We all know that there are only so many hours in a day, which makes time a very precious commodity.
A commodity mostly spent on social media these days...
In fact, the average person spends 147 minutes per day on different social platforms!
That’s a whole lot.
That is why attracting a prospect on social media and getting them to spend time on your site or platform is so important to marketing and sales teams today. It is, one can say, the path to conversion. Especially with the boom in social media commerce – stats show 36% of users use social media to purchase products.
But...competition is massive, with the average person being bombarded with 10 000 ads per day.
So how can businesses leverage social media for customer acquisition (the process of acquiring new customers or clients)? Here’s how...
5 Ways to Use Social Media for Customer Acquisition
1. Invest in Video Content
A sure-fire way to boost customer acquisition is through the creation of sticky content. That is content that attracts eyeballs, drives brand awareness and engagement and converts.
Currently video content does best. According to Wyzowl’s 2021 State of Video Marketing Survey, “an overwhelming majority of video marketers say video has helped increase sales, traffic to their website and users’ understanding of their product or service”. 78% also reported an increase in ROI. It makes sense as Instagram video posts get 49% more engagement than other posts and Tweets with videos receive 10x more engagement than those without.
Great video content doesn’t only guide prospects through the buyer’s journey but it’s also engaging, fun and informative. What’s more, it creates a lasting impression. Like this Volvo x Jean-Claude Van Damme Epic Split ad that spearheaded an entire marketing campaign with specific video content for consumers at every stage of the sales funnel.
It might be old but it is still pretty awesome, right?
The campaign also highlights an important point when it comes to video marketing. You need videos for every stage of the buyer’s journey. Not just a single great reel. The more you produce and share regularly, the more brand authority you will build – not to mention anticipation among viewers.
Strong video content can not only help with boosting brand recognition, authority and engagement but it can also boost conversions and sales. In a recent HubSpot study, 76% of respondents reported that video marketing helped them increase sales and 76% said it helped them increase traffic (which may be because according to Moovly, you are 53 times more likely to show up first on Google if you have a video embedded on your site).
With stats like that, it’s hard, no impossible, to dismiss video content as part of your social media strat for customer acquisition.
Check out these great ideas for video content.
2. Create Instant Shopping Opportunities
Like we said, time is money. In our virtual reality, this speaks directly to the time customers spend online and the money you can make when they are on your platform. By creating instant shopping opportunities you can quickly and effectively draw and convert browsers. To do this, it’s important that you remove any barriers to purchasing there may be (such as a long checkout process). You don’t want to waste your client’s time, so make your shopping process as fast and efficient as possible.
Super simple yet highly effective ways to do this is by adding shopping functionalities to your Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Termed social commerce this process is far more seamless than online shopping. As Big Commerce explains:
“Social commerce sells products directly through social media networks. It differs from social media marketing as you’re not redirecting users to an online store, but offering them the ability to checkout directly within the network they’re using at that moment.”
And it is the way of future sales with studies showing that in the US, 36% of internet users are social buyers and worldwide over 130 million users engage with Instagram shopping posts every month. Plus, even e-commerce companies are using it to sell faster and wider as the graph below shows.
How do you get prospects to buy? Easy, simply add a buy button – 13% of users said it was a top purchase driver for them.
3. Leverage Gaming
According to stats, Gen Z consumers in America are most interested in gaming (far more than TV, movies or music), and sees it as “the central medium around which others revolve”.
This is mainly due to gaming’s ability to provide an escape and the unique “hybrid social and competitive online space” it offers gamers.
Apart from creating ads to run on gaming platforms, now’s the time to invest in gamification marketing, which can take the form of a mini-game to introduce a new product or service. Not only is this a fun and memorable way to launch something but it is also far more engaging. Even better, “gamification can increase purchaser intent comparatively from standard video advertisements by 169%”.
The Nike + Run Club app is a great example of gamification marketing. The brand tapped into the naturally competitive nature of its customers by creating an app that allows users to not only personalise their training program but also compete in challenges to win trophies and badges.
So what are you waiting for? Get your game on! Start using Social Gaming as a Marketing Strategy today.
4. Partner with an Influencer
A few years ago it wasn’t even a word, now it’s a job. Although it might boggle the mind, stats support the importance and value of a brand influencer today. In fact, over 90% of marketers who use an influencer as part of their marketing strat believe it’s effective and ROI is high with $6.50 made for every $1 spent.
A phenomenal example of how influencer marketing can be leveraged is ABSOLUT Planet Earth’s Favourite Vodka Campaign for which 95 influencers created 612 posts that generated 68 million potential impressions and 8.6M total engagements for the brand.
Not only is influencer marketing the fastest-growing way to acquire new customers online...
It also generates better-quality followers, meaning the people you attract are more likely to need and buy your product or service.
Want to know more about the ins and outs of influencer marketing and how to combine it with your social media for customer acquisition? Check out this handy guide.
5. Use UGC to Your Advantage
UGC or user-generated content is the most trusted type of content according to studies with stats showing that two-thirds of consumers trust the opinions of other customers posted online, that customer reviews are 12x more trusted than brand marketing and 84% of millennials report that UGC has an impact on what they buy. Overall, 92% of consumers trust UGC more than any other form of marketing or advertising. The bonus for brands – it’s absolutely free. All you have to do, really, is provide customers with a great service or product and brand experience for them to report favourably on, of course.
“UGC is the thread that ties your retention and acquisition strategies together. Returning customers make up approximately 33% of your revenue, and you can use them to influence the remaining 77%” – HubSpot
UGC can include reviews, product photos and videos, customer Q&As and testimonials that social-media-savvy brands can leverage and use to their advantage. This can include using it in email marketing or ad campaigns.
A great example of a UGC campaign is Vivadogs which reposts thousands of happy dogs and their owners on their Instagram page. This type of “social proof” of clients happy with their products or services can increase the time spent on a company’s site and can increase conversion rates by 20-30%.
It’s a super simple yet highly effective way to use social media for customer acquisition – and what’s more, it works.
Key Takeaway
Customer acquisition is hard. Very hard, in fact. But the ever-growing, ever-present world of social media can actually help brands win over more customers and more business. If you use it smartly, that is.
Modern consumers and users are far more clever than when it all started out, so be sure to do your homework and tailor a social media customer acquisition strategy specific to your market. Don’t try to fool them with fluff - your customers will not appreciate it. If they offer you their time, offer them valuable content or experiences in return.
