The 5-part Social Media Sales Funnel

A sales funnel converts lookers into customers. The path isn’t smooth or direct, typically requiring multiple touches across five main areas:

• Awareness,
• Communication,
• Connection,
• Service,
• Sales.

A modern sales funnel necessarily includes social media. I’ll address it in this post.

Awareness

Social media posts and shares drive awareness. And the same content can appear in organic search results.

Search visibility extends beyond Google. Amazon, YouTube, eBay, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, specialized marketplaces, and many more attract millions of would-be customers. To increase your brand’s awareness, take the time to learn how to optimize content — product pages, blog posts, videos, photos — for those sites.

For example, I searched Google for “Halloween Cast Covers,” and the results included a blog post about those covers (for medical casts, as in a broken arm) from CastCoverz, an ecommerce company — in 2016! This shows the power of optimized content.

The search results on Google for “Halloween Cast Covers” included a 2016 blog post from CastCoverz, an ecommerce company.

I then searched “Halloween Cast Covers” on Pinterest; sure enough, CastCoverz has the first photo spot.

Pinterest search results for “Halloween Cast Covers” included a photo from CastCoverz.

Communication

Communication keeps the sales funnel moving. Social media users are mostly scanners, not deep readers. Thus headlines, descriptions, videos, and images should be clear, short, and to the point. A video from a promotional company on YouTube titled “About Our Company” does little to inform scanners or attract engagement. A much better option is, say, “Custom Construction Promotional Products,” with a robust description of the business and its products and audience.

Profile descriptions on social media are overlooked communication opportunities. Look at all your social media channels and make sure they clearly explain your company’s mission, staff, and target customers.

Remember, the best communication is not a pushy sales pitch. It’s distributing impartial info about your company and products. This applies to ads, organic posts, images, and videos.

A good example is My Smart Shirt, a promotional apparel firm. Its About section on Facebook describes the company’s purpose in a fun manner.

My Smart Shirt’s About section on Facebook describes the company’s purpose in a fun manner.

Connection

Marketing is the act of maximizing exchanges — building followers, subscribers, customers, and repeat buyers. Focus on connections and relationships, not transactions.

Connections can occur throughout the sales funnel. An image, an ad headline, an organic post — all can prompt a connection.

My wedding ring designer, since retired, transformed her business when she tapped into the power of social media. She invested in professional photography and consistently shared pictures, stories, and blog posts about her jewelry designs and repairs. She told me, “It reminds my clients I am there and can help them.”

Plus, her content appeared in search results when people queried “personal jeweler” for a  geographic location and, also, specific needs, such as “men’s rhodium engagement ring design.”

She even wrote a blog post about the ring she designed for me.

The author’s wedding ring designer shared photos in a blog post.

Service

Customer service is a critical component of the sales funnel. Addressing frequently asked questions is a form of customer service, as is dedicated personnel monitoring social media queries and responding to live chat and phone calls.

Linking customer service and marketing staffs is wildly productive, exposing the latter to complaints, questions, objections, and concerns. Addressing those pain points in blog posts, videos, images, and more gets shoppers closer to converting.

Sonos, the home-theater provider, does this well. Its how-to videos on YouTube simplify the operation and installation of its products. On Twitter, the company responds promptly to questions and includes further support options in its profile description.

Sonos’s YouTube channel includes instructional videos.

Sales

Having created awareness, communicated company info, established connections, and responded to queries, it’s time to close sales!

But it’s repeat sales that drive profitability for most merchants.

Stay in touch with customers. Share on social media company news and developments. Solicit suggestions for new products. Address important charitable causes, and share photos of your team participating in those events. And share stories. Storytelling supports selling! Turn favorable reviews into images and then post on social media with the reviewer using your products.

You’ve worked hard to obtain the first sale. Keep the love alive.