How to use social media in marketing and sales

With this Blog you will know which social networks have become the engine of business success. Explore effective tips to positively impact.

There are so many ways to promote your business, such as social networks; It is very important to know how they work and what potential awaits you in them. 

How to use social media in marketing and sales

As we have seen in other spaces, social networks are very useful for Marketing and Sales, therefore, we want you to have clarity about their role in these two areas below, learn about their real potential and a very simple guide to the strategy you can start.

Let’s get started!

3 functions of social networks in Marketing

The influence of social networks in our life and in marketing they have been from another planet, not for nothing these platforms have approximately 4,000 million users, a very shocking figure to take advantage of it. 

Not all users use the internet for the same reason. Some use it for purposes: commercial, personal, educational, entertainment… Anyway, there may be various reasons. 

Before going into the subject, we want to remind you that the creation of social networks have allowed too many people to find themselves in a completely digital space, which has led companies to take this leap in evolution. 

Then don’t hesitate to use them!

Some marketing experts talk about the “Social media ecosystem ”, that is, a set of elements such as influence, persuasion, audience segmentation, and content generation as part of that digital environment.  

Now yes, let’s see the 3 main functions of social networks in marketing: 

• Branding (brand management): its main objective is to make users’ minds and hearts fall in love, therefore, this concept on social networks plays a fundamental role. “Brand recognition is essential to improve income ” Andy Stalman. 

Some experts call it the “branding on the web ” as the one in charge of aspects such as visual identity and the creation of following communities as loyal ambassadors to the brand.

Advice: For this type of function consider if you need to update your brand identity or make a new one. 

• Interaction: Digital platforms promote direct interaction with the user or potential customer, as well as allow them to participate in real-time conversations with the audience. 

This work creates closer connections with the target audience and can influence positive perception towards the company. 

• Audience segmentation: Social media has the great advantage of allowing companies to segment their target audience efficiently. Likewise, these platforms offer the option of guiding messages to specific groups according to their interests and needs. 

Now, do you want to know the good and the bad of social networks?…

Role of social networks in Sales

Chances are you know what the use of these platforms is in people’s lives, but in sales, you know? .

Before we focus on the role of social media in sales, it is important to consider that, although networks are a natural or organic medium that allows sales to be reached, their primary function is to attract users to start a conversion and sales funnel, that is, their main focus is not that of sell. 

(Now yes! “Let’s take a couple of analyzes ” to understand their role).

So in case it wasn’t on your radar, keep in mind that social media is among the most important channels for the attraction and generation of leads.

This role may include that: 

 A potential customer feels comfortable share and interact with content exposed on these platforms, which attracts much more attention and audience than you have.

 Have the application of an important trend in the world of electronic commerce: the Social Commerce (Social Commerce). 

A sales channel that is used through social media to help stimulate the online purchase and sale of products and services. 

 The data collection Providing these platforms on user behavior is helpful in adapting sales strategies.

Social networks play a fundamental role in understanding audiences, for this reason, it is necessary to take advantage of their potential at all stages of the sales process. 

Comparative between the 5 most used social networks in Marketing and Sales

Does not exist a single social network to do marketing and sales. That will depend on the situation and market trends, what you want to sell and the purpose of the brand.

But, if we can reference a comparison of the 5 most used social networks in marketing and sales so you can start creating your digital stage: 

 Facebook: with a very strong option to reach a wider audience, Facebook or Meta Ads. Its user base is diverse and segmented by interests. 

Some functions in marketing

• Allows you to create carousel ads through Facebook Ads. You can also have an official or Fan Page page of your business. Two important options to attract with content and get leads or leads. 
• Using stories will be a great way to communicate what you are doing in real time to the audience or to communicate a launch or promotion.
• With Pixel personalized audience on Facebook you can follow the people who come to your profile or website.
• Facebook’s features can be very profitable if you choose the content and options provided by this platform well.

Some functions in sales

• Using Marketplace offers opportunities to sell products directly from the social network. Facebook is very effective at this point. 
• You can organize the Chatbots with automatic message flows and messages that can be customized on Facebook Messenger.
• Use the sales manager It will allow you to create and organize a catalog with all the items you want to promote on this network.
• The function of purchase completion helps users buy directly from Facebook.
• With the functionality of «sales manager » you can also manage your accounting and track cash flows.

 Instagram: the social network with a young audience is the most visually attractive. Focuses on lifestyle, creativity and trends. 

