Whilst we’re all obsessed with gaining more followers and receiving more ‘likes’ on our posts, let’s not forget what social media can really do for an online business – drive targeted customers to your website and boost sales!
Social media platforms are a great way to reach a specific demographic, establish trusted relationships with new and existing customers and build brand awareness, however, you need to learn how to effectively utilise them.
Most people know it is important for their eCommerce business to be on social media, but not many fully understand how to use these online platforms to their full advantage.
Social Media Audit For Your Business – Categorised Posts
Customers are now using social media before, during and after making a purchase, so what you put in front of them and how you communicate to your followers affects the entire shopping process.
Scared yet? Don’t worry! We know how to get your followers smiling. But first, let’s evaluate your brand’s social media to see where you could make improvements and get the most out of your accounts.
Take a look at the last 10 social posts on your Instagram/Facebook account and identify which of the following categories they achieve:
- Selling (the promotion of products or services from your business)
- Sharing (reposting valuable content from other accounts or original content)
- Mentions (are other accounts mentioning or sharing your content?)
- Responsive (responding to comments and complaints, mentioning things people love or ‘best sellers’, and suggesting how to make less popular products/items better)
Out of your 10 latest posts, the majority should fit within the ‘Sharing’ and ‘Mention’ categories, and less than half of your posts should be of the ‘Selling’ classification (people respond better to products or services when they’re not constantly being sold to).
What can you do to fully optimise your social media accounts?
As well as adopting a better regulation of categorised posts, there are other strategies you can implement. Here are eight ways to ensure you’re getting the most out of your social media platforms:
- Take the time to fully understand your target audience
Find out where your customers are hanging out on social media and follow them there (are they on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or all four platforms?). Think about what your client likes/wants to see. Just because you like dog memes, doesn’t mean your audience does.
- Keep it original
Don’t just follow the latest trends all the time. Remember, you want to be a leader, not a follower.
- Brand your posts
Adding branding to your posts promotes recognition and familiarity with your brand, which helps to build trusting relationships.
- Communicate with your followers
Ask your followers questions, set up polls and participate in group discussions. Be sure to reply to comments whether they’re good or bad (yes, even to the social media trolls).
- Provide better customer service
Encourage your clients to converse with you through social media and be prompt with your responses. Use instant messaging services to your advantage.
- Get personal
Post photos of your company’s day-to-day activities. People love seeing the human element to a business.
- Give your audience and incentive to keep following you
Provide your followers with value, offer exclusive discounts or run limited promotions.
- Integrate social media on your website
Provide your customers with a simple way to share your products or content on their social media by integrating social media sharing buttons on your website.
Need more inspiration on how else can you use social media to support your eCommerce business? Give us a call and we’ll be happy to teach you another trick or two!
