A quick social media marketing guide to driving effective conversion and sales

Unless you’ve been living under a rock in the past decade or decided not to adopt new technologies, you probably would have a social media account or two, perhaps on Facebook or Instagram. Maybe you’re one of the savvier ones who has jumped onto TikTok to see what the Gen Zs have been up to.

We have social reports that there are almost 5 million active social media users in Singapore, and these users spend an average of 2 hours and 17 minutes on social media alone daily. These numbers are also growing every year.

With so many social media users in Singapore, social media should be an integral part of your marketing strategy, if it isn’t already.

If you think you need a big budget before you start using social media to sell your products and services, good news – you do not.

There are many ways to maximise your use of social media marketing to drive awareness leading to effective conversions and sales, even if you have little to no budget.

Here are five of them:

1. Know Your Audience

Before you begin planning your marketing approach, identify your target audience clearly. By narrowing your audience down to a particular customer persona, you will have a better idea of their demographic details and their likely interests.

Platforms like Facebook allow you to target your audience according to their interests, such as pages they like, content they engage with or things on their profile.

If you know who your customer persona is, you can align your targeting on Facebook to interest categories that your persona is keen on.

For example, you might want to target people keen on signing up for a gym membership. Instead of broadly showing your ad to both genders and all ages, you could narrow your age preferences to an age group that would be more likely to spend on a fitness membership. You can also indicate specific interests and keywords, such as “physical fitness”, “yoga” or “pilates”.

This ensures that whoever clicks on your ad will likely be someone who has already shown some interest in fitness.

2. Use Facebook Marketplace

With people spending an increasing amount of time on Facebook, you already have a captive audience on the platform.

If you have been using classifieds platforms such as Carousell to list and sell your products, consider using Facebook’s Marketplace feature instead.

Marketplace is an integrated digital platform within Facebook where users can buy, sell or trade items. Users and businesses alike can use this feature.

By using Marketplace, you are reaching potential buyers where they already are – on Facebook.

Marketplace allows you to target anyone, as long as they are on Facebook. The platform already has a huge user base, but it’s also less saturated with sellers. So, you’re likely to have a first mover advantage if you get your items on there first.

3. Slide into their DMs

You may have heard of this phrase which explains a situation where social media users drop direct messages (DMs) to other users who catch their eye.

But did you know you can also use DMs to do user research, collate buyer interest and even market your products?

As a visual and video platform, Instagram users regularly comment and reply on other users’ posts and stories if they spot something they like or resonate with. Just by clicking into hashtags or location tags, you can easily find users who would have an interest in a certain topic or that have visited a certain place.

We’re not asking you to just slide into your potential buyers’ DMs without rhyme or reason, but you can drop a comment or reply to their stories if you notice that they express interest in certain products or services.

If you already have a good following on your business’ Instagram account, try posting nice visuals of your products in a “this or that” type-poll on Stories or a post to drive engagement and interest. You can then DM users who reply to the poll to share a small promotion or discount code to drive conversion. 

4. Forget Standalone Images, Use Carousels in Ads

On Facebook and Instagram, you can use the carousel format, which allows you to display a few images in a single post or ad.

When you’re trying to move buyers down the marketing funnel from brand awareness to sales conversions, the key is to give them more visuals and information for them to make their purchase decisions.

With carousel ads, you can also use different headlines and descriptions for each card. Instead of just promoting one product with one ad, you can display up to ten products in images or videos, killing more birds with that marketing stone.

5. Content is King

If you don’t have a high marketing budget, then your best bet to draw more eyeballs is to ensure that your content is engaging and value-adds to your potential buyers.

Instead of just telling them about your product, show them why they might need it and how they can integrate it into their everyday lives.

Social media is a great platform to create “pros and cons” type posts or videos to show the practical benefits of your product and why buyers should shop with you instead of Brand X or Brand Y.

Posts don’t always also have to be about your company, business, or product. If you notice that your followers or buyers seem to have a particular problem or are seeking solutions in certain areas that your product can solve, help them by offering them some tips and then weave your product in at the end.

Even if they don’t purchase from you, you’ll be seen as a reliable source of good, valuable information that they could also potentially share on their own social channels or with their friends.

There is a lot more than can be done with social media to market your products and services and these tips are just the tip of the iceberg, as platforms like Facebook and Instagram push out even more new features. Optimising your content for search engines and affiliate marketing are ways to also bring your product to a wider audience.

If you’d like to find out more on social media marketing, and how you can do more, whatever your budget may be, then sign up for GEX Academy’s WSQ Social Media Sales Robot Course to learn how to develop your first social media campaign now. 

GEX Academy is an Approved Training Provider (TP) accredited by SkillsFuture Singapore under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) Skills Framework and an Approved and Accredited Teaching & Examination Centre for IPMA | UEN Reg. No.: 201529371H