My clients regularly ask me how they can make sure that whatever time they put into creating social media content is going to result in sales, and to be honest, there isn’t a one size fits all answer to this question.
It generally depends on your product, your relationship strategy, your nurturing process, the way you communicate with your audience and also how well you know your audience. There are also external factors at play, for example the state of the economy, competitor offers, the marketing landscape etc.
Marketing is an intricate puzzle and all of the puzzle pieces need to fit in and work together to give you a specific outcome. There are a few things that you can focus on that will certainly increase the likelihood of results and outcomes when you are inviting your audience to buy from you.
In this post I’m going to share 3 ways to increase the likelihood for a positive outcome.
1) Long term nurturing
Social media is a long-term game. It takes time to build a relationship and for people to trust you enough to hand over their money, unless your product is something buyers are familiar with and it’s at a ‘no brainer’ price.
Most businesses and brands spend months, if not years, nurturing their audience. With nurturing, I mean that you build a relationship. Online relationships aren’t that different from offline relationships, where you often spend many days or weeks getting to know each other. Often you don’t see this part, but your customers will come to you when they are ready and most of the time it’s after doing a lot of research, or speaking to other people about your business to see if you’re trustworthy and the right person for the job.
An online relationship works the same. Your audience wants to get to know you and know what you do before they will purchase from you. Put the time in to get to know them and for them to get to know you.
2) Use examples/testimonials
Once you have worked with a few people, ask them for a testimonial to put up on your website but also on your social media channels.
Social proof is extremely valuable and it will help you build trust with your audience. Your customers will be looking for proof that you are who you say you are and that you do what you say you do. It’s amazing how many people let testimonials be the final decision maker, so show them how happy your customers are.
Share what you have done for and with your clients so that your audience gets a ‘behind the scenes’ to working with you.
3) Give before you ask
Coming back to point one, building relationships first is important. You wouldn’t walk up to a stranger and ask them to marry you, you’d want to get to know them first and it’s the same for you and your customers.
Give to your audience before you ask them to purchase from you. It doesn’t mean that you need to give your products or services away for free, please don’t do this.
It means that you show your knowledge, show how you can help them. You can do this in a blog, by writing about topics that your audience is interested in.
You can also share tips and tools on your social media channels. Or you can create videos that have actionable steps inside.
Giving means that you are helping your audience before they decide to work with you. It means that you give them an opportunity to sample your knowledge and help them decide whether or not they will work with you.
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