1 - Create more than just 'sales' content - create value.

Your business may be leveraging social media's massive audience to help you sell product, but you won't succeed if every video you produce screams 'buy me!'. Social media users are fickle and can smell sales intent in seconds. In order to sell to them, you must first win their hearts by producing videos that appeal to them - whether they be entertaining, educational, or inspiring. Only then can you begin to sell to them.

For example, instead of producing videos for a piece of editing software with call to actions that points viewers to an on-screen link, educate them with a tutorial on the software, or show them a time-lapse of a piece of work made from start to finish - without any sales call to action. Once they see the value in what you're producing, they'll start asking questions about the product naturally - but you must deliver value first.

2 - Use search listening tools to find out what your customers really want to know, and tell them!

Search listening tools like Ask the public show you exactly what questions people are inputting into Google. Instead of guessing what video content to make that you hope will get you new customers, make a video related to a burning hot questions that appears in Ask the public's search. By answering their exact questions, you stand a better chance of converting those leads.

For example, if you search the term 'AI Tools', you'll see that one frequently asked question is 'Are AI tools available in all languages?' If you're a business with multi-lingual AI tools, you've got an excellent idea for a marketing video, and one that answers a popular search term. If those Google users search in the same question again in the future, they may find your video has appeared in the results.

3 - Answer your followers' questions with unique video content

If your followers are asking you questions in the comment section of your videos, that's a prime opportunity to create a new piece of content; particularly in the case of TikTok's video reply feature, which allows you to respond directly to a comment and includes it within the video. The result is more content for you, greater reach, which means more potential followers, and most importantly, answering your followers queries that will personally increase their affinity towards your brand and increase the chances they convert into a paying customer.

4 - Optimize your profile for conversions

If you produce video content or carousels that work, potential customers will click on your name to view your profile and see what your business is about. Optimizing your profile for this instance is pivotal in securing new followers. Here's what to do in the case of Instagram's profile:

• Include a sentence that says exactly what you do, e.g., 'Experienced property advisers in the mid-west'.

• Include a sentence that builds authority and trust, or flex your credentials, e.g., 'Winner of Product Hunt's best digital product 2024'

• Include a call to action with a value proposition, e.g., Click the link for a free PDF on 7 tips to finding your first customer

  

5 - Use DM automation to connect with your audience instantly

The advent of AI has made automating audience building easier, with the help of easily implementable tools like DM automation. One such example is ManyChat. You can setup ManyChat to trigger when followers type certain keywords, e.g., 'ME', which signals to the bot to directly message followers. This saves you so much time and quickly identifies and responds to followers that are ready to learn more about your product or service, pulling them further down your funnel and into paying customers.

6 - Create ads that don't look like ads

Your followers, and the general social media user base, can spot an ad a mile away and will scroll away from it unless you've managed to win their hearts, or, you can create an ad that looks like a native piece of content. If you can create an ad that only becomes apparent that it's an ad in the its final act, your viewers will be impressed and give you serious credit for managing to keep their attention.

How do you create native looking ad content? Mimic popular creators. Insert your product into the video as naturally and nonchalantly as you can, or make its inclusion completely outrageous.

For example, video creator Jericho Mencke is known for creating whacky ads that are extremely well-received

Another way is to use AI avatars and lean into creation of unexpected and surprising forms. Creatify gives you access to a library of AI avatars - young and old - and opens up a world of potential for your videos. Because AI is still new, social media users give it more attention, especially AI content that leans into the unconventional. Try out https://creatify.ai and see how creative you can get with your video marketing.

Conclusion

Converting followers into paying customers is a problem every business operating on social media is going to face - some give up too early when they don't see results quickly.They wonder why they're getting no leads; meanwhile, they have done nothing to optimize their profile or their content, and their videos are almost entirely sales pitches!

To convert them into paying customers, you need to inspire them, educate them, entertain them, i.e., you need to create value, and there aren't many better ways to demonstrate value than with authentic interaction. Talk to your prospects, give them what they want, even if they're not asking you directly, and optimize your social presence so that when they do come to you, they're likely to convert into paying customers.