5 Smart Ways to Drive Sales Through Social Media

There’s a lot more to social media than branding and engagement. Used correctly, it can also increase sales. In their 2016 marketing census, E-consulting rated the marketing channel as one of the top five for generating solid returns. It’s safe to say that social media is only getting bigger, and a few well-placed posts can do wonders for your sales.

Let’s not forget that running promotions through the channel is far more affordable than offline media. Even online advertising campaigns can add up, and they don’t allow you to see insightful responses from your audience in real-time. Below are 5 smart ways to drive sales through social media.

Work with Influencers

One report by Twitter found that nearly 40% of the platform’s users purchased a product directly from an influencer’s Tweet. In a 2017 MediaPost publication, influencer marketing was shown to deliver an ROI of 600% in some instances. If you want to increase your sales through social media, influencers are a good way to do it.

Find those that are followed and admired by your target market and get them to strategically feature your product. It can be in a photo, how-to video, or review. Getting influencers to promote unique discount codes is extremely effective as well. There are numerous influencer marketing platforms that you can leverage to find the right people.

Run Flash Sales

If there’s one thing social media users have in common, it’s a fear of missing out. Flash sales are a good way to make use of that, as you’ll be offering your products at a special price for an extremely limited amount of time. You can generate some anticipation by announcing your flash sale a few weeks prior to hosting it.

This is a good way to get your messages out and increase engagement as people will continuously check your feed, especially if you don’t announce exactly when the sale is taking place. Just make sure that your website is ready for a sudden increase in traffic. This detailed guide on flash sales has more information.

Focus on Your Audience

Today’s social media users aren’t interested in seeing any more one-way marketing efforts that are blatantly focused on selling. User-centric personalized marketing is the way forward. By making use of analytics that reveal your audience’s browsing habits and interests, you can create and post personalized and relevant content that stops them mid-scroll.

This is also an effective way to establish rapport, especially if you utilize friendly and informal language. Content that users can interact with is a good idea here. This includes polls where users can choose which products they’re most interested in. Not only does that increase engagement, but it can also provide you with some valuable information.

Offer Coupons

While traditional paper coupons might be a thing of the past for most people, digital discount codes are a hot commodity. As people seek out special offers and bargains, coupon codes have become an effective way to draw in more customers. You can entice social media users to buy your products by offering coupon codes.

The trick is to only make them available after the user has taken a certain action, such as sharing a post or following you on another platform. This way, you can also increase engagement and have your followers to do some free advertising for you at the same time.

Leverage User-Generated Content

The internet serves as the first place for customers to read more about a product before buying it. They analyze reviews to ensure that the brand and product is trustworthy. This can be a challenge for new businesses, as they haven’t yet built up a large enough presence to give potential customers the assurance they need.

This is where user-generated content comes in. You can encourage your current customers to post reviews of your product on social media, perhaps for a small incentive. Your potential customers will value those reviews as they feel a sense of honesty when they come from normal people.

A good way to do this is by encouraging users to share photos of your products, as visual content is highly effective. This increases loyalty and engagement, as well as serving as valuable promotion.

Don’t hesitate to think outside of the box and find your own ways to drive sales through social media. There’s much to be gained from a creative approach.

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