9 reasons you’re not making sales from social media

“Why aren’t my followers buying from me?” is something I get asked a lot. There are a bunch of reasons why your followers aren’t buying from you. Here are 9 reasons why you’re not making sales from social media.

 

Something I get asked quite a lot is “why aren’t my followers buying from me?” and I wish there was an easy, one-size-fits-all answer for this question, but sadly there isn’t. There are a lot of reasons why your followers might not be converting, some of them are easy to fix and others are completely out of your control.

This is mainly about Instagram, but most of these apply to other social media platforms as well.

(You may also like this post: How to turn followers into customers).

9 reasons why you're not making sales from social media

Reason #1: You’re pushing the hard sell to people who don’t know you or trust you

If you’re constantly promoting your products or services, and never sharing any value-adding or connection-building content, then your audience probably doesn’t know you, like you or trust you enough to buy from you yet. Don't stress – these things take time! 

My biggest tip? Try to spread out your promotional or sales-y posts so that you’re not just promoting all the time.

(You might also like this post: How to provide value to your audience)

 

 

Reason #2: You forget to tell people about your products or services

On the flipside, if you never promote your products or services, don’t be surprised if none of your followers buy from you! 

You need to achieve a balance between promotional content and your other content, so it’s just a matter of finding what works best for your audience.

(You might also like this post: What to post on Instagram in 2020)

Reason #3: Your website is slow to load or looks terrible on mobile

Almost everyone using Instagram will be on their mobile, which means that when they click through to your website, it better load fast and work well on mobile. If they have to zoom in just to click certain buttons, they’re not going to. If it's too slow to load, they're simply going to exit out of it. 

(You might also like this post: 10 reasons why people aren't buying from your website)

Reason #4: You’re focusing on quantity, not quality

If you’re sharing content just to hit a certain number of posts per day or per week, and not because you actually have something valuable to share, you’re going to find your engagement drops a lot. And, this signals to Instagram that people aren’t as interested in your content, which means your future content will reach fewer people. So, instead of trying to pump out 3 posts a day, post fewer, high-quality posts instead.

Due to the Instagram algorithm changes, you no longer need to post as frequently as before.

(You might also like this post: How often to post on Instagram in 2020)

Reason #5: Your followers aren’t the right people

I see this a lot with people who have used giveaways as a tactic to get more Instagram followers. If your followers aren’t buying from you, it might just be that they have no need for what you do or sell. They may have followed you for a completely different reason – or maybe they’re just following you for the free stuff.

(You might also like this post: How to define your ideal customer or client)

Reason #6: You’re selling features, not benefits

Let’s pretend that I sell pillows. Which of these is a more compelling statement? “My pillows are made from 100% duck feathers” or “My pillows deliver a good night’s sleep.”

You’re not in the business of selling feathers – you’re in the business of selling a good night’s sleep. So focus on the benefits of what you’re selling when you’re promoting it in your captions.

Reason #7: Your expectations are too high

Only a small percentage of your followers will click through to your website, and an even smaller percentage will actually convert into customers. So, if you’re expecting thousands of customers from free social media in your first month of business, you need to adjust your expectations.

(You might also like this post: Can you rely on organic social media marketing alone?)

Reason #8: You’re not resonating with your audience

Maybe your audience wants or needs what you’re selling them, but they just don’t feel like you GET them, or like your product is for them. Rather than trying to be everything for everyone, try to speak to the pain points of your ideal customer or client. They’ll be like “Aha! This business gets me!” and they’ll be much more likely to buy.

(You might also like this post: How to make your business stand out from your competitors)

Reason #9: You’re relying on organic social media alone to market your business

The way that algorithms work these days, you can’t afford to only market your business on organic social – your growth will simply be too slow. Also, given that people rarely buy on the first interaction with your brand, it makes sense to invest money in retargeting ads, to try and get them on as many touchpoints as possible.

And, of course, you want to start building an email list.

(You might also like: The Email Marketing Kickstarter)

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