Social media is really huge and your target audience hangs out there, you just need the right social media marketing strategy to convert social media followers into customers. Obviously, the customer is one who pays your business, hence this shouldn’t be ignored at all.
The numbers don’t lie: Facebook users spend on average 8.35 hours a month on the site via desktop computers.
Of course, that’s not to say that the world’s most popular social network Facebook doesn’t have its share of mobile users as well; as of May 2018, 1.15 million Facebook users only accessed the site via mobile devices on daily basis.
Twitter had 327 million active users at the beginning of 2018, every second, on average, around 6,000 tweets are tweeted on Twitter (visualize them here), which corresponds to over 350,000 tweets sent per minute, 500 million tweets per day and around 200 billion tweets per year.
And, lest you imagine that everyone on the web is split between these three camps, understand that not only do many users actively participate in social media across multiple platforms, but that there are several other social media sites (Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Digg, Mix, Reddit, etc.) with millions of followers who are just as invested and active as any on Facebook or Twitter.
Ideas to Convert Social Media Followers into Customers
So, yes, it’s safe to say that social media is currently the place you should be. However, just knowing where to find customers is only the very first step in an ongoing journey.
Marketers who decide to use social networking sites to help them find leads may find themselves at a loss as to how to actually go about doing it.
But don’t worry, that’s what I am going to discuss further. Here are a few tips to help you convert social media followers into customers.
Know Your Audience
The first step to convert social media followers into customers is the need to clearly identify your target market. You must research and develop customer personas to guide an effective communication strategy with your prospective customers.
For instance, if your target audience is in the age group of 18 to 35, then you should focus more on channels like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook.
If your business is strictly marketing to people over the age of 60, it wouldn’t be ineffective to focus your marketing efforts on Snapchat, but rather Twitter or even LinkedIn.
If you have a wider range of products and services, which translates into a more diverse target market. In this case, you’ll need to use each platform differently, according to the users you’re trying to reach.
Be sure your messages make sense for the social media channel you’re using.
Therefore, you must customize your outreach to meet the needs of your ideal buyer personas on each social media platform. This will increase the chances to convert social media followers into customers over time.
Have a Social Media Presence
Some companies may think that all they have to do is sign up with Facebook or Twitter, and the fans and followers will just come rolling in.
And while I really appreciate that kind of childlike optimism. The truth is that no one on the social network is going to take note of a company that never makes any effort to connect and engage with the users.
And for this reason, a lot of companies shut down every year.
The mantra here is that, be sure to set up accounts on all of the major social networks you think are good for your business. Learn how to decide which social networks are best for your business. And once you’ve taken that first pre-step, that’s when you need to roll up your sleeves.
Post relevant content continuously. Interacting with your followers will put you on the right path to utilizing social networking. It will help you grow your business which is when you convert social media followers into customers.
Be a Human
One of the most evident components of social media is its socialness.
After all, people don’t sign up for accounts so that they can more easily be shown advertisements. They join so that they can connect with other interesting human beings from across the world.
So, if you want to be accepted as one of their own, you need to be a human being too.
This may be a bit more difficult than you originally anticipated.
Never ever try to treat your social networks as mailing lists. If you do that you will end up with very few followers then. Because it is very easy for people to ignore or unlike/unfollow you.
Ads and commercials belong in magazines and on television.
Instead, look for ways to start engaging conversation. Don’t be afraid to let your own voice come through in your posts. And when you get comments or feedback respond to them, human beings do so!
Give them what they Want
You already know what you want from your prospective customers: you want them to become your actual customers. But before you just pitch in, stop and ask yourself, what is it that those possible leads want from you?
Why would they even consider visiting your page, or becoming one of your fans/followers if they aren’t getting anything out of the deal?
This is the heart of inbound marketing. If you can figure out how to give your customers what they want, then you won’t have to worry about trying to find them—they’ll find you and that’s for sure.
Provide interesting, entertaining, and informative content, and don’t ask for anything in return.
Consider starting a company blog. Through which you address issues that are common to your consumer base. Link back to it through your social media pages for them to get engaged.
Don’t forget to use the visual aspect as well.
The human brain is much better at processing images than it is at processing text, so play to that strength through images, infographics, and videos.
Share your joys and sorrows with your followers as you do with your friends and family.
You can also run contests, sweepstakes on your Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest accounts to keep your followers engaged by participating.
This is one of the best ways to keep your followers engaged, speaking from my personal experience.
Work in Conjunction with CRM and Sales
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is an utter must for all the businesses who want to make sure that those who keep them in business stay happy with them.
“Grahak Bhagwaan Ka Roop Hota Hai” (A Customer is Like a God for Your Business) never forget that.
Keep proper track of minute-yet-important details, appointments, and other pertinent customer information. Make that information secure and accessible across multiple platforms and company levels.
So, when you’re using social media in your sales process to prospect leads, don’t keep your sales team in the dark.
Gather information as you go. Have your CRM system analyze and share that information with the others in the company who rely upon it.
This way you’ll be able to get more success out of the information you gather. And you won’t have to rely solely on your own social media charm.
This way you can get all the details about your customer, like birthday, what he likes to purchase, how much he spends on every purchase, how frequently he shops with you. From this, you can figure out how can you tempt him to buy more from you. What offers you can give him, when can you sell him, viz, on his special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries or festivals, etc.
Conclusion
So, just go ahead and make your first move on the social media platform of your choice. I am sure you would be able to convert social media followers into customers easily.
Good Luck!
