Are you actively trying to convert social media followers into paying customers?
Do you see an ROI from your social media activity?
Social media is a fantastic digital marketing asset that can quickly skyrocket your business if you use it correctly. It is among the best marketing assets that will enable you to increase your visibility, brand awareness, and create an outstanding online presence.
If you have a growing following on social media, it means you have a group of potential customers waiting to be engaged with.
However, are you making the most of your followers to increase your return on investment (ROI)?
You don’t need to answer that question, instead, contemplate on it as I provide seven action steps that will help you convert your social media followers into paying customers.
Let’s get started…
1. Invest in multiple social marketing platforms
As a digital marketer, I’m assuming that you already have a presence on different social media sites. However, the question to ask yourself is; how many social media sites do I have an active presence?
Considering that question will aid you to invest in more channels and amplify your social media marketing impact. For example, take a look at the screenshot below to see the current state of monthly active social media users on different social platforms.
These visual statistics give you an idea of the number of potential customers you might be missing for not having a presence on the major social marketing networks.
Image Source: Statista
As you can see, the facts reveal useful data on the global active social media users of each networking site beginning in January 2019.
These staggering numbers display the power of social media marketing, and why you should have a greater presence and be active.
2. Know your target market
Next up, after expanding your social media presence is to identify your target market. Why is this process vital to your marketing strategy? Because without an audience, you have no business.
Your target market is that person who is ready to buy what you offer. In consequence, you need to find them and pinpoint the social sites where they hang out and the types of content they are consuming.
In other words, try to find out about your audience’s buying behavior and social media sites where they spend time. That is how you get to know your target audience; it is not rocket since. This approach will help you achieve maximum success in your social media marketing campaigns.
For instance, if your buyer persona spends their day on Instagram while you’re busy on LinkedIn, do you see any chance of converting them? No, because you are missing your target! Ultimately, your audience will decide where you will be on social media.
Once you know your audience, you will be able to make insightful marketing decisions that will connect with your buyer persona and potentially convert your social media followers into paying customers.
Given this, you have to consider some vital elements:
- The type of content you share on each social networking site.
- Maintain consistency across channels in regards to your brand voice.
- Use the right social media platforms where your target buyer is spending time.
- Engage your followers regularly by commenting on their posts, responding to their comments, and replying to any questions they have.
- Offer helpful solutions to their problems to enable you to build trust with your audience.
3. Provide customer service on social media
In business, the one element that is responsible for return customers is excellent customer service. However, as more brands establish their online presence via social media, the idea of applying social media customer care (SMCC) to their marketing practices sounds foreign to them.
Nevertheless, it is one of the best ways to beat the competition and stand out from the multitude of other marketers in your space.
And since 90% of respondents say they use social media to communicate directly with businesses, it is logical to conclude that such communication will enable you to convert your followers ino buyers.
Image Source: Get Ambassador
In consequence, please, take a closer look at the infographic above to see the effectiveness of social media customer care. The study also reveals that 70% of those who received help through social media customer care returned to the business as loyal clients.
Given this, it is vital that you take advantage of this marketing module and start offering efficient customer service on social media. You can start by contacting your clients, customers, and potential buyers via social media to answer their queries and provide solutions to their problems.
These activities will help you achieve the following benefits:
- Establish credibility with your followers.
- Enhance your brand reputation.
- Generate more leads.
- Attract new followers.
- Realize your ultimate goal of converting followers to paying customers.
- Increase sales.
4. Focus on the right social media sites
Before you start expanding your social media horizon, as mentioned in section one of this post, please, take time to assess each platform to identify the ones that are in favor of your business. What am I saying?
It is true that knowing your target audience will help you decide which social media sites to establish your presence. Nevertheless, you need to understand that your marketing community is at different stages of their buyer journey.
Hence, you must meet them evenly on their adventures if you want to convert them.
Here is a typical example of my point.
Let us say, your target customers are within the ages of 18 to 65. It is highly likely that what a 65-year-old wants from you is not the same as an 18-year-old buyer. On this line, you want to make sure your offerings fit each buyer’s journey.
The easiest way to tackle this issue is to use website analytics tools such as Google Analytics, or social media analytics and third-party social listening tools. These tools will help you monitor your marketing campaigns to learn more about your performance and audience.
