Do you know approximately the percentage of people using social networks? You would be surprised! Indeed, 75.9% of people use them, i.e., more than 3 out of 4 people. This figure underlines the importance of using social networks in its development and communication strategy. Thanks to good management of your social networks, you are sure to increase your sales considerably.
Discover our guide and the best advice to optimize them better and thus generate more sales.
Know Your Target
To start using social networks, it is, above all, essential to know your target. As in any marketing strategy, do not embark on a new project without having previously studied and analyzed your positioning and the market in which you find yourself. It is essential to know the profile of your customers (age, gender, social status, profession, lifestyle, etc.).
To help you, do not hesitate to define personas. These are fictitious portraits of ideal clients. On each persona, several essential information is indicated on the person and his behavior, such as his biography, goal, motivations, or passions. These personas allow you to understand the needs and preferences of your customers to create adapted content then and improve the user experience. Finally, the final objective is choosing the social networks corresponding to your target and personalizing your messages on these media.
Use Appropriate Social Networks.
When your target is defined, you can start thinking about the choice of your social networks. For this, several factors must be taken into account. First, your choice will depend on whether you are a BtoB company (for professionals) or BtoC (for individuals). The targets of each social network are different.
For a BtoB Company, Opt For:
LinkedIn: the social network for professionals where you can recruit and consult the profile of practically all business leaders. For your publications to gain visibility, invite employees of the company to share everything that is posted. On this social network, your customers and prospects can know the company’s news.
YouTube: the 2nd most visited site in the world in 2021. With YouTube, you can create video content such as tutorials, product presentations, advice, and many other topics. On this platform, you mainly gain notoriety, and you don’t have a direct link to buy on other social networks. By using youtube to mp3 converter you can improve your business sales.
Facebook: the most used social network in the world in 2021. Facebook is very suitable for companies with its multiple tools (advertising campaigns, exchanges with customers via a contact or Messenger button, creating a private group to federate a community). It is used by all age categories, a little less by young people. It is interesting to use it because many of your customers or prospects have a Facebook account.
Twitter: the real-time information social network. Thanks to Twitter, you can develop your notoriety, create viral content with the retweet function, improve your brand image and show your values. The social network also allows you to monitor effectively by following accounts on a particular domain or by following “hashtags” relevant to your business.
For a BtoC Company, Opt For:
All the social networks mentioned above for BtoB companies. LinkedIn will serve you mainly for recruitment, and you will attract fewer customers than on other social networks.
Instagram: the most popular photo or short video sharing application. With Instagram, you can significantly increase your sales, especially among young people. It offers several features to highlight your products, such as mentioning the sales links of each product directly on the photos. To succeed on Instagram, you need a solid visual identity to inspire users. The benefits can be significant, mainly if you use partnerships.
Pinterest: Like Instagram, this is a very visual social network. The principle is to find inspiration by pinning each content in tables. You can then share them on your network. All photos on Pinterest are clickable and lead to an external link (the original site), making Pinterest the social network with the most external links. You can get a lot of visibility on your website, but your images must be very visual for this to work. This is a perfect tool to present these products in the form of a showcase.
Establish A Publication Schedule
Once the social networks have been chosen according to your activity, take the time to establish a publication schedule.
Posting Frequency
Indeed, if you want to increase your visibility and thus generate more sales, publish at least three times a week for each social network. Nevertheless, for Instagram, it is advisable to post 5 to 7 times a week, and on Twitter, the best is to tweet and retweet several times a day. You can also plan categories of content according to the days. For example, on Thursday, a short video. Your community will note this Thursday’s meeting, and you will have a strong interaction with them. Be very active. Prospects and customers will be much more attracted by a brand present and close to them.
Publication Times
You need to define publication times when you will likely get the most visibility for your content in your schedule. These times depend on your target. To think about ideal times, think about the habits and behaviors of your target. For example, if you have a target of professionals or young people, give priority to transport times around 8 or 9 a.m. or in the evening around 6 p.m. and the lunch break by publishing just before 12 p.m. To help you, several social networks like Facebook or Instagram offer you analytical tools to study the behavior of visitors to your publications or your account.
Hire a Community Manager (CM)
To manage your social networks, you can hire a community manager (this is a recent job) who will devote himself entirely to these tools. This social network expert will be federating a community, animating it, and managing the brand image. It provides regular monitoring to keep abreast of current trends.
Create Varied Content
To generate sales through social media, you need to attract users and get people talking about you. For this, you need to create varied content.
Make An Excellent Presentation (or biography)
When you create your account, make sure you have polished your presentation. Include a catchphrase, emoticons, the name of the latest release, and a link to your site. Some social networks offer to integrate their store directly into the account, allowing customers to make a direct purchase. Remember to mention the store link in your presentation instead of the site.
Submit Creative Content
To stand out, avoid always offering the same content. The more your content is worked on, the more interaction you generate. Keep an eye on the trends of each social network and adapt your content. New arrivals are very regular. For example, stories have been viral, which has led to almost all social networks offering them. You can play with lots of content thanks to the multiple features that can be achieved.
Here are some ideas:
- Pictures
- Videos (short or medium like the real ones on Instagram that work great so far)
- Stories
- Video product demonstration in a fun and visual format
- Tips or advice
- Survey
- Testimony or Interview
With this non-exhaustive list, you can start with an excellent basic. Competition is extreme on social networks, so it is essential to offer quality content. Your publications must be very visual and relevant.
Carry Out Advertising Campaigns
Most social networks offer you to carry out an advertising campaign or boost your publications to gain visibility. You pay the social network, and in exchange, it highlights a magazine and your account. The interest of this tool is being able to target the people who will see the publication in their newsfeed. Social networks have a lot of user data, allowing them to target effectively.
Call on influencers
You must have already heard the term influencer, a recent term much discussed in the media because many brands contact influencers and see their turnover increase. The principle? Make a partnership (usually paid) with an influencer (in any field) who is a person with more or less critical notoriety by asking him to present the brand and its products or services to his community. Very often, this influencer offers a promo code to its subscribers. Depending on the chosen influencer, sales can be substantial, and the commercial activity will quickly pay for itself. However, choose the influencer well to generate trust; otherwise, your business will be less credible. Take an influencer with ideas that suit you and bring confidence to his subscribers.
Develop your community
Finally, for your sales to increase via social networks, you must develop your community and increase the number of subscribers and interactions on your publications. To do this, Be present and responsive on your accounts. When someone asks you questions in the comments or sends you a message, answer them in a friendly way in BtoC and a little more severe in BtoB. Likewise, if a user mentions or shares you on their account, feel free to thank them.
You need to be close to your followers and show it, making new people coming to your account feel sympathy for your brand. According to We are Social and Hootsuite’s annual Digital 2021 study, 27.5 % of social media users use them to search for a product to buy. This statistic shows us the importance of the image given on social networks due to the number of people who want to find a product to buy on social networks. So take the time to discuss with customers and create interactions by getting them to participate in a survey on a new feature, for example, or by having them share a photo.
Do not hesitate to work on the emotional aspect and on the values of the brand to generate more commitment. Thanks to all these interactions, you will be able to federate a community.
To Summarize
Good social media management can be an asset in your marketing strategy. Many brands have seen their sales increase. But as you will understand, this is a permanent job.
For your strategy to be effective, you must take into account several parameters: good knowledge of its target thanks to studies carried out beforehand, a publication schedule defined and updated by choosing the frequency and times of publication, varied content, and creativity to attract customers and interaction with prospects and customers to develop and federate a community. Do not hesitate to hire a community manager for your social networks to be optimized.