Mon Jan 23 2023
4 min read
This article is written in collaboration with The Clueless Company, co-authored by its co-founder Mehul Fanawala
With 755 mn (75+ cr) users, India is home to the second-highest number of social media users. The first is China with 1+ bn (100+ cr) social media users. India’s social media users count is approximately 2.5 times more than the total number of social media users in the US!
Beyond a medium to connect with family and friends, social media has evolved to become a gigantic and effective channel for sales. It’s estimated the global social commerce size is over $700 bn and is only growing northward!
When the space is only getting crowded and the competition more intense, can brands continue to use social media for sales? Brands indeed can, here are 3 effective ways for brands to utilise social media efficiently and drive sales from them.
When on social media, your existing and potential customers are always consuming content. Entertainment, informational, or even memes, irrespective of the type, users are on social media for content and communication.
Indian brands across categories have increased their social media play and through content-led approaches are engaging their users and building a community around it. Here are a few content formats that are working wonders:
Consumer e-commerce brands like The Loom, Rage Coffee, Mamaearth, and MyGlamm have used influencer marketing extensively and benefited from it. As a new and emerging brand, there’s a lot you can learn from them.
In addition to these content formats, you can also create informational content, quizzes, facts, etc. The types of content are endless, depending on the industry you operate in, choose a format that works for you.
We’ve heard this phrase often, similarly focusing on too many social media channels simultaneously without sufficient bandwidth and resources may not yield significant sales.
Not all social media platforms are meant for all businesses.
"Focusing on one or a few social channels allows you to truly master and utilise them to their full potential, rather than spreading yourself thin across multiple platforms and not making a significant impact on any of them."
- Mehul Fanawala, Co-founder at The Clueless Company
The first step to identifying the right social media channels for your business begins with understanding your target audience.
If you’re a millennial and a genZ focused B2C brand, focusing on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, may do wonders.
If you’re a B2B company then platforms like LinkedIn may be better for implementing your sales strategies. Oracle ran a “Digital Bank of the Future” campaign on LinkedIn and added $28 mn to its pipeline! Cisco, another B2B company ran a successful “Me+Moo” campaign on LinkedIn that led to 11,000+ new users in just a month!
Social media marketing is one of the most important types of marketing today. Respondents in a report rated ROI from social media to be better than affiliate marketing and even online display marketing.
Your brand can get maximum returns from social media only if your engagement rates are good. An engagement rate between 1% to 5% is great and it will be subject to the industries and also platforms used. Better engagement will lead to greater brand recall and increased trust over time. To increase your social media engagement rate, here are a few suggestions:
India’s current social media penetration is around 58% and is only rising each year. Also, with falling data prices, time spent on social media is increasing as well. Amidst this, it’s more important than ever for brands to be present on social media and utilise them efficiently.
When kickstarting or modifying or social media strategy, advice from people who live and breathe marketing can be beneficial.
Also, social media, although one of the most efficient ways to generate sales, is increasingly becoming expensive. For all your capital requirements, connect with us and raise up to ₹30 Cr through fast, flexible and founder-friendly methods.