3 most effective ways to drive sales with social media

This article is written in collaboration with The Clueless Company, co-authored by its co-founder Mehul Fanawala

With 961 mn (96+ cr) users, South Asia is home to the third-highest number of 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 $1,698 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, including insights on how to increase your ROAS, Content to Commerce, and FabAlley strategies.

1. Informational or meme - Content is king

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:

Meme marketing - First came into existence in 1940 and in recent years communication via memes has skyrocketed. Brands are using memes as they increase engagement, are simple to create, relatable and help drive reach. Brands like Zomato, Netflix, and Tinder are known to ace their marketing with memes, enhancing their ROAS significantly.

Influencer marketing - Collaborating with relevant influencers is helping brands reach a wider audience. Influencer-led content also brings in recognition for newer brands. Whereas, for established brands, it's a great way to both convey information and build and engage a community. 

Consumer e-commerce brands like The Loom, Rage Coffee, Mamaearth, and MyGlamm have used influencer marketing extensively and benefited from it. FabAlley, a leading fashion brand, has leveraged influencer marketing to amplify its Content to Commerce strategy.

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.

2. Too Many Cooks Spoil The Broth

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. As seen with FabAlley's Content to Commerce approach, aligning with the right platform can drastically improve your sales and ROAS.

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!

3. Engagement = Earnings

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:

1. Post regularly - Maintain a frequency your business can comfortably maintain. Again, the number of posts will vary with platforms and your business. A report highlights that businesses on average post 1.56 posts per day!
2. Catch that trend - Be it the Dalgona Coffee trend from lockdown days to the just concluded IPL 2024 trend, you must catch them at the right time and create moment marketing content around them.
3. Meme matters - It could be around a trending topic or a regular meme post that your audience can relate to, meme marketing works wonders. A study found that brands are able to 2X their engagement rate through memes! A few brands' strategy of integrating memes into their content to commerce approach has proven to be successful in increasing engagement and driving sales.

Can you guess the number of social media users/ social media penetration in India alone? India’s current social media penetration is around 52.4% 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, leveraging strategies on how to increase your ROAS.

When kickstarting or modifying your 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.