Some marketing functions:

• Stories, ads, and option “link in theBio” are tools wanted by marketing when promoting a brand. 
• The use of hashtag are essential to find related content, an important functionality when marking keywords that attract traffic.
• Companies can announce on Instagram an exclusive launch campaign for a product, by configuring news and reminders to give an entire «anteroom » to that event.

Some functions in sales

• You can create a commercial profile to generate more trust and value in your audience. Do not forget to choose the right product or service to sell on this social network. 
• The section “Buy on Instagram ” will be of great help to highlight your product and for users to discover it easily. In this function take advantage of reels and photos. 
• The option of Shopping Instagram It will allow you to connect to your Facebook page, upload a product catalog and activate purchases so that people can better explore available items.
• The product labels promote the elements of your catalog directly in images and videos. In this way, the audience only has to click on the label to obtain more information.

LinkedIn: ideal to reach a professional and work space. It can be a challenge for B2B companies (companies that sell to companies). 

Some marketing functions:

• It is an effective platform for networking and B2B content. In addition, it is ideal to increase the credibility of your brand.
• The «option to create groups of companies » is a very useful element to increase the level of employee branding.
• This network is becoming one of the main channels to direct traffic to corporate websites, you can do it through the option «Featured » in your profile.

Some functions in sales:

• This network has infinite ways to get new clients and potentials, through the users who see your profile and making use of advanced search
• The premium feature of LinkedIn Sales Navigator will help you segment the right buyers and get key information. It is ideal to interact with your potential clients. One more piece of information: it can be integrated with a CRM.
• The use of LinkedIn Ads are of great benefit to companies when promoting their conversions. This tool focuses on generating leads through paid ads.

Selling on LinkedIn is an excellent option!

 TikTok: one of the most influential networks in the world of marketing and sales due to its massive reach.

Some marketing functions:

• You can create creative and attractive content that shows the purpose of the brand, for example viral videos that generate trend and remembrance in users. 
• You can include this powerful channel in the marketing strategy and in the organic promotion of your products, due to its profitability in advertising.
• The algorithm of this platform has a great scope, which allows SMEs to produce content for greater interaction on this network.

Some functions in sales:

• In this network, companies will be able to promote products or services in a fun way, this can be very effective in promoting sales.  
• TikTok for business aims for companies to get new customers and generate results fast. 74% of users From this network they say that TikTok has inspired them to obtain more information about a product.
• The multi-channel sales method is also one of the options of this social network, in which it offers to maximize the reach that companies have in a market through this platform.

 YouTube: the world’s largest video platform, which makes it attractive for creating audiovisual content. 

Some marketing functions:

• Useful for creating multimedia content with the aim of positioning a company and adding more web traffic. This implies creation of an official channel or account, content of keywords, advertisements and collaboration with other creators or influencers. 
• Optimize the data that describes the content of the video, such as; the title, the label, the description, the subtitle category, will ensure that the video is correctly indexed and appears in the main search options.
• Using the playlist (playlists) groups your content in a convenient way for visitors.

Some functions in sales:

• It is excellent to demonstrate the operation of a product or service, that is, to build trust. This may affect the user’s purchase decision. 
• Use YouTube Shopping, the store on your channel that, for example, allows you to fix your products on live broadcasts.
• YouTube ads during video viewing. The model of this function is cost per view (CPV), that is, they only pay when someone interacts with the ad.

How to start a network strategy for your Company

Now that we know how social networks work in Marketing and Sales, it is time to apply a first strategy for your company. 

Here we leave you the steps you can start: 

 Know who my audience is. Well, without being clear about this, you will not be able to create the marketing campaign, nor know what type of social networks they use.

Define the objective or purpose that a company can have in this network as: 

• Be a communication channel with the client 
• Position and promote the brand
• Create a company-fan community

 Listen to my audience consistently. Fortunately there are a number of tools that allow you to do this analysis. Reddit or Artificial Intelligence are a rich source of data and formats. Social listening is getting stronger.

 Choose the right social networksWell, not all of them are going to suit your brand. Ask yourself questions like: Is my target audience on that social network? Or do the parameters of that social network align with the purposes of the brand? 

You may also want to read.. “What is the best time to post on Instagram? Find out in this Blog“

You can choose between Instagram, which is ideal for displaying products visually shocking, or Facebook, the favorite of companies because the type of content does not matter, since this social network (through Facebook Ads or Meta Ads) promotes according to the interests of your person Buyer.