What is successful social media marketing?
Well, a thorough plan that guides you in everything from engaging fans, attracting users to organizing and researching, keeping in mind the ultimate goal of converting your followers into your paying customers is considered a successful SMM.
So, if you haven’t started using social media for marketing yet, then it’s time to get on board. But have you thought, why have social media suddenly become so important for businesses?
Well, because these days everyone has their hands on social media.
There are currently 2.6 billion people using social network around the globe. So to develop and maintain strong relationships with your customers and prospects, you need to be present on prominent social media.
Let’s check out some statistics that prove the importance of social selling in marketing.
- More than 5000 marketers have participated in the survey by Social Media Examiner to provide their key insights.
- According to the report, 92% of the marketers strongly agree that social media plays a key role in their marketing strategy.
- More than 85% of marketers have witnessed an increase in visibility and exposure of their businesses through social media.
- 78% of marketers have reported an increase in their traffic through social media.
Well, these statistics make it clear that social media marketing has way more potential when it comes to growing your business.
So, are you ready to give it a try?
Here are the most effective ways for driving better results with social selling:
1. Identify the Right Social Media Channel
There are so many social media platforms to select from, but which is the best suitable for social selling?
Well, it is easy to lose yourself in the process of selecting the right social platform to work on. Generally, you can select a platform based on where your target audience spends most of their time.
To find out which platforms your target audiences are most engaged on, it takes some research.
According to a study by Pew Research Center, Facebook’s user base has a significant number of people across every age group. And as of 2018, monthly active users on Facebook are nearly 2.072 billion. So considering this platform is often a good place to start for all types of brands.
Facebook is best if you want to increase brand awareness or generate leads. On the other hand, if you want to expand your network of influencers and professionals then Twitter and LinkedIn may be the best options.
Let’s take the example of Great Wine…
A wine producer from Bellevue, Great Wine, tries to educate their wine enthusiastic audiences by posting wine-drinking tips. They use Facebook as a medium to share their tips regularly and to connect with their audiences.
From the above example, we can understand that the objective of your social selling campaign will also play a key role in your selection of the right social media channel.
2. Make the Most of Live Videos
Live videos are increasingly popular among brands that wish to engage their audiences. In fact, a Livestream survey found that 80% of the audiences prefer watching live videos from a brand than reading their blogs.
Additionally, 67% of people who viewed live videos are more inclined to purchase tickets to an event after watching a live video of it or a similar event.
So if you’re going to improve your social media marketing efforts, a live video should be an important part of your marketing mix. You could live stream brand events, interviews, behind-the-scenes, etc. to increase the audience engagement ratio. Make use of video creation tools to make easier videos.
To know it in a better way,
Let’s see what Bob Heilig has to share…
Bob Heilig initially engaged his audience by talking about topics he was passionate about before he started selling anything.
This went on for six months until he finally decided to monetize his business using Kajabi, is a “knowledge commerce” platform you can use to create, customize, and sell online courses. Within his first month of launching Bob says he earned more than $200,000 in revenue. That’s the thought leadership and customer acquisition power of live video.
So, considering the power of live streaming can also prove fruitful to your business.
3. Create Your Brand’s Story
What your brand is saying about yourself and how you are saying it can have a huge impact on how people feel about your brand. Which means that effective storytelling is crucial to the success of your brand’s marketing.
Stories always help to develop an emotional connection between your brand and your target audience.
Apart from what and how you say it, the medium through which your brand is communicating your story is also important. Social media is a highly effective platform to share your brand’s stories and to connect with people.
Here, taking an example of Intel’s inspiring stories will help you get a clear idea.
Intel shares inspirational stories of the company with their audiences on Instagram. By posting stories, pictures of the company’s founders, and fun facts, the company is able to maintain the high engagement rate.
4. Leverage User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) is one of the most powerful ways to promote your products or services. People trust other people more than marketing gimmicks or the claims of brands themselves.
With UGC, your target audience will get honest feedback directly from other customers, instead of having to trust your brand’s claims. This is a form of social proof that helps position your brand as trustworthy.
User-generated content also affects the purchasing decisions of consumers. According to the Consumer Trust Report 2016 by Olapic, nearly 47% of generation Y are interested in seeing user-generated images while pre-shopping.
User-generated visuals are more trusted than other forms of content. More than 50% of respondents agree that UGC visuals are more influential and impactful than a brand’s own pictures or videos.
Hence,
Always give your users a platform through which they can brag about their purchases. Make it easy for your loyal fans and customers to share stories about why they are in love with your products or services.
The example of BMW is an ideal illustration…
This is exactly what BMW did with their customers. BMW created the hashtag #BMWRepost and invited their customers to share their stories on Instagram. The brand also reposted these customer stories on their official Instagram account.
