Today, most marketers recognize the value of social media in promoting their products. Whether you design websites or own a cupcake shop, social media allows you to connect with millions of potential customers. Many businesses find that even a little work on a few sites can yield a high return on investment.
However, you may not be clear on how to best use social media to procure sales. There is often a fine line between not offering enough promotions and posting so often that it annoys your followers. While you do want to be noticed, you don’t want followers to unsubscribe from your page. Here are some tips for how to best use social media to procure sales.
Hold a Contest
Who doesn't love the opportunity to win free stuff? Contests are great ways to both attract new followers and engage your existing customers. Holding a contest may not boost your sales immediately, but it will help you in the long run. Whether you hold a one-time contest for playground equipment or give away small items each week, people love the idea of receiving something for free. Waiting for the results of a contest can be fun and exciting, and it's for that reason that people often share contests with their own friends and followers.
If you do hold a contest on social media, just make sure you aren't violating any of the platform’s rules. For example, on Facebook you can’t require users to like your page before they enter the contest. As long as you stay ethical, though, a contest is a fun way to boost your following.
Offer Special Sales or Promotions
Offering discount codes or similar promotions via social media is great incentive for users to follow you on the sites. People of all ages and demographics love sales. There's just something exhilarating about receiving a great product for a fraction of the original price. In fact, many users follow a brand on social media in the hopes that they'll receive a discount.
Interact with Users
Social media is primarily a communications tool. That’s why you need to make sure you're engaging with customers in addition to offering discounts and promotions. If customers are having a discussion, jump in, especially if it doesn't directly involve the promotion of your products. Personal interaction shows customers you care and are willing to listen.
Also, be sure to post high-quality, engaging content in addition to sales and discount codes. Posting a link to an interesting blog or news article will often pique a customer's interest. Sharing an article may not immediately lead to a sale, but it will build your relationship with your customers.
Time Your Posts
Timing is everything in the world of social media. If you post too infrequently, you won't be at the forefront of your customers' minds. On the flip side, you could annoy your followers if you post too much. How frequently you post content depends to a large extent on the type of platform you're using. On Twitter, it's fine to tweet a few times a day, but on Facebook a few times a week may be more than enough. With any site, be sure you're alternating promotional posts with those aimed at engaging your customers.
Keep these tips in mind as you continue to tweak your social-media campaign. As long as you’re patient, engage your customers and try to have fun while doing it, you’ll be successful at driving sales through social media.
Showing posts with label scheduling posts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scheduling posts. Show all posts
Wednesday, 8 January 2014
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Top 10 Tips To Increase Your Social Media Traffic (Part 2)
This is the second part to our top 10 tips to increase your social media traffic. If you haven't read the first article, you can find it here.
6. Be more human!
Many people and businesses make the mistake of only posting about their business and trying to hard sell their products. Social media is about engaging with fans and embracing the social aspect. Consumers want to know who the people are behind the Tweets or Facebook posts. Give your business a bit of personality. Invite your fans into your business world and let them know what is happening within your office environment. Any automated responses to people is a no go. People will be less inclined to come back if they feel as though they are just interacting with a robot.
7. Use those #Hashtags
Hashtags have become a key feature within a majority of social networks. Twitter first pioneered the use of hashtags on social media in June 2009 after a tip from a Twitter user called Chris Messina, suggesting that the use of a hashtag could help group tweets together.
You should make sure to research prior to posting on social media to find out what hashtags your industry is using, to help maximise the potential reach of each post. Facebook are the latest adopters of the hashtag, which has helped users track the conversations on specific subjects.
8. Knowing when to post
Know roughly when the best time to post on your social media is an important aspect of any social media account manager. Every social media account is different as the demographics of each of their fans varies from one another. There are many tools that analyse the habits of your fans and gives you guidance as to when to post during the day to help maximise the activity on that particular piece of content. We personally useEzeesocial to help us with our posting scheduling with an easy to use reports feature.
9. Share buttons
This tip is very simple but its surprising how often you see blogs without any social media share buttons. There is very minimal effort on your part, and its effect can be huge. It allows your readers to instantly share your content with their friends, which in turn, increases your audience.
Many social media sites offer resources which quickly hands you a HTML code for your social media button. Simply add the code into your blog and you're well on your way to increasing your social media engagement.
10. Creating and joining groups/communities
Joining groups and communities on social networks can be used to leverage a great amount of traffic. Creating a group can be hard work as there are a lot of them out there and you may find it tough to get people to join. If you have a large social community already, then this might not be such of a problem. Joining groups within your niche and posting within that community can help drive traffic. Be sure to read the rules and regulations first before posting as some groups may dislike self promotion. There are many stagnant groups out there, so take the time to search for the most active communities.
By implementing these 10 tips into your social media strategy, you too should see can increase in traffic. Do you use another strategy we have no mentioned? Let us know in the comments below.
6. Be more human!
Many people and businesses make the mistake of only posting about their business and trying to hard sell their products. Social media is about engaging with fans and embracing the social aspect. Consumers want to know who the people are behind the Tweets or Facebook posts. Give your business a bit of personality. Invite your fans into your business world and let them know what is happening within your office environment. Any automated responses to people is a no go. People will be less inclined to come back if they feel as though they are just interacting with a robot.
7. Use those #Hashtags
Hashtags have become a key feature within a majority of social networks. Twitter first pioneered the use of hashtags on social media in June 2009 after a tip from a Twitter user called Chris Messina, suggesting that the use of a hashtag could help group tweets together.
You should make sure to research prior to posting on social media to find out what hashtags your industry is using, to help maximise the potential reach of each post. Facebook are the latest adopters of the hashtag, which has helped users track the conversations on specific subjects.
8. Knowing when to post
Know roughly when the best time to post on your social media is an important aspect of any social media account manager. Every social media account is different as the demographics of each of their fans varies from one another. There are many tools that analyse the habits of your fans and gives you guidance as to when to post during the day to help maximise the activity on that particular piece of content. We personally useEzeesocial to help us with our posting scheduling with an easy to use reports feature.
9. Share buttons
This tip is very simple but its surprising how often you see blogs without any social media share buttons. There is very minimal effort on your part, and its effect can be huge. It allows your readers to instantly share your content with their friends, which in turn, increases your audience.
Many social media sites offer resources which quickly hands you a HTML code for your social media button. Simply add the code into your blog and you're well on your way to increasing your social media engagement.
10. Creating and joining groups/communities
Joining groups and communities on social networks can be used to leverage a great amount of traffic. Creating a group can be hard work as there are a lot of them out there and you may find it tough to get people to join. If you have a large social community already, then this might not be such of a problem. Joining groups within your niche and posting within that community can help drive traffic. Be sure to read the rules and regulations first before posting as some groups may dislike self promotion. There are many stagnant groups out there, so take the time to search for the most active communities.
By implementing these 10 tips into your social media strategy, you too should see can increase in traffic. Do you use another strategy we have no mentioned? Let us know in the comments below.
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