Getting lots of likes on social media feels great. But what do those likes mean to you if they don't translate into customers? Nothing.

That's why it's important to create content that drives leads and sales to your company. Because let's face it, social media and sales go hand-in-hand. In fact, research done by IDC, International Data Corporation found that:

91% of B2B buyers are now active and involved in social media
84% of senior executives use social media to support purchase decisions
75% of B2B buyers are significantly influenced by social media

That's why, in the latest episode of the Brand Authority Podcast, I share tips on how to increase social media conversions and get people to click, subscribe, and buy. Listen in!

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Highlights from episode 17

Understand the needs of your audience

The most common reason your leads aren't converting isn't a complicated one. It's a lack of empathy and understanding of the needs of your audience. If you don't know who your audience is, what challenge they're dealing with, and how you can solve it, you'll never be able to convey the value you offer. Take the time to understand their NEEDS:

Natural motivators
Energy
Enthusiasm
Desire
Story

Learn what moves potential customers to buy and the emotional triggers that encourage action. What do I mean by this? If you want to get inside the head and heart of your target market, look to past behavior and a universal psychological truth. In Maslow's “Hierarchy of Needs," there are three basic emotional triggers that drive consumer buying behavior:

Safety
Security
Sense of Belonging

To appeal to these basic needs, take a look at your product and the experience you’ve created around it. Make sure it speaks to at least one of those three needs, incorporating empathy into your copy and conversation.

Source: Cities That Work

Offer a clear benefit

Nowadays, it's not enough to just sell a product. You need to sell an experience. After all, it's important that your customers have a very clear picture of the benefit your product or service offers, including their outcome. What will they:

Get
Be Able to Do
Learn More Of
Increase
Improve

... because of your company? Be clear in your explanation and make sure to show, don't just tell. Use social media to clearly share your solution, value proposition, and the experience it provides.

Use a simple, but compelling call-to-action

You might think that your audience will read your post and know exactly what action to take, but that's rarely true. Just like your significant other, they can't read your mind.

That's why you need to be direct in what that next step is. Do you want your audience to like, click, read, comment, share? Be BOLD in what you ask for. Stop with the ambiguous social media posts and formulate a clear and compelling call-to-action. But remember, always offer enough incentive, value, and relevancy to your audience to give them a reason to take action.

Source: Truconversion

Your followers need to know exactly what they'll get once they click or share. Never promise anything just for the sake of getting that click or share. Always be transparent and true to your promise.

Social media has a lot of additional options, such as the Facebook “Call to Action,” and Twitter Cards, that can help you help your followers take action. Whatever method you chose, be sure to test and measure. Test one variable at a time to see what drives the best results.

Promote your posts

Let's admit it - Facebook organic reach is decreasing at a rapid pace and is practically non-existent. For those of you who’ve been solely dependent on organic reach, that strategy will now be replaced by a paid model. Treat this as an exciting challenge. Instead of the days when you could throw a post up on Facebook and have 300 likes and comments in less than an hour, today you have to work for it.

This requires that you're far more strategic in the placement of your content, context around it, tools you're using, how you position your ads, manage your spend, and so much more. That's why the NEEDS conversation is critical. The better you understand your audience, their needs, and where they're at on their customer journey, the more targeted your posts and ads will be.

Final thoughts

With the immense amount of changes happening across social media, don't forget that its role remains the same. It is, and always will be, the great connector. Social media acts as a digital gateway into social sectors previously untapped by traditional marketing methods.

If you want to convert more leads into sales, you first need to start a conversation. Share powerful content, get involved where they're spending time, and make sure to leverage social media to tell a compelling story. Everything else will flow from that.

The Secret Sauce to Effective Social Selling