Conversion metrics

What is a Conversion?

A conversion takes place when a user does what you want them to do. In the case of a social media conversion, this means a user that completed an action with your business that originated from social media. A conversion can take many forms depending on your business goals:

• Making a purchase
• Filling out a form
• Calling your business
• Using your online chat
• Subscribing to your blog
• Starting a product trial
• Downloading your app
• Visiting your website

Ways to boost your social media conversion rate

1. Make your landing pages seamless and mobile-friendly

With mobile ecommerce on the rise, the need for brands to appeal to customers on-the-go is a no brainer. A brand’s ability to win over buyers via social boils down to creating a seamless experience. Think about how users navigate Instagram, swiping and tapping as they move from Point A to Point B. Your social landing pages should follow the same principles – easy to navigate with minimal interruption. Upon clicking, it’s clear that their landing page is optimized with their social media conversion rate in mind. Swipeable and scrollable with large, bright buttons to boot, mobile shoppers obviously aren’t being treated as a second thought. Whether you’re promoting offers on Instagram, Facebook or anywhere in-between, having a mobile-friendly landing page is a game-changer. Not only can you appeal specifically to mobile consumers, but also better assess the behavior of your social shoppers. If you’re not sure if your landing pages are up to snuff, a quick mobile test via Google can give you some peace of mind. To further improve your social media conversion strategy, you can continuously split test your social landing pages and optimize them over time. Tools such as Optimizely allow you to A/B test elements such as imagery, copy and link placement to maximize conversions.

2. Get more eyes on your promotions via video

Product-related videos go hand in hand with a higher social media conversion rate. Noted to increase conversions and time spent on any given page, there’s a reason why video-centric posts and ads are all the rage among brands. Videos do double duty of showing off your products in action and catching the eyes of social customers. It’s no secret that social ads centered around video traditionally perform well. Here’s an example from BigCommerce, whose recent Facebook ad campaign tripled their free trial conversions through social video.

3. Include compelling calls to action

Sometimes increasing your social media conversion rate means making small tweaks to your profiles and captions. Asking for followers to check out your recent promotions is totally fair game, granted you’re tactful about it. In other words, you can’t just scream “BUY OUR STUFF” and expect much traction. Instead, make a point to subtly encourage engagement with your calls to action.

4. Split test your social posts

Just like any sort of marketing metric, analyzing your social media conversion rate means looking at your data. For example, do you know what types of content score the most engagement, clicks and traffic to your website? By understanding your posts by the numbers, you can adjust your content strategy to align with your social media conversion strategy. And honestly? No brand is going to get it “right” from day one. Upping your conversation rate means playing the long game of analyzing and optimizing.

5. Be consistent with your branding

This is a subtle tip, but definitely worth mentioning for the sake of your conversions. As prospects and leads move through your funnel, there shouldn’t be any second-guessing where they’re coming from. Creative elements such as your tone, imagery and color scheme need to be consistent as your customers approach the point of purchase. Although this might not seem like a make-or-break moment, pulling a creative bait-and-switch on your followers can be disorienting.

6. Let your user-generated content serve as social proof to shoppers

As noted in our guide to user-generated content, customer photos are pure gold when it comes to conversions. Serving as social proof and a much-needed sense of authenticity, user-generated content is second to none for driving social sales. Making user-generated content a cornerstone of your marketing strategy is a low-hanging way to boost your social media conversions. Check out how Keds gives their followers a shout-out.

7. Use social listening to stay on top of buying trends

No industry or customer base is totally static. We mentioned earlier that scoring customers is about experimenting and evolving. This means keeping up with industry trends as well as the wants and needs of your customers.

8. Sell directly on social for seamless conversions

Social commerce allows customers to check out directly from social media posts, saving time both for shoppers and in your marketing efforts to drive conversion. You can highlight products directly without worrying about pushing traffic from a post to a specific product page, and the quick purchase process makes buying more appealing to customers who might otherwise abandon their cart or continue on browsing in their social feed.

9. Track your social analytics and conversions

Last but not least, you can’t assess your social media conversion rate if you aren’t actually tracking conversions. There are a few ways to do this, by the way. For starters, make a point to watch your social traffic in Google Analytics. You can set explicit social conversion goals as highlighted in our guide to scoring a better social media ROI.