- Stories sell, and social media has really proven
that to be true as millions
of businesses have driven sales
from these platforms by promoting their engaging stories
to the right people at scale.
Your organization can achieve its sales goals
by understanding the two types
of sales that happen on social media.
Let's start with direct sales.
This is when the last marketing channel
a customer interacted with prior
to making a purchase was a social network.
These transactions are considered direct sales,
or conversions, as social media was the final touchpoint
that converted a person browsing a social network
into a paying customer.
Like if someone made a purchase on a website
right after watching a YouTube video
about the company's eco-friendly mission
behind their latest product line.
Direct sales on social media are often the result
of promotional messaging
that showcases a company's products,
its benefits, and different use cases
as part of an ad campaign.
While promotional messaging should never be
the primary focus of your approach to social media,
this type of content is important to include
as a part of your mix to help encourage sales.
Most surveyed customers, 65% to be exact,
said they like social media ads
that show them products they're interested in
and might not have discovered elsewhere.
Basically, direct sales are most likely
from paid ad campaigns on social media
when they are relevant to the customer being targeted
and one part of your mix of engaging messaging.
On the other hand, assisted sales are when social media
is one of the multiple marketing channels
a customer interacts with before making a purchase,
but not the last touchpoint.
Assisted sales, also referred to as assisted conversions,
occur from a customer engaging
with an organization's messaging on social media
at some point prior to making a purchase.
This might mean a customer visited a company's website,
then interacted with their Instagram posts,
and then a month later made a purchase
through their email newsletter.
The customer's interaction on Instagram didn't drive them
to make a purchase at that time,
but it assisted them in getting familiar
with the company, making their last interaction
over email more effective.
Assisted sales are the result of customers interacting
with your posts on social media for the longterm,
typically through viewing your educational
and entertaining messaging.
For instance, I once worked with a mattress brand
where we regularly published articles, interviews,
and infographics focused on techniques
for learning healthier sleeping habits.
After sharing this content consistently,
Facebook became a top source of assisted sales
due to the brand's educational messaging influencing
its customer's purchasing decisions.
Interacting with these social media posts
didn't immediately encourage customers
to go and purchase a mattress,
but it did foster trust and familiarity
with the brand for the longterm.
Educational and entertaining messaging does take time
to build a connection with customers,
as it's one interaction of many touchpoints
a customer has before a sale occurs.
With that said, stories definitely sell,
it's just important to know what kind of sales to expect.