Adopting this way of encouraging your customers can help you win their trust. You can also add some of their personal experiences and add to your social media page to make them feel special and an elite customer of your brand.
5. Use Social-Friendly Images
Nowadays, it is difficult to find any social media marketing content that doesn’t have images. According to the Social Media Marketing Industry Report 2016, 74% of marketers on social media use images in their marketing strategy.
Well, the reason for this is,
Customers are getting pickier and are rejecting the use of stock images. But how do you create new and innovative images on your own when you are not a designer? For a startup or a small business, it may not be viable to hire a designer. But there is a tool like Venngage that can help you address this problem.
Venngage is a tool you can use to create infographics and original graphics. It offers hundreds of templates to create infographics. Based on your level of expertise, you can select templates for a beginner, intermediate, or advanced level.
So, make your own infographic, image, or template and see how social-friendly images can help you grab more audience’s eye!
6. Use Instagram for Posting Ads
Instagram is one of the most widely used social platforms for social selling. There are now more than 700 million active users on the platform. With a huge and diverse online community, Instagram has become a powerful social media platform.
The engagement rate on Instagram is higher than on Twitter or Facebook. Many top brands have witnessed a per-follower Engagement rate of 4.21%. So if your brand is not using Instagram ads, you are losing out on connecting with many potential buyers.
But it’s not too late to start with Instagram ads. Make sure your ads are visually appealing and targeted at the right audience to ensure success.
Volkswagen took advantage of Instagram ads and posted multiple images of their cars that were on sale during a year-end event.
Hence, let’s give it a try to Instagram ads and popularize our product or services to the public at large on Instagram.
7. Use Relevant Hashtags!
Hashtags are a great way to improve brand visibility. But in order to find the right hashtags to use, you need to do some research to find out the most relevant and effective hashtags for your brand.
The hashtags should also be relevant to your targeted audience. The more specific the hashtag is, the more relevant your audience will be. This will lead to better visibility and higher engagement rates.
Always try to use variations of hashtags and include a generic hashtag along with a unique and specific hashtag. Once you figure out what is working for you, stick to it. And use the same amalgamation of hashtags on all social media platforms. It will be easier to identify your key supporters and to track your mentions with the help of these hashtags.
Ever wished that a trending hashtag would work out perfectly for your brand or promotion?
Let’s see how KFC used the trending hashtag for its brand.
Well, this thought helped KFC as they took the advantage of a trending hashtag called #NationalFriedChickenDay, which helped KFC gain visibility with their target audience.
Even you can take the benefits of the trending hashtags, but make sure the hashtag you’re using is relevant to your brand and which can help you attract more audience and followers.
8. Utilize the Power of Employee Advocacy
If you want to increase brand awareness across all social media platforms, employee advocacy is one of the best strategies. Your employees also have followers on their social media handles. And who better than your own employees will help you.
Ask them to share their experiences of your product on their social media handles and grab more audience’s interest.
Because in comparison to celebrities, employees are more relevant. They are also easily approachable, and more trusted sources of recommendations for your potential buyers.
According to Edelman’s Trust Barometer study, to help with their purchase decisions, buyers trust employees more than celebrities.
Reebok can be a great example.
Reebok asked their employees to share their fitness activities and their love for fitness. They combined the posts with a unique hashtag for the campaign, #FitAssCompany. Reebok encouraged its employees to post authentic images relevant to the brand on Instagram or Facebook.
9. Get Your Timing Right
The secret behind a successful social media post is to share the right post at the right time. No matter how strong your marketing campaign is, timing is a crucial factor. You might not get the desired results if you don’t publish your posts at the right times.
For a marketer, it can be really challenging to handle multiple social media platforms. So it’s important to schedule posts for your social media platforms to make this task easier. Even if you are unavailable, the scheduler will make sure to post the content at the right time when your target audience is most active.
This is where our.
The comprehensive tool gives you detailed insights into your active fans and helps you discover the best time to post. You can then schedule your posts on various social media platforms right from the SocialPilot dashboard. Better yet, the tool helps you understand how your posts are performing so you can make further improvements.
So, let’s try it today itself!
Final Thoughts
The points mentioned above are some of the most successful and effective ways to increase sales using social media. You need to make sure that your brand’s products and services are highly visible to relevant potential buyers.
To do so, use content that is engaging and compelling to win over your potential buyers.
So are you up with any strategies you’ve been practicing that you’d like to share with us? Or do you have any questions about the above-mentioned ways? Feel free to ask in the comment section below
Originally published at https://www.socialpilot.co.
