We often think of Instagram as a place to discover and connect with brands and LinkedIn as a networking site where we share the occasional business win. But this only scratches the surface of what both platforms can do to help grow your business.
Not only can social platforms be strategically integrated into your sales process, but Instagram and LinkedIn also have their own unique marketing and sales funnels. Depending on your type of business and sales strategy, there are times when keeping users on a platform and not immediately driving them to your website (gasp!) can be the most direct path from discovery to sale.
If you’re looking to use your social platforms as sales tools, then maintaining your social presence with the usual weekly post just won’t cut it. It’s time to treat your priority social channels as priorities in your sales and marketing strategy.
In this article, you’ll learn:
How to use social SEO to get your brand discovered
Why video is key to growing your audience
How to use on-platform calls-to-action to move users closer to a purchase
Follow these strategies, and you’ll start moving users through your social funnel from discovery to sale.
Social Platforms are Search Engines—and Should be Treated as Such
Your social channels, like your website, need an SEO strategy.
Placing targeted keywords in specific locations on your profile signals to platforms that your brand can speak as an authority on those topics.
Start by taking your existing web keywords and placing them in specific spots within each channel, including:
Post copy
Image alt tags
Bio description
Name (Instagram)
About page (LinkedIn)
Prioritize Video, Visual Storytelling, Going Live, and Connecting with Real Human Beings
Keywords alone aren’t enough to grow your accounts long-term. To get your account discovered, you need to utilize the tools each platform deems most important. Right now on Instagram, that’s short-form video Reels.
Another engaging form of video content: Going Live on Instagram. I like the Going Live strategy as one way to establish the face of your brand— whether that’s you or your team. Live video gets high engagement relative to other forms of content on most social platforms and is a near-sure way to get your content seen beyond your established audience. And the results multiply if you Go Live with another account.
Video is also finding its way to LinkedIn. Look closely, and you’ll notice that your feed includes more vertical videos featuring topic experts than it did even a few months ago. Reel-style vertical video should be a consideration as you look at your LinkedIn strategy in 2024 if it isn’t already.
The Takeaway: Video content is no longer a nice-to-have for social. It’s a must.
Convert Users On and Off of the Platforms
At some point, all of this growth on social needs to pay off in dollars and cents. For years, I’ve talked about moving your followers from your social channel to your website to a conversion point. That conversion could be signing up for a newsletter, filling out a contact form, making a purchase, or whatever the conversion goal may be.
This is still a viable strategy!
But…times, as they always do, are changing. Social media companies continue to look for ways to keep users on their platforms. So, it’s no surprise that Instagram, LinkedIn, and others reward brands that incorporate calls-to-action that encourage users to stay put.
Calls-to-action that engage users while keeping them on the platform can include: ‘send a message,’ ‘leave a comment,’ or ‘visit our Instagram shop.’
On-platform calls-to-action can nurture leads, moving those future customers through the Social funnel.
This is a shift from more traditional digital marketing funnels that nurture leads after an initial website conversion.
Instead, by nurturing social leads on their social platforms, brands can consider their LinkedIn or Instagram platforms lead-nurturing tools that help draw users down through the sales funnel.
Every brand is different and what works well for some may not work as well for others. But it’s worth taking a fresh look at your social sales strategy and how you’re leveraging your channels to convert users into customers.
If you’re interested in learning more about developing a social sales strategy leveraging Instagram and LinkedIn, join me on Wednesday, April 3, at 12:30 pm ET for a free roundtable discussion. To keep the discussion tight and ensure we can answer brand-specific questions, attendance is limited.
Sign up, join us, and let’s start turning your social audiences into customers. ✨