It may seem difficult to turn followers into clients, but we have some pointers. When marketing works, it can look like black magic, because it can be far from obvious HOW it works. Good marketing doesn’t look like it’s converting sales. If marketing is doing its job, then it’s almost invisibly getting people excited about what you do. That is the secret. Marketing is the science of turning attention into profit, and if it’s done in such a sneaky way that people enjoy the process that’s all to the good.
It doesn’t seem straightforward because marketing is one of those places where art, design, and psychology meet to trade notes. When we design a marketing strategy, the finished product appears to be an obscurely motivated splash page with an obscure relationship to the bottom line.
Well, I am here to tell you, that in spite of all the appearances of black magic, there are simple techniques with clear reasoning behind them in the marketing machines.
So if you need to turn followers into clients, or you need to learn how to turn social media into sales, or learn how to convert likes to sales, I will reveal some of the tricks we pull to do it. Trust me, it’s a lot like any other time a magician reveals their tricks: it’s a lot less exciting when you see how it works, even though it still works.
Marketing is about holding attention and removing obstacles. If you can do that, then your marketing will turn attention into profit.
Content that Converts Followers to Clients
Right, so the internet is lousy with step-by-step instructions to do it. (MyCustomer) To show willingness, I will go through the step-by-step instructions that explain how to add value to your followers. After that, I will provide a few tips on how to actually follow the step-by-step instructions.
- Post consistently, both in time and on-brand. People like regularity in your brand. (BDC)
- Interact with everyone who interacts with you. People like feeling noticed. (ManyChat)
- Be genuine. People like it when you appear to be, like, a person instead of an anonymous corporation.
- Reach out to people. Sort of vague (which people? How much should you do it?), but it’s effective.
There. Those are the techniques to use to set up your marketing so it knows how to convert likes to sales.
Like so many techniques, there’s something more complicated than buoys it up. Content that converts followers to clients has something special to it.
That special thing is, not to put too fine a point on it, you. If you are in business, whatever business it is you are in, then odds are you have a passion for it. Whatever your source of passion, whatever your reason for being in business, there are people out in the world who get that. The cheapest and most effective marketing you could ever buy is getting your honest message in front of the people who get your passion.
Because if you can get your message in front of a hundred people who love you, then you have just created a geometric increase in the effectiveness of your marketing.
How to Convert Likes to Sales
Now, the trial is getting your message in front of those people who will love you.
That seems like it should be the product of one of three things:
- Money. If you spend enough, you win.
- Numbers. If you get your messaging in front of enough eyeballs, you win.
- Luck. Can you just not control it?
Here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be expensive–although you will get what you pay for, in most cases. Big numbers do not lead, by themselves, to clients–although if used right, a significant follower base is a powerful tool. And luck has nothing to do with it.
The most significant factor in content that converts followers to clients is curiosity. If you can spark, then sustain, curiosity in the right people, then you win. In the current economy, attention is currency. Every minute you can sustain the attention of your followers you increase your odds of a profit-making behavior of some kind.
Traffic is not enough, obviously. Your marketing has to contribute to the bottom line. Before you construct your marketing strategy, you need to do two things:
- Figure out the most honest, genuine version of your story.
- Figure out how to tell the most honest, genuine version of your story in an engaging way.
People love engaging with honest stories. The coolest answer to how to add value to your followers is to tell them a story that they enjoy hearing. If they can identify with your story, then you can add genuine value to their experience. Your followers will respond to the fact that they can sympathize with you, and then they will trust the solutions to their problems you propose.
Which is all well and good to say, but how do you do it? How do you…
Convert Likes to Sales
There is no single answer to this problem. No one can provide a universal solution to an inquiry about how to convert likes to sales. I do have an excellent and proven strategy:
Steal from your crushes.
Which is a crude way of explaining it. A more refined way to say it is this: you no doubt have brands you feel loyalty to. There are reasons you feel loyalty to those brands. As a business owner or marketing professional yourself, it is now your job to look at those brands and figure out what makes them work.
The good news for you is that there are better than even odds the reason those brands have your loyalty are the same reasons you ought to attract the loyalty of your followers.
So the task before you is figuring out the tricks your brand crushes use to hold your attention. You shouldn’t copy those tricks, because they probably won’t work for you in exactly the same way. You’re a different company. There are things they are doing you could probably steal, though. Do your brand crushes do regular giveaways? Consider doing regular giveaways. Do your brand crushes highlight their team a lot? Highlight your talent! Do your brand crushes sponsor softball teams? Look into that–could be all kinds of fun.
Right, so when you want to turn followers into clients–when you need to learn how to turn social media into sales or figure out how to convert likes to sales–when you need to create content that converts followers to clients–here is your checklist:
- Consistency, of timing and brand.
- Interaction. Anonymous brands are a thing of the past.
- Genuineness. Your story is cool. Tell it.
- Outreach. Seek out followers and influencers, no matter how small their following, who share your values.
- ALSO: do an audit of brands–your competitors’ brands, your own favorite brands, and then your own brand. Adjust your brand where needed.
The most relevant calculation for you and your marketing team to do, ultimately, has only two parts: how do you grab and keep attention, and how can you remove obstacles between people and profit-making behavior? If you can grab attention and then make it easy for people to get at your product then all you need is time.