{"id":8644,"date":"2021-05-31T14:15:49","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T14:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/?p=8644"},"modified":"2021-05-31T14:19:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T14:19:08","slug":"social-media-selling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/social-media-selling","title":{"rendered":"How SaaS startups can leverage social media in their sales process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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People spent three hours daily<\/a> on social media and messaging in 2018, but take a look at your screen time stats now \u2013 this figure is only going in one direction: up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the popularity of social media won\u2019t decrease any time soon, SaaS companies should be looking for ways to reach their potential customers from the pool of over 3.94 billion social media users<\/a> worldwide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All you need is some smart marketing tactics and a few examples of subscription businesses whose ideas can inspire you to build your own social media strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re going to show you six ways that your SaaS business can use social media to convert more users into paying clients and boost their loyalty, so they stay with your tool longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not a theoretical approach; we\u2019re getting practical with tips and real-life examples from businesses implementing these tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1 Tip. Form an online community<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all seen those diagrams showing how competitive the SaaS marketplace is getting. But don\u2019t let that put you off. Think smarter and bring people together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it is getting more challenging to stand out with a SaaS brand, one of the best ways to get your users to stick with you and upgrade to a paid plan is by creating a feeling of belonging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some SaaS businesses have already created active and influential online communities as a core marketing strategy to grow their ARR<\/a>. Community building is a win-win for SaaS companies. Your customers benefit from shared knowledge and being part of a club, and you get the chance to show how your product can be used in the real world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out Lemlist Family: an online Facebook community using Lemlist to generate more sales opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lemlist<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Members can ask questions about specific topics related to outbound techniques or post a success story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By helping people succeed and share knowledge Lemlist improves communication with customers and positions themselves as a trusted advisor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They get the chance to show off their product, but it\u2019s not the core focus of the community. Part of the reason they don\u2019t constantly shout about their own tool is that they don\u2019t need to. Lemlist users often share their own experiences of using the product \u2013 talk about a perfect word-of-mouth opportunity for the brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The downside? Building an online community is a demanding and time-consuming process. However, it can quickly pay off with increased user retention and fast acquisition at almost no additional cost when done right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you start building an online community of engaged users?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start here: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Start small \u2013 invite a small number of brand advocates (look for the most engaged users of your SaaS product) and industry influencers who can later spread the word about the community.
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  2. Focus on quality, not quantity \u2013 instead of growing a 50,000+ community of people who don\u2019t engage with your group topics, focus on slower member-focused growth. Engage your members from the very beginning by replying to every comment and post.
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  3. Moderate posts \u2013 You will need to monitor the community actively, especially as it grows. Consider removing promotional posts with links as they don\u2019t engage your audience and can be viewed as spam.
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  4. Do live transmissions \u2013 engagement rate of live video<\/a> content on Facebook is higher, reaching 6% compared to 2.21% of text posts or links (3,36%). That is why you should consider utilising the power of live videos by organising live events with your team or inviting some industry influencers to co-host. Deliver lots of value and allow your community to share the video outside of the group. You could also try out live audio on Twitter Spaces or Clubhouse.
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  5. Incentivise users to invite others \u2013 offer some of your paid resources for free to your community. You can consider offering a promo code, exclusive mastermind session, or other paid resources for free as a benefit to membership. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Tip #2. Build trust by using testimonials<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Testimonials and case studies can be used at the bottom of your sales funnel. They\u2019re known to be a powerful tool for helping you to build trust among your potential customers – who better to speak to your potential customer than people precisely like them! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But did you know that social media can be both a great source of customers testimonials AND a great way to share them? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While your pricing page and product subpages would be the top spots for testimonials, they can also be powerful higher up the funnel in social ads and posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Social media channels can help you retarget the visitors who have come to your page before and encourage them to sign up for a trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Presenting your testimonials to page visitors who have already checked out your pricing page or product pages is a good approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Using social media for retargeting helps boost user loyalty<\/a> as well. Once you have converted a page visitor into your trial user, it\u2019s time to engage them more for an upgrade. For this purpose, you can create retargeting campaigns for several groups of users \u2013 those more and less engaged. Using retargeting ads for trial users that haven\u2019t logged in for a while helps bring them back to using the tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tip #3 Promote your referral program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Referral programs are great at customer acquisition and can also help improve customer retention and build a recognisable brand<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Customers that have been referred by a friend have a 37% higher retention<\/a> than customers coming from other channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here are some ideas to kick start your referral program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n