Converting social media marketing in to sales – some quick tips

Graeme Parton +

Engaging with the world of social media can be many things to many people; it can be good fun, and it can help business owners make new connections or increase brand awareness. However, company directors have, at some point, to consider the bottom line. Are your social media leads converting in to real-world transactions leading to profits?

There are, of-course, no guarantees, but there is evidence that, so long as you stick at it, a social media presence can help increase profits. Here are some tips on building your conversions.

First, be as helpful as you can to your customers. Think about what’s valuable to your customers about doing an online transaction in particular; then, create informative blogs and social media posts accordingly. Some large stores, such as PC World, for instance, offer significant savings on some items if purchased online. Consider if there are any seasonal aspects in your product line. A firm specialising in windproof umbrellas could release a promotional YouTube clip in early autumn, for example.

Second, get as much as customer feedback as possible. This can be done through website questionnaires, as well as more informally through social media. For example, personalised gift company nameOn discovered through a site survey, and site analytics, that Safari users were not converting as frequently as those using different browsers. The problem turned out to be JavaScript related and was fixed. The business then saw an immediate increase in conversions from Safari users.

Finally, a lot can be achieved in the “offline” world, in ways which compliment your content marketing and customer engagement. Consider attending business networking events and relevant conferences, ideally pushing for a speaker slot whilst you’re about it. Lively face-to-face meetings with customers are likely to generate more visits to your website, and potentially more sales.