Like in face-to-face interactions, you need to be clear, concise, and polite when asking people to follow you on social media. Things get complicated when you have multiple online profiles and pages across multiple networks, some private. To make matters worse, the quality of followers on social media doesn't necessarily correlate with a greater number of leads. Or sales that can result from your social media efforts, so as important as getting people to follow you/your brand on social media is getting them to take the next step.
What is a social media marketing funnel?
A social media marketing funnel is a step-by-step process that delivers traffic to your website. You can get the most out of your time and effort when you have the right social media strategy in place.
Tips on How To Build A Social Media Sales Funnel
You must know who your buyer is
Who is the buyer in your social media sales funnel?. This is a critical question to answer before you start building your funnels. If you don't know who your buyer is, then how will you know what kind of content to create? How will you know what kinds of products or services they need? If you're not sure who your buyers are yet, start by looking at the demographics and psychographics that are most likely to buy from you. You can use this information to narrow down who might be interested in your products and services, then build a persona for them based on those demographics and psychographics.
For example, suppose you're selling something for women over 40 years old with two kids in college. In that case, it's probably safe to assume that they're financially stable enough that they don't need coupons or discounts—but they might be interested in hearing about new beauty products or fashion trends.
You must know how you want to brand your business
This is the most important step because it will help you make all of your decisions from here on out. You have to know what your brand stands for, how it looks and feels, and who it represents. Once you have this information, you'll be able to choose the right social media platforms that align with your brand's personality and tone. It's also important to think about what content will resonate best with your target audience.
Choose the right platform(s) for your business
Now that you know what kind of business you want to be in and what content will resonate with your target audience, it's time to start thinking about where these people hang out online. There are so many different social media platforms out there—it can be overwhelming trying to decide which ones will get the best results for your business.
Determine where your ideal customer hangs out online
There's no point in marketing to your ideal customer if you don't know where they hang out online. The first step in building a sales funnel is to figure out exactly where your ideal customer hangs out online. For example, if you're selling mattresses, they're probably on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They may be on Instagram or Reddit if you're selling dog food. If you're selling makeup, they might be on Pinterest or YouTube. Once you've figured out where your customers are, there are two main ways you can use these platforms to sell them stuff: by using ads or by using organic content.
Develop a social media content strategy
If you're building a social media sales funnel, you know that it's not just about building a product and posting it on Facebook. You need to develop a content strategy that will help you engage with your audience, get them interested in what you have to say, and sell them the idea of buying from you. How do you do this? It all starts with understanding your customers and what they want out of their purchases. What value are they looking for when they shop? What questions do they want to be answered by the brands they choose to support?
Once you've got those answers, come up with some ideas for posts that will address those needs with your products as the solution. Then, schedule those posts into your calendar, so they're published at regular intervals throughout the month (or however often). Don't just focus on one kind of post either—you'll want to try different types of content until you find something that works well for your audience. For example, if one type of post gets a lot of engagement, another doesn't try changing things up to get equal attention.
Connect with your audience on a personal level
The best way to connect with your audience is to be yourself, which means showing up in the world and having conversations with people who have similar interests, likes, and dislikes. If you're looking for a quick way to get started building relationships with your audience, consider these ideas:
Join forums related to your business topic. You'll be able to engage with other people interested in the same things as you. Start a blog about what you do. This will allow you to share information about your business and get feedback from readers in real-time. If someone has questions or wants more information on something, they can leave a comment on your site—and then you can respond.
Here are some ways you can leverage social media for your business:
Share content that appeals to your target audience. This might include how-to videos, infographics, or articles discussing your industry topics. The more people share your content on social media, the more exposure it will get. Add links back to your website in posts so that people can easily find out more about what you offer and how they can contact you directly if they want more information before making a purchase decision. Use hashtags in posts so people can search for them later if they want more info on specific topics related to what you post about frequently (ex: "how-to" posts).
Common social media sales funnel stages
Awareness
Awareness is the first step in your sales funnel. You want people to know about your product or service.
Consideration
The consideration stage is typically the longest and involves your prospects considering your offer before deciding whether or not to make a purchase. The key tactic for the consideration stage is relationship building.
Action
The action phase shows prospects the value of your product or service by demonstrating its features, benefits, and applications.
Engagement
Engagement is the foundation of any social media sales funnel. It sets the tone for your customers to have a positive experience and get them talking about you.
Advocacy
Advocacy is where a customer becomes an ambassador for your brand because of your product's value, price, and the great experience he has with your company.
