Many small business owners correlate social media fame with an increase in sales. While sprucing up your social media accounts can help you attract more customers, it’s important to note that social media is not sales. If you approach social media to generate sales, you’re likely to undercut your social media outreach and growth. Instead, social media is about creating a loyal follower base and reaching out to potential future clients. By fostering brand awareness, you’re more likely to attract customers ready to buy instead of channeling your marketing efforts into social media. 

The Purpose of Business Social Media

While crafting a solid social media presence is one of the critical aspects of the social media sales funnel, it is separate from sales. Sales are one of the last things on the list regarding social media maintenance and development. Your social media account is for connecting with potential clients and developing your brand awareness. Many people visiting your social media profile have yet to be ready to buy, and directly marketing to them can get your business ignored or unfollowed. 

Instead, consistent social media posts aim to keep your brand at the forefront of your audience’s mind. By acting as an online authority in your niche and putting your brand front and center in the minds of future customers, you’re creating an association with your business that will pay off when your followers are ready to make a purchase. 

Studies have shown that it takes a buyer seven interactions with your brand before they decide to make a purchase. Marketing aims to ensure that when your customers are ready to buy, your brand is at the top of their list. Consistency across social media accounts and marketing strategies (including newsletters, ads, influencers, and more) can help strengthen your brand’s impact on future customers and indirectly lead to more sales. 

If you’re interested in driving sales, you want to work with a sales team. However, social media management is about something other than driving sales directly. While an increase in sales is a side effect of good social media outreach, it should never be the goal of hiring a social media or marketing team. Instead, good social media management focuses on your accounts’ outreach, brand recognition, and consistency. While social media can be a mixing pot for your marketing outreach and content creation, it should never be the sole funnel for future sales. Otherwise, you may feel overwhelmed and disappointed with your social media presence. 

Remember, a large part of running a social media account is creating a brand identity and authority around your niche. Hiring a social media marketing team can go a long way toward upping your social media outreach and increasing brand identity. In addition, by keeping your sales marketing plan distinct from your social media outreach, you can ensure natural growth for your social media following while fine-tuning your sales plan. 

If you’re interested in finding out more about social media marketing or want to check out our small business packages, reach out today. Here at Planted Marketing, we work hard to ensure your business is recognizable to future clients and use a multipronged approach to help generate traffic to your site.

Planted Marketing is a full-service digital marketing agency created for small to mid-size businesses. If you’re ready to take your social media strategy to the next level, send us a message to learn more about how we can help – info@plantedmarketing.com. Talk soon!