How to Use Social Media to Drive Sales

How to Use Social Media to Drive Sales

Aerio Staff

Nail down these social media best practices and make your own path to online books sales success.

You may have come across this before, between watching cute cat videos and unfollowing that person who is always posting pictures of their dinner:

Consumers and businesses alike use social media to talk about products and brands.

That’s right. Social media book sales aren’t created in a vacuum; it’s all about making connections outside your brand.

A Balancing Game

When you establish a presence on social media it has a double-sided effect that requires a good balance between sales and engagement—it’s a bit give and take.

The Bookseller – Uses social media to create brand awareness, connect with consumers at a deeper level, drive traffic to other points of sale, and with Aerio . . . sell books.

The Consumer – Uses social media to get unbiased opinions on brands and their products, communicate with sellers on a personal level, discover specials, and with Aerio . . . buy books.

Here are a few social media best practices that can help you find that perfect balance, between customer engagement and brand driven book sales.

Social Media Book Sales Best Practices

Before you dive too deep into these best practices of social media, always keep in mind your specific goals. As with most marketing tactics, there are no one-size fits all solutions. These tips provide some great starting points, but it is up to you to decide how they will fit into your overall marketing scheme.

Microtargeting – This is a fancy way of saying “know your audience.” Because of the varied genres and subject matters of books, this can be a simple process or require a bit of extra effort.

Whether you’re only selling a specific type of book or want to canvas the market, microtargeting on social media is a simple two-step process:

  1. Do a little extra work find out exactly who is reading what.
  2. Tailor your messaging to match books with their audience.

Basically, microtargeting means making sure you’re speaking to the right people, in the right way.

Choose a Few Platforms – Now that you know your audience, figure out where they live and play on social media. Facebook and Twitter will pretty much encompass everyone, but exploring into some niche platforms is a good idea.

Diversity is a great way to expand your brand identity, but make sure you stay active on every platform you choose.

Post Like a Real Person – ABC (Always Be Closing) doesn’t fly well on social media. Even though you’re running a business, that doesn’t mean you can’t come off as an authentic individual.

We pretty much harp on this in every article about selling on social media because it’s important—don’t forget the social aspects of selling on social media:

  1. Don’t always be selling
  2. Post meaningful content
  3. Share content from experts
  4. Be responsive and engage

Try New Things – Videos, memes, pictures, live Q&As, eBook giveaways, contests…these are all great ways to spread the word about your brand and books. The key here is getting your customers to interact with you in ways other than buying.

When you get creative with your social media posts, the return may not be as immediate or quantifiable as units sold, but the number of impressions you create with shareable content or a campaign that goes viral is priceless.

Put in the Time – Selling books on social media takes effort. If you don’t feel like you have the time to employ these social media best practices and nurture a healthy social media presence, try elsewhere.

A profile that sits stale for weeks is a waste of your time and that of your potential customers’. Nothing is worse than coming across a seemingly exciting post only to realize it’s a month old and has no relevance. Social media campaigns need to be:

  • Organic
  • Time Sensitive
  • Consistent

Leave these three social media best practices out and instead of driving towards more sales, you’re driving potential customers away.

Social media offers a ton of sales potential, but is takes a smart and balanced approach. It’s also just one piece of your marketing and sales strategy. When combined with other tactics like paid online and print advertising, these social media best practices will have you crushing it as a bookseller.

Aerio optimizes book sales via social media and your website.

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