Using Social Media To Increase Sales

It’s easy to get distracted by followers and retweets, all the while forgetting the true purpose of social media marketing: to convert fans, followers, and connections into loyal, paying customers.

While social media marketing is rarely about direct sales, using some simple direct marketing tactics in your social media updates can help you increase the amount of followers that start to purchase your products and services.

These five tactics might seem basic to an online marketing agency, but they’re rarely used by small businesses and emerging brands on social media. Try one – or all five – for an effective boost to your social media bottom line.

1. Include a call to action in your messages

Calls to action are the key to effective direct marketing. You’ve probably seen them in print and display advertising for years – phrases like “Call Now!” or “Click Here” that inspire readers to take action and complete a certain step.

While it’s not a good idea to overuse calls to action by using them in every social media message, including lines like “Click here to learn more” in certain Facebook status updates is a great way to convert followers into customers.

2. Use sales-driven language to inspire action

There’s more to direct sales than just the call to action. Social media is all about the here and now, which makes it an excellent marketing platform for creating a sense of urgency.

Try using action words and phrases like “now” or “for a limited time” in your status updates to encourage users to take action then and there, instead of delaying it for the future.

3. Offer exclusive discounts to your followers

Everyone likes to feel rewarded for taking part in something. Reward your fans and followers by offering exclusive discounts and special offers using your social media presence.

Discount coupons and invitations to special events are great tools for strengthening the bond that social media users have with your business.

4. Encourage your followers to share your content

Content that spread is content that sells. Encourage your followers to share your status updates and special offers with their friends and you’ll expand your sales network and give your business a much larger audience.

Remember not to be overly pushy when encouraging sharing. A short sentence encouraging users to retweet and share is excellent – a content locking system forcing them to retweet and share is not.

5. Make sure your social presence is up to date

When your social media profiles haven’t been updated in months, users quickly get the impression that your business is idle and stagnant. Keep your social profiles up to date to send a good impression to customers and to capitalise on changes in the design or marketing guidelines of certain social platforms.