7 Ideas for Leveraging Social Platforms to Increase Online Sales

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Social media isn’t just for scrolling–it’s where businesses are making serious bank. With the right strategies and tools, social selling can outperform outdated cold calls–boosting the lead-to-close rate by 100%.

Here’s the kicker: six out of ten B2C brands get their customers for social media. It’s where 75% of B2B buyers make buying decisions. That means social media is an inevitable part of building a thriving business. 

So, if you are looking to finetune your social media marketing strategy for skyrocketing online sales, this comprehensive guide is for you. We are sharing our seven tried-and-true strategies to capitalize on social platforms and generate stellar revenue. 

Collaborate with Influencers for Authentic Promotion

Social partnerships with the top influencers in the industry are an effective way to drive up online sales through the platforms. The reasons are simple: influencer marketing helps you:

• Increase brand awareness
• Crack new market
• Boost social media following
• Get genuine feedback on your products
• Gain trust and credibility
• And most importantly–amplify sales and repeat orders.

For example, a study shows that 80% of Gen Z say social media, including influencers, social media posts, viral videos, and searches on TikTok, provides them with the best event recommendations. 

That’s why the most successful influencer collaborations invest resources in building a strong relationship–to nurture genuine brand love. When people see their favorite creators truly love a brand and its products, they are likelier to trust and buy from you. 

However, the success rate weighs heavily on the type of influencers you team up with. Go beyond follower count and engagement metrics. Partner with creators whose mission and values align with your brand and audience. 

Ask them to promote honest endorsement of your product on their profile. Even better, get them to educate the audience about your brand–in a non-sales-y way. 

You can also leverage the collaboration to promote special offers. Sophe Allen, for example, a popular TikTok influencer, tried on her Black Friday haul items from Gymshark–encouraging the followers to use her affiliate link for a 60% discount.  

Create Shoppable Content

Social media platforms are the new shopping malls. It encapsulates the entire customer journey, allowing them to move from the product discovery phase to check out–all in a single channel. 

And that’s where shoppable content thrives. These digital assets include social media posts, images, videos, or ads that shoppers can click on and purchase directly. Shoppable content makes closing deals seamless–without interrupting the scrolling sessions. 

You can use various network-supported commerce tools to leverage this, including:

• Facebook shops
• Pinterest product pins
• Instagram shopping
• TikTok shops. 

Sephora, for example, capitalizes on tagged posts and stories to sell its product in a single tap through Instagram. You, too, should join the race, especially because shoppable content is still fresh. 

Here, the key to success is to lead with your values. Whether you create a shoppable image, video, or ad–focus on your values to drive up awareness, online sales, and loyalty. Leverage social listening to gauge your audience’s interest, guide product development, and improve the overall experience. 

Linking your product catalogues to social commerce solutions will also allow your brands to flesh out custom collections that align with your larger marketing campaigns. These curated collections can be a game-changer for conversions when paired with targeted ads or influencer promotions. 

Optimize Checkout Processes for Social Shoppers

A frictionless checkout process is the backbone of social-driven sales. When shoppers discover a product on TikTok or Instagram, they expect a seamless transition from cart to purchase. Add too many steps or complex forms, and the cart abandonment rate will soar. 

The trick to retaining these social shoppers and increasing checkout conversion rate is simplicity. This includes providing one-click purchase options, like Amazon’s “Buy Now” or Shopify’s Shop Pay. You have to minimize distraction–allowing the users to complete the transaction in seconds. 

And even if you have created shoppable content, ensure the process is as seamless when shoppers navigate towards your website. Optimize your checkout process by:

• Enabling autofill for payments and shipping details
• Offering multiple payment options, including digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay
• Keeping the checkout interface clean and mobile-friendly for easy navigation

Utilize Social Media for Personalized Customer Support

With people spending countless hours scrolling, they are giving the social channel invaluable data about themselves. When you leverage this data, you can create the most personalized customer support, thus driving sales. 

Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook Messenger are excellent tools to foster real-time engagement with buyers. Be it answering product questions or resolving complaints, here you can directly interact with the customers–adding a new level of personalized support, even in automated processes. 

Add AI tools and Chatbots to the mix, and you can provide holistic, round-the-clock support on the most happening platforms online. 

Here’s how to achieve it:

1. Create or deploy personalized customer support with custom-made AI-powered chatbots.
2. Integrate real-time messaging features of social media.
3. Track each interaction to train the bots and improve your support team. 
4. Host Live Shopping Events

Every major platform–Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and even LinkedIn–allows you to host live events. And these social media lives are a goldmine for driving real-time engagement and online sales because they:

• Show your product in action, highlighting its features and benefits
• Encourage impulse purchases
• Build trust with interactive sessions 

Live shopping is where you present products that viewers can buy during the livestream. You can also get influencers to host these lives. The trend has been a win in China since the 2010s. However, western countries have yet to catch up, and that’s your queue to cash the opportunity.

Begin with planning out the live events. Schedule it during the peak engagement hours and promote it with teasers, countdowns, and ads. Create a sense of FOMO with exclusive offers. Keep the energy high throughout the live with a charismatic host, interactive polls, and shoutout to buyers.

Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC)

UGC is the most powerful tool for building trust and credibility. Real people showcasing your products feel authentic and relatable in a way that traditional ads and even influencer collaborations can’t replicate. That’s why it’s the social proof prospects look for before making any purchase. 

Plus, with an increasingly large number of people turning to social media for these proofs, you can optimize your social presence for this to boost sales. It includes encouraging users to share their reviews on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Also, make sure to use different content formats for different platforms. For instance, if somebody wrote about your product on X (formerly Twitter), you can create an Instagram story or TikTok video. 

Therefore, encourage UGC from the audience with:

• Branded hashtags
• Contests for the most creative or impactful UGC
• Customer testimonials

Together, these UGCs will help you harness the authentic voice of customers and amplify the brand’s reach and reputation–all while fostering connections. 

Focus on Short-Form Video Content

Lastly, you can’t forget the year’s most popular and effective media format–short-form videos. These bite-sized content are the new heartbeat of social commerce. TikTok and Instagram Reels are now the go-to spaces for brands to connect with the audience with information, engaging, and shareable content–while making sales. 

Therefore, integrate short-form videos into your content plan. Here are a few tried-and-true ideas you can test out:

• Product tutorials with easy-to-follow demonstrations
• Behind-the-scene clips
• Customer success stories
• Trend participation
• Teasers of upcoming launches
• Collaboration content

A blend of different content types works best to truly captivate the audience. However, make sure to tailor the videos for each platform. Start strong with a hook in the first 3 seconds. Keep the videos entertaining, enjoyable, and shoppable (when possible).

Increase Your Sales Through Social Media

Social media is the catalyst to skyrocket online sales–but only for brands who know how to harness its potential. Thanks to the tips shared above, you, too, have joined the club. 

However, remember that the aim of each social media strategy is to reduce friction and make the buying process effortless. With that clear, put what you’ve learned here into action and set your online business up for success.

While at it, leverage Payline Data’s payment solutions to support seamless transactions for social-driven sales.