Hence, several tools, like Twitter analytics, for instance, will show you the following metrics:
- Audience interest
- Gender
- Household income
- Occupation
- Consumer buying behavior
- Country
Therefore, as the audience interest varies from one person to another, the consumer buying style also differs – meaning that Mr. A’s needs are different from those of Mrs. B.
Image Source: Sprout Social
For instance, let us assume that your analysis indicates that a vast number of your target audience are inside the 13-17 and 18-29 age groups. Please, examine the screenshots in this section carefully to understand the measurables.
In this way, it makes sense to resolve that Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook are the best social media marketing platforms for your business endeavors. Why? Because the above sites account for the highest number of users, who fall within those age groups.
In this connection, it’s essential to direct your endeavors to social marketing sites that sustain your business interests.
5. Tap into User-Generated Content (UGC)
User-generated content is a remarkable digital marketing tool that can significantly change the face of your small business. This marketing tool can help you convert your social media followers to buyers. Why is that?
The reason is that UGC serves as a vote that guarantees the superiority and effectiveness of your brand, your product, or services. Put differently, UGC is an upvote that is continually promoting your brand message.
It is signaling to users that your product or services are incredibly efficient. In other words, user-generated content, which I call (vote of confidence and publicity) is so active because the content is coming from people who have used your product and are satisfied with it.
Therefore, when you use UGC in your marketing mix, it means that you are using others as brand advocates for your campaigns.
That is why 25% of consumers say they make a purchase only after seeing a product in posts of other users. On this account, ask your trustworthy clients and buyers to share their experiences with using your product or services.
Moreover, since 76% of clients identified user-generated content as more truthful, this strategy will help you boost customer acquisition and aid you to draw in new loyal followers whom you can convert into buyers.
6. Use specific landing pages
Did you know that social media ad campaigns are goldmines for transforming followers into paying customers? It is because your advertising processes get directed to your target audience, which allows them to visit your landing pages.
Google Adwords, Twitter ads, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook ads should transport users to a specific and targeted landing page. But, several marketers are making the mistake of directing visitors to their website’s home page.
Your landing pages are there to convert site visitors to leads where you will nurture them to qualified customers. NOT your homepage, unless you have a high-converting lead magnet on your website’s front page.
As a consequence, set-up specific landing pages with a notable and useful lead magnet. And then, create links on your social media profiles to direct users to your pages. In that way, it would be easier to convert your social media followers into buyers.
7. Show loyalty to your followers
A simple tweak in your social media marketing strategy can turn a loyal follower into a qualified customer. But, many find it challenging to convert their followers. Hence, several factors are responsible, and loyalty to followers is one of them.
Many marketers are not loyal to their followers, and they underestimate the power of faithfulness or allegiance to their social media tribe.
When you ventured into social media marketing, you effectively made a promise to your followers that you will regularly provide helpful information that will add value to their lives.
In any case, if you fail to deliver on your promise, your audience might become angry and open to rebellion. Yes, your audience will rebel because you are not keeping to your commitment.
As a result, your target buyer may turn to your competitors and stop following you. Accordingly, use loyalty as a tactic to turn your social media followers into buyers by keeping to your promise and maintaining consistency.
Your promise, as stated earlier, is nothing more than to frequently offer valuable content. But in some cases, you might not be able to do that in the space of time available to you. In this circumstance, let your audience know about it.
For example, during December, Janice Wald of Mostly Blogging sent emails across to her subscribers. In the emails, she indicated that she would be away on vacation and to wait until she gets back before they could receive new email updates.
That was a pre-update about her vacation to show how much she cherishes her followers. Follow this example, and you will be turning more followers into paying customers than you can imagine.
Wrapping up
The goal of every business is to convert visitors to leads and followers to customers. Therefore, strategize your marketing campaigns to allow you to save your existing social media followers and turn them into buyers.
Look for different ways to better connect with your followers and build trust with them. It will enable you to turn them into customers more quickly. Hence, apply the tips above to increase the ROI of your social media marketing efforts.
Guest author: Moss Clement is a content manager at Writers Per Hour, a freelance writer/blogger and the Founder of Moss Media. He is working closely with B2B marketers – helping several startups grow their online presence in the digital marketing space. By delivering highly informative content pieces, he has assisted small & medium-size businesses to build their online reputation and connect them with their buyer persona. Connect with him on Twitter & LinkedIn.