgrades, or premium offers. On the other hand, for product industries, this often means encouraging customers to come back more often.
But how can your social media support loyalty and upselling?
Well, for a start, you can offer special deals and exclusives to your social media followers based on the level of customer engagement or the frequency of purchase.
For instance, if you are a software company, you could offer exclusive discounts to your user conference for social media followers based on the number of software licenses they are using.
On the other hand, if you are a product company, you could offer coupons for social media followers that provide a discount on their fourth or fifth purchase.
Another strategy is to get your customers to spend more on each purchase. Let’s say that your average transaction is $35 and the goal is to get your customers to spend $50 each. Try giving an exclusive deal like free shipping for purchases over $50 to social media fans and followers. Consumers are loss-averse: If you give them an opportunity to earn something like free shipping, even if they end up spending more in total, they don’t want to lose it.
Can the same approach work in service industries? You betcha. Service industries can look to promote package deals for their services that bundle offers together or reward loyalty for repeat purchases.
If you have a significant online following, you can use your social pages to drive awareness of the offers with a clear CTA.
Get Reviews
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There’s no doubt that satisfied and happy customers only bring in more happy customers. It’s a concept as old as selling, but the medium has changed.
According to the latest research from Yotpo, sharing customer reviews generated 40% higher conversion rates on Facebook, 8.4 times higher for Twitter, and 5.3 times higher for LinkedIn.
The concept of sharing good reviews is intuitive; when people hear about you, they research your reputation online, and they’re bound to end up reading customer reviews. Be sure that when someone starts looking for your company online, they like what they see.
At the same time, do not shy away from seeking feedback. Yes, the process may be a bit painful, but without reviews, your brand remains a secret you wish people wouldn’t keep.
Not sure how to go about generating reviews? Consider sending a review request link in order confirmation emails. Or, if you are new, try emailing your network and asking for a boost. After all, people love to be a part of a success story.
Educate Your Followers
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People are always on the lookout for new information. Always keep your page active by posting relevant and consistent content about your brand to educate customers and prospects.
The content you push should not be overly promotional since people are skeptical of ads. Address the struggles your prospects are facing and show how your business can add value to their lives.
Post content that improves the lives of consumers, and make sure that whatever you’re presenting is clear, informative, interesting, and easy to read.
If you manage to push valuable content on a regular basis, you will become an authority in the eyes of your followership. But to get there, you have to be authentic, your content has to be meaningful, and original.
And when promoting your content on social media pages, always ensure that it has something to do with your products or services.
For instance, if you want to let customers know of the other types of your services or products, you can feature a product or service of the week, thus promoting premium services and explaining why customers should care about them.
Final Thoughts
Social media networks are powerful tools that can help you market your brand above and beyond the tried-and-true channels of promoting your business and boost revenue.
When you use different social media platforms, you can significantly boost your sales without investing much money. But to reap maximum results, you need to be active, consistent, and authentic.
Don’t forget to measure the results, too! It’s important to measure a control group, so you can compare these metrics for social media and non-social media customers, which will help you see how social media is aiding other channels you are using.
Last but not least, we recommend exploring other online marketing channels, such as PPC or SEO, to improve your brand visibility. Get inspired by these SEO experts in San Jose, and learn how to get the best SEO agency for your business.
