By now we all know how important social media is to marketing a business. Each social platform offers its own advantages to the marketing mix and allows a brand to communicate with its customers and potential customers in a completely different way to the traditional platforms they would once have used. Social media is live and fast paced and requires constant attention from a brand. Gone are the days when one post a week would suffice, social media now requires regular updates of original and engaging content. A company’s social media presence is often the first interaction a person has on their customer journey. So how do you shape your social media sales funnel from first interaction through to final purchase?

It is first important to understand where that customer is coming from and why their journey began. Generally, the trigger will be an emotional one of want or need for a product or service. This leads to the search process beginning, with initial considerations formed from experience, word of mouth recommendations and social media. And that is where your sale funnel begins. Ensuring you can be found on social media is your first step. Regular updates and growing a engaged and active follower base are key.

Then if a potential customer is searching on social media and they find you, what does your social presence tell them? Ensuring your company profiles are complete, your feed is full and active and your contact details are well displayed are all essential.

So, your potential clients first impression on social is good. They look further. What content have you been producing, what reviews have others given you, how well are you demonstrating your knowledge and expertise. The more visitors can feel that you are the go to expert, the more likely you are to create customer engagement and in turn drive traffic to your website. The content you produce has a big job to do in showing potential customers that you are the right product or service provider for them. It needs to build credibility and trust.

All your content across all of your online platforms should show visitors who your are as a brand or company. Choose a tone of voice and a brand story that you use across all instances of your brand, but especially across social media. Your visitors engagement with your social channels will often dictate whether you make it onto the shortlist of considerations. If you are able to engage and entice that visitor, they are then likely to do further research on you, often clicking through to your web site or relevant landing page.

Here it is your website content that needs to do the hard work in influencing a purchase decision. This content will normally be more ever green and product focussed and will allow this potential customer to have a far more in depth view of your company and the specific product or service they are in need of. Your website content should take your visitor on a smooth journey from landing page, through the product description, right through to point of purchase.

As much as it would be wonderful if this was one straight flow from initial trigger to purchasing your product, each stage may be fluid and it is worth bearing in mind that the same flow may be happening on a competitors social media too. It would be impossible to prevent customers looking else where, all you can do is ensure that your content is more engaging and your social media sales funnel is as seamless as possible.

You should also bear in mind that those visitors that go successfully through your funnel right through to purchase then have an opportunity to be influential to someone else’s consideration list at trigger. They may be giving word of mouth feedback or have left a review on social media. The social media sales funnel is part of a never ending circle and one that needs to be navigated carefully and with the customer front of mind.

If you would like more information on social media content or website content get in touch with us now.