Leveraging social media for sales in 2024: A full guide

Social media is used by an absolutely enormous portion of the world, and it is not just used for talking to friends and family – but for research, connecting with businesses, and even making purchases. Having a social media sales strategy is incredibly important for businesses evolving their digital presence. In this article, we are looking at why social media is so important for sales in 2024, how it is forecasted to grow and evolve, the trends that are set to make an impact, and what you need to do to leverage more sales from these platforms.

Why is social media so important for sales?

The number of customers and potential customers businesses can connect with and appeal to on these platforms cannot be underestimated, and it is absolutely vital that your business has a social media strategy that works with your marketing, advertising, customer service, and sales strategies.

According to Smart Insights, 60% of the world’s population use social media and the average daily usage is 2hrs 24 minutes.

There are different opportunities to make sales and connect depending on the platform – for example, Facebook (Meta) has a ‘marketplace’ area, Instagram has Instagram Shopping and integrates with Shopify, and TikTok (once a certain level is reached) allows for a TikTok shop account – and these are just the direct sales methods. Indirectly, platforms such as X (formally Twitter) and LinkedIn are extremely useful for gaining attention and focus and directing people over to specific landing pages or websites.

Social media is a vital tool for sales because it:

• Positions a brand / product / service as a trusted solution.
• Drives higher quality leads.
• Allows for social selling.
• Increases brand visibility.
• Increases sales opportunities for minimal cost.
• Increases opportunities to boost market share.

How will social media 2024 grow and evolve?

Social media platforms do not remain static and unchanging, they are constantly evolving and seeking new areas of engagement with users. As technology continues to become more accessible and integration of new ideas is simplified, the platforms adapt and adopt new areas of focus.

In 2024, social media will see a substantial push towards creating digital spaces, embracing ‘social VR’, and engaging consumers much more directly allowing for more impactful lead generation and customer engagement.

What trends will impact sales through social media in 2024?

With more individuals wanting to have experiential opportunities and still pushing for digital gatherings rather than in-person meet ups, the trends that affect social media will see a considerable change in 2024.

Some of the most significant trends that look set to impact social media include:

• Social VR and the digital space – As interactive software AR and VR become more accessible to audiences, and social media continues to develop, the use of digital space and VR to generate new ‘worlds and interactive shopping opportunities is expected to grow in size, availability, and popular usage.
  
  
• Short-form video and easily digestible content – Consumers are busy, and attention spans are declining. Having easy to process content, and short attention-grabbing video is increasingly preferred, and in 2024 the use of interactive functionality (such as shoppable videos or real-time reactions) is set to become more popular.
  
  
• Hyper personalisation using AI – Addressing customers individually and using data to create individualised strategies is a solution-driven approach that will build sales as a result of the activities (rather than as a direct content to sale action). By creating precise marketing, recommendations, and reaching demographics with pin-point focused content, more opportunities to sell will be generated with AI.
  
  
• Increased reliance on Voice Search Optimisation (VSO) – The use of voice search continues to grow, and ranking on these results is essential. Businesses need to optimise their content and use their data for personalisation to also nail down localisation (when a potential customer asks their Voice Assistant where the nearest local venue or product seller is – you need to ensure you are in the right results).
  
  
• Social listening and Sentiment analysis to underpin content – In this environment, regardless of industry, consumers want to know that they are being listened to, that the companies they are dealing with are ethical, and that they can be confident in supporting them. By using social listening and sentiment analysis, appropriate content and strategies can be developed to target audiences for more lead generation opportunities.
  
  
• Messaging Apps developed as marketing channels – Most social media channels use some form of messaging app or direct messaging service, and these offer direct access to individual customers. Rather than trying to reach them through email (which might be marked as spam, 2024 will see more businesses reaching out through messaging services to market and connect.

How can you use social media to leverage more sales?

There is much more to social media than just creating and posting content – in order to make the most of these platforms, you need to have a carefully considered strategy for each channel you are using, and how you plan on connecting with your audience.

Generating more sales on social media is a cumulative activity, and at a minimum you need to look at:

• Creating and posting content on a regular schedule that appeals to your target audience.
• Engaging with customers who are liking, sharing, and commenting on your content.
• Setting up customer service applications such as chatbots and FAQs to handle out of hours queries.
• Responding to customers (either through comments, messages, or being tagged) as quickly and correctly as possible.

Social media strategy is not simple or easy, and it needs to be constantly reviewed and updated to keep the business on-trend.

Drive your sales performance with TEB Apps

To handle the ins and outs of utilising social media, you need to be supported by a robust data-driven software suite that allows for the collection of usable data, can monitor the customer engagement cycle, and allows you to personalise your content with ease.

The best software for this is TEB Apps, a rapidly growing CRM and automation software that is changing the landscape of how businesses approach their processes. TEB Apps is proven to boost revenue, maximise conversions and accelerate growth with unique features like:

Centralised funnel view of data – Centralise all of your data with interactive user-friendly sales funnels to streamline your lead management and identify your valuable lead sources.

Simplify your billing process – With features like specification pricing, quote templates and proposal reminders, you can simplify your billing process and drive your efficiency.

Streamline your workflow – With TEBs advanced automation features, you can streamline your workflow by automating processes like lead assigning, data inputting and follow-up reminders.

Improve team coordination – You can assign tasks and proposals in real time through TEB Apps while also attaching notes to leads to improve your team coordination to win more deals.   

Contact us today and discover how you can leverage TEB to support your sales strategy and boost your sales, revenue and grow your business.