Social networks are becoming the most important place for converting fans to customers. According to The Drum, customers who engaged with their Facebook campaigns spent 24% more than those who didn’t. The same study found that people referred through Facebook to make their first purchase spent 30% more. Given the importance of social networks on purchasing decision, companies should optimize their websites to encourage sharing and convert fans to loyal customers.
Make It Social-Oriented
A conversion page is defined by Affiliate Marketing Review as an important page where the user will complete a required action such as placing an order or filling out an interest form. To engage your fans and drive them down the purchase funnel, you need to make your conversion pages more social-oriented by including the sharing options.
Conversion scenario # 1: A bride is looking for wedding shoes. She finds a pair she loves and wants to consider so she shares it on her page with the text: “What do you think? Wedding worthy?” Her question then elicits responses from friends, family, and other connections. As the result, your conversion page gets many more views, and ultimately more purchases.
Make It Visual
From coupons to seasonal sales and email marketing, your online marketing plan should include a variety of campaign tactics to drive page views and brand consideration. In addition, you can move the needle on conversions by making your campaign more shareable. So which type of content gets more shares?
A research study done by eMarketer found that users not only click on more ads with video or rich media, but also tend to visit brand sites long after seeing the associated ad.
Conversion scenario # 2: Your coupon video is shared by a loyal customer with the proper conversion page or coupon attached. They put their own descriptive spin on the video, and it gains popularity within that network. Even if the conversion doesn’t happen then, it nevertheless enhances awareness of your products.
Encourage Engagement
Finally, the number one rule of engagement: you can’t just expect it — you should always encourage it.
While posting questions and eliciting comments is a great start, you have to get more creative and offer more incentives to drive conversion sharing. Instead of assuming your customers will just click through and purchase your products, give them a reason to do so. In addition to linking to a conversion page, you should also link to your subscriber page and offer immediate coupons post sign-up. Be sure to make the signup process short and sweet to keep their attention.
Conversion scenario # 3: You’re rolling out a new product and instead of simply linking to the new product or service page using rich content, you offer discounts for that specific item: buy one get one, half-off, etc. You then encourage readers to share this discounted purchase with something like: I signed up with company X and got discount Y%.
Social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter are important to businesses for more than just marketing. Always optimize your conversion sharing so you can drive more customer interactions on social networks. As long as you cover these basic tactics, you will make it much easier for your fans to convert and become brand advocates.
