Did you know that there are more than 2.3 billion active social media users in the world? The variety & richness of audiences on social media have helped to propel its status as a primary driver of e-commerce traffic. In a recent study, researchers found that social media ranks as the overall driver to site traffic compared to traditional forms of media.

So, in an ever-changing environment that is controlled by your customers’ preferences to see what they want to see, how do you stand out? How do you increase your visibility with your audience? How can you get your customer’s attention and lead them right to you?

The answer is to create a strategic and laser-focused social media marketing plan. The following suggestions will help you reach more of your ideal audience as well as increase your conversion rate.

Build a Facebook group and attract your ideal customer

Creating a group for your ideal customer and participating in various other existing groups with them is a great way to keep tabs on keywords, hashtags, and conversation topics. You can comb through posts and retweet, share, or repost articles, videos, photos, and other interesting content that can prompt prospects and customers to return the favor. It is also a good way to establish rapport with your customers online.

Run paid ads with promo codes to offer products at a discount

Paid social media ads can help strategically place you in front of your target market. As long as your ads are well targeted and optimized correctly, you can drive up your traffic immensely. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Facebook
There is variety of Facebook ad formats that you can use, ranging from photos, videos, carousel, slideshow, and canvas. Begin your segmentation based on age, gender, location or language. Then, dig even deeper with their demographics, interests , and behaviors.

Twitter
Twitter Ads categorizes its paid content into three kinds: Promoted Accounts, Promoted Trends, and Promoted Tweets. The same theory applies to the categories – your content will appear to your targeted audience. It only varies as to what you want to promote.

Instagram
Facebook owns Instagram, so the ad formats echo the Facebook ad types such as photo, video and carousel. Instagram ads can support a variety of business objectives. Plus, it offers the same segmentation and targeting solutions as Facebook ads.

Be sure to utilize both social videos (videos generated by your customers) and professional video promos for maximum ad reach.

Publish valuable content about products and post in relevant Facebook groups

One of the best ways to create a steady stream of content is to create and maintain a blog with helpful and inspirational content so you always have something to talk about. In addition to showcasing your company’s unique perspective or expertise, a single blog post can produce dozens of social media posts that engage followers and compel them to click-through to your website.

Partner with industry influencers who have an audience of your target customer

People who have large followings online can give a big boost to your reach and social trust factor. Many ecommerce companies work with YouTubers, Instagramers, and celebrities to endorse their products or services. These influencers are usually paid a flat fee or receive commission on sales. If you have a smaller budget, you can work with websites such as Octoly who help match you with micro-influencers.

Use a Facebook Messenger abandoned cart funnel.

Did you know you can set up a Messenger funnel that can help you increase your conversion rate and overall revenue? Using a tool like ManyChat in conjunction with Facebook Ads can help you get more sales to your ecommerce site quickly.

Bonus Tips:

Use reviews to increase social proof
Let your satisfied customers do your social media marketing for you by sharing their reviews of your products. Reviews can be extremely powerful tools because potential customers are more likely to be open to buying a product or service if someone else, especially someone they know, recommends it. In fact, 88 percent of consumers surveyed said that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Use visual content
Image-based content is naturally more engaging than text-based posts, making it perfect for marketing your business on social media. Recent studies show that using images is an important tactic for optimizing social media posts to make the most sales. Make sure your product images are shareable on sites that favor image-driven marketing, such as Instagram and Pinterest (i.e., include Pinterest’s “Pin It” button on all images). Another great idea is to feature customer’s selfies or images for a more personalized touch.

Run social media contests
Why not create a fun way of interacting with your audience by starting a social media contest. Contests are one of the fastest and easiest way to get your audience talking, sharing, commenting, liking and following. If you want to get people to get excited about your products and your store; this is the way to do it!

Use live streams
Live video can be an amazing way to get in front of your ideal customer and interact with possible new customers as well. The most popular platforms to try out include Instagram Stories & Live, Facebook Stories & Live, SnapChat, and YouTube Live.

Here are a few types of live videos that work:

• Broadcast a live competition – You can maximize on social media contests by broadcasting them live.
• Launch a new product or brand – Don’t just create a promotional flyer or printed ad for your new product. An exciting way to spice up your launch is to broadcast it live.
• How tos and tutorials – If you have a product or item that you want to explain or show off, these types of videos are ideal.

About The Author:

Connor Gillivan is the CMO and co-owner of FreeeUp.com, a rapidly growing freelance marketplace making hiring online simpler for both freelancers and business owners.