What You Need to Know About Social Media Selling
It’s no longer news that the world has become a global village, and the spread of the internet across nations of the earth has helped bridge the gap that erstwhile existed in previous centuries. However, social media users are warned to tread when relying on information obtained from social media cautiously.
Communication was basically what social media was quite known for. Most people were happy to connect with their loved ones as they took it a notch higher by creating various groups and adding their friends and family on it, all in the bid to facilitate bonding.
Sat Hello to Social Media
One of the merits of globalization has to be the media access to all nations of the world. An individual in Australia can watch the same movie as his friend in Canada using several alternatives. The experienced folks at Alrigh say that, apart from watching films, chatting is another function that has become the order of the day between friends, colleagues, etc. The beautiful thing is that you have a range of applications to choose from to stay in touch with your loved ones. Social media applications such as Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram are quite popular for enhancing interpersonal relationships.
The art of selling on social media began to creep in gradually. It was very unsuspecting as many persons were totally unaware that the applications viewed by the older generation as a pure waste of time could bring so much revenue to savvy individuals who took advantage of it. As with most things, a lot of people joined the ‘social media selling’ train. They began to advertise their products or services using various applications. Some even go as far as adding enticing words in the comment section to lure more customers. It has definitely become the ‘battle of captions.’
However, the mind-boggling question was if social media’s use affected the amount of revenue they obtained? It is very glaring to all that some entrepreneurs and organizations make a lot of money from selling on social media while some make little to nothing. Although the reasons for this might vary, here are a few things you need to note when marketing on social media.
Target Audience
Apart from creating an account, knowing your target audience is the next important thing to ponder upon. Who are they? Where can they be found? Would they come across your post? How can you attract them? And of course, how you can keep them as ever returning clients because cashing out on social media regularly simply means you have a healthy dose of both new and returning customers.
Giving the best at every point in time to your target audience is essential. As a result of this, every post must emit nothing but what entices your target audience. Also, keep all posts short and very informative. A long post bores most people due to this known fact; most top social media sellers employ quotes, captions, etc., to pass their information across to potential and existing customers. You just might need to hire someone to do this for you if you’re not so good with words.
The right tools are very important to take good pictures of the goods/products advertised. Ensure only quality cameras are utilized for this purpose. It is common knowledge that white backgrounds always do the magic and ensure all product angles are visible to potential buyers. It’s important to note that t given advert piece’s audio quality must be clear and audible. This information is salient for those who would be employing videos to advertise your product or service. Ensure your audio and background are not a turn off to whoever would come across it after it has been posted.
Small Details to Keep Your Content Fresh
Once you’ve decided to become a ‘social media seller,’ the onus is on you to keep abreast of all information, news, slang, etc., as these are some of the tools that’ll attract people to your products.
Hashtags are key strategies because hashtags attract more people to the post. The secret to making a post more visible is to include trending and relevant hashtags to attract the potential and existing audience. Turning on the notification button is as vital as activating the social media account itself. Sleeping at this point is not allowed because most potential buyers see this as a sign of irresponsibility. They want answers to their inquiries as soon as they press the send button, and you have to do all that is within your means to grant that request.
Customer Service simply reminds us that clients are always right, and the tool to retaining customers is simply to satisfy them. Make them feel important, throw in a ‘thank you gift’ once in a while, like their own posts, and drop them lovely comments. Engagement is also a feature that must not be scrapped, and no, we’re not about to ask for a ring here. Just engage them through pictures, quotes, giveaways (we’d elaborate on this), ask them thought-provoking questions, jump on sensational topics, etc. You can even throw in a games’ night.
Freebies
Almost everyone falls victim to this known gimmick, but it works. Sellers already include the cost of shipping on the item, and then they offer either a shipping discount or outright free shipping. Something about adding a freebie to products attracts people to purchase. Once in a while, throw in discounts during festivities. You don’t have to wait for one. You can create one, and it might be your birthday, your child or spouse’s birthday, your ‘workversary,’ anniversary, etc. The idea that there’s a reduction has worked magic for a lot of sellers.
The early bird method works as a rebate mechanism as sellers are constantly utilizing this approach. Just state something like the first 100 people to preorder this, get a certain percentage or price of the commodity or service.
Be Original
I know you didn’t see this coming, majorly because most people believe that you need to ‘fake it to make it on the web.’ The plain truth is, if you intend to continue to make profits in the long run, you have no choice but to find methods that are original to you to bring in more customers.No business can afford not to remind their clients of their online presence, so from time to time, send them a direct message telling them of your new products and how much they’ve been missed. Regularly sending them an e-card can also help.
Testimonials are super important since we live in an era where many phony individuals who pose as salespeople dupe people off their hard-earned money. People need to be assured that you are real and sell authentic products, and only testimonials can help take care of that. The business visibility principle states that the more money you intend to make, the more visible the business page/products/service should be. It’s so vital that the firm might need to hire a service optimization engine consultant to help fix that aspect.
One major reason why some social media sellers lose customers is mainly because of inadequate delivery service. Although most times, the sellers have no control over the delivery company’s service, clients still find a way to pin their inefficiencies on the seller. To avoid this mess, make sure you partner with a delivery company whose services won’t ruin your reputation.
Consistency is a natural rule that transcends all human endeavors. Be a consistent seller. Don’t breeze in today and go off tomorrow. No customer likes to be kept waiting, and never forget the business has a thousand other rivals ready to be of service. Furthermore, most customers prefer to have a face linked to a given brand.
For this reason, some companies make celebrities their brand ambassadors. Paying attention to your competitors is one of the lessons taught in basic economics. Keep tabs on them. Once they are innovating a new strategy, try as much as possible to initiate yours. Don’t forget to be original!
Your Plan B
Most social media sellers have only one account per the application they use, and this is risky. Because the account can get deleted or even hacked, it’s crucial to have a backup page to avoid rebuilding from ground zero in case of any eventualities.
Pricing Strategies are quite tricky because it is purely dependent on your target audience. Sometimes some sellers even adopt more than one strategy. You should implement whatever rocks your boat. Also, giveaways are no longer an industry secret as it not only brings more people to your page and increases your visibility. It may even kick start the operator’s personal social media influencing career if your business page succeeds in making you popular.
If collaboration can find products that complement what the business produces, it might be beneficial to start a partnership. For example, if the business is into hair production and a wig maker ready to partner with the organization comes on board. This can facilitate a wider audience with the extra service you’ve added.
Networking is key as the business needs to find popular pages to follow and make themselves visible on social media. As a result, more traffic will arrive at the business posts and activities. Don’t be the boring seller whose mode of delivery is very predictable. Be spontaneous and versatile.
Watermark and security are the signals that prove ownership, ensure all pictures and videos are watermarked to avoid theft. Hackers are working overtime to steal people’s pages. Secure your page by keeping all passwords secret and activating the two-factor authentication. Also, never forget to keep updating the social media application.
There are many sides to the business of selling on social media. A survey has shown that the magic to keep winning as a seller on social media is to keep posting original content as the Instagram algorithm favors that approach. The more you are in people’s faces, the more interested they are in your business. Just ensure your posts are convincing enough to make them part with some of the purchasing power.