Social media is a fantastic tool to reach people. Something along the lines of 150% of all humans who have ever lived (give or a take a percent) are on Facebook – and they all share cat pictures.
But while your cat pictures can generate a ton of attention and gather a large following of many other people who’d rather be browsing social media than working, it’s quite a leap from getting followers to converting them into customers.
In other words, it’s one thing to get followers; it’s another thing altogether to get them to buy from you or hire you.
Some would say social media just isn’t cut out for generating revenue from new, paying customers. “Balderdash,” I say. “Balderdash and many other antiquated words.” You can convert followers into customers on Facebook and any other platform if you follow these three tips.
Tip #1: Create a Stellar Ad Campaign
What makes for a stellar ad campaign? You need something that:
- Grabs their attention
- Clearly communicates a message in a very small amount of space
- Leads with the benefit the user will receive
- Features attractive graphics (and video if you have it)
- Is targeted toward the right demographics
- Contains a clear call to action
- Contains the right call to action
You can select from a lot of different calls to action, depending on what you want them to do. You can even create multiple ad sets in the same campaign to use different calls to action.
If you have done everything else right on social – you’ve been engaging, informative, helpful, friendly, etc. – then the ad part will come more easily. You’ll have better results. Note that advertising to your current followers is a lot easier than advertising to brand new people who may have never heard of you.
But sometimes, mass advertising is the right thing to do. Maybe you’re selling vegetables that taste like meat. I want in on that, if you are, and I’d love to see an ad about some delicious beef cauliflower, even if I have never heard of you.
Tip #2: Use Landing Pages
So, you’re running an advertising campaign. Great. But where are you sending your followers once they click on the ad?
Many people unfortunately just send traffic to the homepage. Your homepage is the worst page on the entire website for generating conversions. Oh, sure, if they are just browsing or looking for information it can be a great place to start – but if you want them to open their hearts and wallets, you’ll need to send them somewhere special.
Enter a landing page.
If you create a landing page unique to your advertising campaign, you’ll have a much better chance of getting them to convert. You can either get them to buy right away, or you can collect vital information – like their email address and cell phone numbers – and keep contacting them until they do buy later.
Landing pages are specially designed to convert. That’s all they do. Each campaign should ideally have a landing page that matches the look and language of the ad campaign. Otherwise, people will be like, “Huh? Where am I? I clicked on an ad with a cat on it and I just see a bunch of pygmy goats!” Not that pygmy goats aren’t cool, mind you, it’s just that we were expecting cats.
Landing pages are great. Each campaign needs one.
Tip #3: Lure Them with a Coupon
Finally, if you really want to get their attention, lure them with a coupon.
A coupon – or an offer, or a discount, or a promo code, or a free gift – gives people a reason to buy or take action. Sure, it’s kind of like bribery. But hey, it’s legal!
Stupid jokes aside, discounts are fantastic ways to get people to finally do something you want them to do. We love saving money. And often, if we see a chance to save money, we’ll take it.
To make your offer succeed:
- Lead with the benefit
- Put a deadline on it – don’t just offer it indefinitely
- Make it worth something, not just a paltry 1% off a $25 t-shirt or something
- Combine it with a sweepstakes to award something really nice to a lucky few people
- Make it unique to just your social media followers, or those who retweet you, etc.
Converting Like a Boss
Social media marketing can be used to get new customers. It happens all the time. It takes intentional effort – it won’t just happen by itself through the magic of social media faeries – but it can be done. By following these tips, you’ll put yourself in a position to get more conversions from social media, cat pictures and all.
