10 Social Media Tricks That Will Boost Your Sales

Social media has played a huge part in giving smaller online businesses and startups a competitive advantage over bigger, more established companies. Because of social media, local stores and new eCommerce and retail companies are now able to reach a wide, even global, audience without having to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on traditional marketing and advertising methods like TV and radio ads, billboards, and massive events and promotions.

If you can’t imagine just how big of an impact social media makes for eCommerce businesses, check out these important social media statistics for business compiled by Oberlo:

• 3.2 billion people use at least one form of social media
• 68% of people in the US use Facebook
• On average, people spent 2 hours 22 minutes on social media every day
• 54% of online shoppers use social media to research products
• 49% of consumers rely on influencer recommendations

These staggering numbers just prove how impactful social media marketing can be if done correctly. If that’s not enough, this article gives 6 reasons why businesses should have a strong social media presence. If driving new business development and increasing your sales volume are two things you want to focus on, utilizing social media marketing should be on top of your marketing plans. 

 

What social media platforms to use

While most businesses use as many social media platforms as possible in order to reach the largest audience base, it’s advisable to focus on just 2 – 3 platforms to ensure quality content and maximum engagement. After all, managing any social media account requires a lot of time, skill, and effort.

To help you decide which platforms are best for your business, it’s essential to compare your target market to the majority of the users of a particular platform. Here’s a quick overview of the different social media platforms that you can use to market your business:

 

• Facebook

As the largest social media platform around, Facebook will always be part of any business’ social media marketing strategy. Facebook users are varied enough for a business in any niche to be able to grow their audience, so having a Facebook page for your business is an absolute must.

Facebook can be used for a wide range of purposes including advertising your products and services using local Facebook ads, posting updates about your company on your page, providing customer service and engaging with customers on Messenger and through comments and replies to your posts, and so on. Facebook is definitely an all-in-one marketing, advertising, and customer service platform.

• Instagram

If your products rely a lot on aesthetics and visuals (e.g. clothing, furniture, shoes, food, etc.), Instagram is a wonderful platform to really showcase your products’ amazing qualities. For the past few years, Instagram has also been boosting its video and interactivity features with Instagram Live, Stories, and IGTV being offered to Instagram users. This allows business owners like you to interact more with your customers in real-time, give timely updates and announcements about your products, and offer in-depth demos about your products.

• Twitter

Because it doesn’t have a lot of features, Twitter can be seen as optional for many eCommerce stores. However, Twitter still has certain uses. For instance, because interacting with potential customers is so easy and instantaneous on Twitter, it’s great for customer service. It’s also good for making announcements, making your new products go viral, and getting people to visit your blog or store by adding links to your trending posts.

• Pinterest

Pinterest has gained a sort of cult following over the years, so even though it’s not as big as the other social networks, it can still be useful for specific industries. For instance, if you’re selling products related to party planning or home improvement, you’re almost certainly going to find a niche market on Pinterest.

• Snapchat

Snapchat, like Instagram, is great for influencer marketing because it’s a very visual platform. Snapchat is also perfect for ‘there now, gone’ later content. This means that you don’t have to have super polished or professionally created content to take advantage of Snapchat’s audience. It’s great for generating interest in your products.

• YouTube

Another amazing venue for influencer marketing is YouTube. Since so many influencers in beauty, fashion, travel, food, and more can be found on YouTube, you can use this platform to generate a lot of buzz about your products.

Aside from teaming up with influencers, you can also maintain an informative channel on YouTube by creating visually appealing videos that talk up your products and services. You can even create web series, podcasts, and other creative content to gain a loyal following.

Social media tricks that will boost your sales

Have you decided what platforms you’re going to focus on? Whatever social media platform you decide to use for your social media marketing, here are some tips and tricks that can help you make the most of it.

1. Post engaging content regularly.

The key to keeping your audience on their toes is to ensure that you’re posting something interesting on a regular basis. This can mean daily, thrice a week, or even weekly if you’re just starting out and don’t have a lot of time to work on creating posts. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can post anything just to stay on schedule. You have to make sure that whatever you’re posting actually adds something positive to your brand and won’t make your followers click the unfollow button.

2. Exert effort with planning and creating your posts.

Planning your posts ahead of time is essential to following the tip above. Create a content calendar to ensure that your posts are timely, non-repetitive, and engaging. Creating your posts in advance also allows you to schedule them in a way that creates the biggest impact and generates the most buzz.

3. Create and curate content to maintain an interesting mix of posts.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to create every single one of your posts. Find really compelling content from other accounts and ask them for permission to share their content on your page with proper credit. 

4. Interact with your audience.

Scheduling posts on the regular isn’t enough to have a great social media page. You have to make sure that you’re interacting with your audience and followers too. Something as simple as liking their comments will let your followers feel like they’re actually interacting with real people and not just a faceless brand. Answering their questions and acknowledging their suggestions will make them feel like you’re really listening to them and will help cultivate their loyalty to your brand which can consequently turn them from casual browsers to returning customers.

5. Show your appreciation by featuring customers in your posts.

Ask your customers to tag you in their posts and feature them in some of your posts every now and then. Many customers would love to be featured because it gets them exposure for their personal pages too. Of course, it goes without saying that you need to ask them before featuring them on your pages first.

6. Team up with influencers.

Influencers have a lot of clouts when it comes to trending products and what products or services their followers will soon be trying out. This means that influencer marketing is something that you should really take seriously. You don’t have to immediately target influencers with the most number of followers either. Do a thorough research and team up with the best influencers who can help you grow your market without asking for a lot in return.

7. Use the right #hashtags.

Some business pages use hashtags indiscriminately because they think that using as many hashtags as possible allows them to reach more people. However, this can just mark you as an annoying or desperate business. Depending on the platform, targeting the right hashtags also allows you to get better engagement than using random and unrelated hashtags for your posts. It’s also advisable to have one or two branded hashtags that you always use for your posts. This will make it easier for people to search for your brand.

8. Don’t limit yourself to your own page.

Posting and commenting on your own social media pages isn’t enough; you have to engage with other brands, customers, and influencers as well. Leave friendly and well-meaning comments or like their posts and you’ll find yourself gaining more followers and expanding your own reach too.

9. Use Facebook and Instagram shopping tools.

With Facebook and Instagram recognizing the effectiveness of their platforms when it comes to eCommerce, these social media giants have decided to create tools and features that will help out online sellers even more. Take advantage of these features so that your social media followers can purchase your products and services faster and more easily.

10. Hire a social media marketing virtual assistant to help with the upkeep of your social media.

One of the ways a virtual assistant can help your business is by managing and monitoring your social media. As the business owner, you should spend your time and effort on the big-picture aspects of scaling your business and not in the nitty-gritty of social media. Springing for a digital marketing virtual assistant or a couple of virtual assistants to create and schedule content, monitor your social media pages, and think of new social media strategies is definitely a smart investment. 

Social media marketing is an essential part of growing your business nowadays. It’s time-consuming and requires a lot of skill, patience, and effort, but its potential effects on your business’ reputation and sales performance are unmatched. Good thing it’s one of the things you can use a virtual assistant for. By hiring a virtual marketing assistant, you can continue to take advantage of social media without spending your own time and effort on it.

Looking for reliable virtual assistant services for your social media marketing? Let 20Four7VA help you out. Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation call here.