Driving Sales From Social Media Content – The Basics

Content that drives sales – it's the Holy Grail that so many of us are chasing .

Yet, it's difficult and seems incredibly complicated from the outset.

But it doesn't have to be .

There is a simpler way of creating and monitoring content that will increase your sales figures .

Here are a few handy tips to get you started .

"Should direct sales be my sole aim?"

Quite simply, no.

Customers buy from brands they know and brands they trust. Build your online presence by getting attention through relevant and interesting posts.

Nothing beats good content for getting followers and once you have followers, you have an audience – and if you are going to pitch, you need someone to pitch to.

Sales should be the final step; the first step is finding people you can sell your product or service to.

"Once I have my audience, what sort of content helps increase sales?"

Quizzes

3 of the top 5 publishers on Facebook are known for quiz lead content. As far as sharable FB posts go, the quiz hammers home engagement better than almost every other type of post.

'How do quizzes help my business?'

The answer is simple – build a quiz around the core function of your company. If you run a hair salon, make a 'which style suits me best?' quiz or if you're leasing apartments worldwide, create a 'where should I go on a city break?' quiz.

Write engaging questions which are full of personality and request a contactable email address for the taker to view their results. Inform them that by giving you this, they can see their results and keep up-to-date with all your latest offers.

This will drive sales as the individual already has an interest in what your selling, which is evident because they took the quiz. It's quite simple, isn't it?

Social competitions

If you trust your customers to tell your story, then they will. For instance, a lot of social sales come from online users promoting products, even when you don't ask them to.

You can increase this method of acquisition by offering a competition on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter. Simply ask the public to post the best picture they can create using your product and offer a simple prize. This will increase brand awareness and thus drive your sales.

For example, if you are a clothing brand and there are pictures of your items on people's newsfeeds, it will first drive curiosity, then it will drive sales through a 'follow the leader' type culture.

Good reviews

It sounds obvious, but customers trust their peers far more than they trust vendors. If you get a good online review, share it and quote it. Not only will this show that you listen to your customers, it will also increase your engagement rating on Facebook and thus see your page ranked higher in your customer's newsfeeds.

Track your efforts

Keep a close eye on analytics to see what social sites are driving traffic to your webpage. If you know what's working, you can keep up that process and ditch the types of posts that don't convert.

Those are just a few simple steps to increasing online sales through social copy.