3 Smokin’ Ways to Use Social Media to Increase Sales

As an avid and curious reader, I take any chance I get to learn more about marketing techniques, tactics, and strategy.

What I find in both business and in recent market predictions is that the sale is in the relationship.

If you search for information about where things are headed in marketing, then you’ll see an emphasis on at least three trends:

1. Storytelling
2. Influencer Marketing
3. Video

These three strategies are on fire! This says to me that relationship building is stronger than ever in marketing and sales.

Storytelling as a tool for marketing suggests that people don’t want to be sold to. They expect an experience. They want to invest a minute in a character or a situation. Research indicates that consumers want a more personal connection in the way they gather information.

Harnessing the power of other people to promote your wares, Influencer Marketing is becoming more of a common strategy to persuade prospects to click the “buy” button.

With trust in traditional paid advertising declining and trust in customer reviews increasing, it’s no surprise that industry influencers—who already have a relationship with their fans—are becoming the more effective marketing avenue.

As for video, there’s no question that businesses who have incorporated it into their marketing plans are seeing better results. Video marketing is being widely discussed and promoted everywhere I look!

According to Hubspot, video is a “powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with customers and prospects.” An infographic from Hyperfine Media reveals crazy stats about the power of video marketing, including these:

• 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video.
• Including a video on a landing page can increase conversion by 80%.
• Video in an email leads to a 200-300% increase in click-through rate.

So, what do these trends have to do with increasing sales from social media?

We know that social media is great for building relationships. And these three marketing trends have a lot to do with relationship building as well. Why not let social media be your avenue to deliver content related to these three trends?

Prefer video?

Try one of these super hot strategies on social media to increase sales

Try incorporating storytelling, influencer marketing, and video into your social selling strategy to get better results.

1) Stop selling, start storytelling

Use social media to share stories and ditch your promotional posts.

Lately, there’s an increasing amount of evidence suggesting that storytelling outperforms is more effective at promoting. In fact, consumer testing showed that a product with a story sold better than the same product without one.

Which do you like better?

A. Click here to buy now and save 25%!

B. Jane increased her sales, which meant more family time and more freedom to deal with her chronic illness on her terms.

Example B seems more appealing and relatable, yes?

Skip talking directly about your sale. Go for telling your fans about the results you or a customer has had. After a while, they’ll be asking you for more information.

Use snippets of your story with graphics to post on social media to move your prospects to your website. On your site, tell the detailed story and include multiple ways for prospects to enter your funnel.

When someone opts in for your list or for a freebie, they are making a bigger commitment. They’re giving you permission to talk to them more directly than on social media.

Social media is meant for more social things, which is why storytelling is likely a better content strategy than direct selling. People expect you to be more promotional on your website. Reserve the sales chatter for your site and email list and keep social media more conversational.

2) Let your customers and colleagues speak

Many solo entrepreneurs don’t have the budget to hire top industry influencers to promote their products and services. Thankfully, there are influencers around you all the time, many of whom you don’t even need to pay!

Encourage customers to leave reviews or give you testimonials. Then share these affirmations on social media. You’d be surprised how influential “word of mouth” and reviews can be. In fact, according to one study, customer reviews can improve your sales by five times.

Also, consider using social media to build relationships with colleagues and other business owners like yourself. Join Facebook groups to participate in “share the love” days where you can promote each other. You get access to their audience and vice versa.

Having one or two business leaders in your inner circle or community promote you/your business via social media could make a difference to your bottom line.

You likely have customers and colleagues that will help you, so don’t hesitate to ask. You’d be surprised how leveraging those around you can give your business a boost!

3) Incorporate video now and then

Video benefits your business in so many ways. Studies show that video:

• increases conversions and sales
• builds trust
• encourages social shares
• engages even the laziest of buyers
• works well for social media ads, and
• appeals to mobile users.

With these facts in mind, it makes sense to include video marketing into your social media strategy to increase sales.

However, many of you have told me that you’re not comfortable with video yet. I understand. I have my own hesitations. But if you have something to share with the world—and I know you do—why not add video marketing into your social media content mix?

Whether it’s live video or recorded, I challenge you (and myself!) to start using just a little video in your social media marketing.

Don’t convince yourself that you need video equipment and fancy stuff before you can embark on video. Use your smartphone (I know most of you have one!) with decent lighting.

Before you start your video, identify your topic and purpose. Videos without a point aren’t helpful. But a short and sweet message to your fans? That’s a winner.

Over To You

When it comes down to it, selling more on social media has a bunch to do with relationship building and nurturing the know, like, and trust factor. Use these tactics to attract fans and build rapport with your audience. Then take the next step of moving your relationship from social media to your website and into your funnel. That’s how to use social media for selling.