Generating leads, driving traffic and brand building are among the main objectives for marketers using social media in 2021 but there comes a time when you need to convert all of those extra clicks and that additional interest into a consistent stream of sales for your business.
Getting people to view your content and building an engaged, loyal audience is part of the process, but you might need to deploy a few additional tactics to push clients and customers over the line. Boosting conversions will increase sales and revenue, and deliver a better ROI, so it’s something you should be actively investing your time in.
Social media is arguably the best place to do it. With such a large catchment of potential customers, with the total addressable audience on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms totalling more than 4.3 billion – according to a recent report by DataReportal – you can engage more people and then convert them quickly using a targeted, optimised social media strategy.
Targeted landing pages
Landing pages are an often overlooked but crucial aspect of getting people to buy your products. Research by Omnisend found that such pages have the highest conversion rates and are much more effective in this regard than pop-ups. Landing pages can be designed to either generate leads or drive sales, so if you want to increase conversions, they need to include a link to a product page, checkout or shopping cart.
More than that, though, landing pages should be tailored for social media audiences. After a follower has clicked on a link in a new post or on your profile, they need to be intuitive, interactive and mobile-friendly, with copy, images and link placements that all work together to maximise conversions. A/B testing your landing pages is recommended as you can fine-tune them over time to improve results.
Calls-to-action
You can also get more people to click through to product pages by including subtle calls-to-action on your social media profiles. Bigger brands often include a tailored ‘shop’ link within Instagram bios to encourage followers to look at their latest products or services. Even small changes to profiles and the captions you include in posts can make the difference. Followers tend to check in regularly with their favourite brands, so don’t overlook the power of an up-to-date profile page.
80/20 rule
Promoting products in your posts can also work when you have built a larger audience. However, it’s best to follow a general rule where 80% of your output is ‘added value’, using social media and content marketing to inform, educate and entertain. Anything too salesy can be off-putting but sprinkling in product-based posts, discounts and special offers at the right moment can do wonders for conversions.
It is also a good idea to share content from other sites and brands now and again to highlight that you are not always inward looking and too self-promotional. You could do this when certain topics are trending, as you can retweet and share posts, and then respond to get into the conversation, which can boost click-through rates.
Be consistent with quality, too. Being too quiet can obviously push people to unfollow your brand, but so can being too loud – constantly posting hard-line promotional material is not an engaging experience for your audience. Working with a digital marketing agency can help you to execute a balanced social media strategy that both engages followers and converts them.
Visuals and hashtags
Reposting your top-performing blogs and articles on social media and using an accompanying image to make it more eye-catching will also re-engage followers. Audiences respond well to visuals on social platforms, as they enhance storytelling and are more memorable. Just be sure to be consistent with colours and branding, and remember to add a few relevant hashtags, as these will make it easier to find your content. Increasing visibility can improve conversions.
Retargeting
The majority of people do not buy something from a site when they visit it for the first time. That is why it is so important to follow up on that initial interest to spark a second journey that could end with a sale. Retargeting – the process of using ads to bring visitors back to your site – can be very effective at achieving this objective.
Data shows that retargeting ads on Facebook lead to a three-times uptick in engagement compared to traditional ads. Facebook allows you to create custom audiences for these ads based on their behaviour. For example, you could target all the followers on your Facebook or Instagram accounts, or more specifically, those who have engaged with a recent post.
You can also use retargeting on social media to engage with people who have visited your website. Depending on their activity on your pages, you can then tailor the ad to their specific interests. Retargeting can blur the lines between activity on social media and your site, and help the two to work in tandem to boost conversions.
Social listening and analytics
How do you know what your followers want if you are not keeping track of industry trends? Customers’ needs are always changing, so you should try to use software to identify the latest trending topics and hashtags on social media. TweetDeck, Twitter’s official dashboard, allows you to see what people are saying about your brand, for instance.
All of this information can be used to improve your social sales strategy. Social analytics, in general, is an activity that can really boost key metrics such as conversions. By segmenting your audience by demographic, habits, behaviours and preferences, you will be better able to nurture leads and convert them. Analytics will also enable you to link key performance indicators (KPIs) to your market objectives. Only then will you know if social media is converting enough of your followers.
Turning window shoppers who are aware of your brand but might not be ready to complete a purchase into regular, paying customers could be transformative for your business. If you want to use social media to achieve this objective, contact us today and we will take you through the services we offer.
