How to Increase Sales with Social Media

Are you a Farmer or a Hunter?

How do most sales leads come into your business? Do you cultivate and nurture relationships with a long-term lead generation process, or do you chase new business through prospecting with sales visits and cold calling? People are naturally spending time on social media channels, so using social media as a way to reach potential customers to increase sales without being intrusive makes sense. 

If you’re questioning the ROI (return on investment) when it comes to marketing your business on social media channels, consistency is key. Creating an active and consistent presence for your brand on social media channels will ultimately generate leads that will serve to benefit your business over time.

Seeds you plant today will feed you for many years ahead.

Research shows that 97% of people will look up a business online before making contact. Having a properly structured website along with an active and consistent Social Media presence inspires familiarity and trust. As a result, potential clients and customers are more inclined to reach out, and your online sales will increase.

Establishing top-of-mind presence means adapting to the new realities of the digital world and investing for the long run. You may not see results immediately, but understand this is a marathon and not a sprint. Stick with a plan of action that fits into your overall content marketing strategy, and over time, the time and resources invested will bring a substantial return.

A well-planned content marketing strategy validates that you have the know-how to get the job done. With the right approach, blog posts and videos, for example, are resources that can provide value and demonstrate expertise (great seeds to plant). A single blog post or YouTube video may not generate an immediate response, but as you make more online resources available, your credibility builds. This is evidence of your brand’s investment in creating a robust digital footprint.

Think like a farmer, the more seeds you plant, the more diverse resources you will have to cultivate. If your goal is to attract more clients (and better clients), with the right approach in presenting content that speaks to their problems (that you solve), you’ll soon be relied upon as their go-to resource on the web.

Determining where to Invest your Marketing Dollars to Increase Sales

Compare traditional methods of advertising. TV ads, newspaper ads, and even online ads all have the potential to reach immense numbers of people. But how much can you say in 30 seconds? How much can you put on a print ad? How much can you put in 90 characters? Can you prove to the potential customer that you are the best at what you do in such a short moment of exposure? With those methods, an audience must be exposed to your messaging over and over before your brand has a chance of being remembered.

Even when those methods prove to be successful, most potential customers will still want to look up your website and search for testimonials before making contact. They will likely look at your Facebook page, look for reviews and examine the content you’ve posted. At that point, it’s critical that your brand has content in place that is current and meaningful to your audience in order to increase sales online. All in all, the more consistently you share the right content on the right channels, the more it will be seen and shared, and the more likely you are to build trust and attract new customers.

Say goodbye to cold calling, wishing and hoping to get new customers. The longer you stay true to your overall digital marketing strategy and cultivate the seeds you’ve planted, the more you will harvest and the less you will have to hunt.