In this article, we intend to explore how a small business can leverage social media as a sales channel.
Social networks have become one of the main showcases for all types of businesses and companies and can be constituted as a sales channel. Startups, due to their own characteristics, are especially susceptible to taking advantage of these tools more intensively both to make themselves known as a sales and marketing channel. An importance that has increased in recent months due to the strange situation we have experienced.
Increasingly, the trend is for businesses to adopt social channels to engage with customers and offer products. However, social media companies want to go beyond that. According to Forbes, Instagram intends to start providing purchases as part of your app experience. Social media is now becoming more than just a marketing channel, to be a sales channel in its own right.
According to Econsultancy, social media is one of the top five marketing channels for generating a solid ROI. Therefore, perhaps the time has come to amplify the social media marketing strategy and kick-start those sales.
Virtual and augmented reality
The use of virtual reality and augmented reality on social media is a growing trend in recent times. As an example, just remember applications such as Pokemon or Snapchat. The latter is a good tool to expose our brand to the target audience. Although these technologies are still in their infancy, as companies incorporate virtual reality and AR programs into their social networks, their awareness and trust by companies and consumers will increase.
Chatbots and artificial intelligence
Chatbots should be the first line of defense for customer service. While the human touch is important, the truth is that with advances in AI, a computer can do most of the heavy lifting. AI chatbots can interact directly or even proactively chat with prospective customers via social media. AI bots can work 24/7 to address customer service issues, respond to social media queries, and communicate through social media platforms to increase interaction on the platforms and convert inquiries from potential shopping customers.
Buy buttons on social media
In the past, digital marketers aimed to funnel all visitors to their websites to generate sales. With advancements in social media technology, customers can purchase your item directly from Facebook without having to visit your site. Social media platforms are no longer just informational, but can be a form of direct sales, essentially decentralizing the sales funnel.
Identify the right social network for your demographic
When creating a profile to get closer to the ideal customers, we must carefully analyze which network or networks are useful for our reach our target audience. For example, Facebook is the most popular social media platform. However, 86% of Instagram users say they discover new products and services on the platform.
B2B companies can be more successful on Twitter. 67% of these companies use it as a marketing platform. YouTube is very popular among younger users: 81% of those between the ages of 15 and 25 visit this video platform every day.
Sometimes, less is more, so it may be better to focus on one or two rather than implementing an extensive strategy with the risk of scattering.
Be a benchmark in your sector
Creating a professional social media presence is important. One of the best ways to do this successfully is to become an expert in our industry. To do so, it is best to offer objective and insightful information. Creating our own content and sharing others from reliable sources are two good formulas. It’s estimated that 92% of B2B buyers engage with those they consider experts or leaders in the field.
Working with the right influencers
Influencer marketing is a very popular and effective marketing tool. Twitter and Annalect found that nearly 40% of Twitter users were heavily influenced to make a purchase after seeing an influencer’s tweet.
The study also found that the amount of trust people place in influencers is comparable to the trust placed in their friends. This shows that promoting brand and products through social media influencers is very likely to drive sales, and it has been shown that in some cases it can mean an ROI of up to 600%. One factor to take into account is that you have to work with influencers who share the values of your company, since honesty is a value that is increasingly valued by consumers in the sales channel.
Automation tools
Social media automation can be very useful for saving time and posting content consistently. According to HubSpot, consistent companies have a 20% higher net worth than others. In addition, they manage to generate greater trust, improve the customer experience and build the reputation of your brand.
Social media listening programs help us stay on top of the latest trends and optimize our sales channel, what your competitors are saying, and what consumers are saying about you. In this way, we can get ideas, choose the best platforms and detect our weak points.
