5 Social Media Marketing Tips for Better Sales

5 Social Media Marketing Tips for Better Sales with Christine Yodsukar

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One of the most powerful reasons customers decide to spend money is because they find enough value in a product. The reverse is true for a customer who does not find enough value in a product, and therefore will not spend money. The perceived value of a purchase needs to be equal to if not more than the dollar value spent. This is why two photographers can sell the same product from the same lab at prices thousands of dollars apart. Creating value for a client can come in many forms, and when it comes to the value in the artwork we provide them, we must begin creating that value before their first phone call or email. This happens via social media.

Showcase Your Products

The very first interaction a prospective client has with your brand is via your social media, and if you want clients coming to you who want artwork, you have to show them your products.

Every time you get in a new sample or a new client order, photograph it, take video of it and share it on your Facebook and Instagram pages. Make a section on your website showcasing your stunning products and why they are so special. If you love the smell of the leather of your hand-crafted albums, write a Facebook post about that and share it along with a photo of your favorite leather option. If the shine of your metal prints blows you away, make sure your fans hear about it and can see what you mean.

A wedding client of mine showed up to her design consultation asking about double-volume wedding albums. She had just seen me post another client’s double-volume album on my Facebook the day before, and immediately wanted it.

You can never share enough content. Take multiple photos and videos of your products from different angles and share them as often as you upload single images. The more your prospective clients see the products, the more they will want them. The more they want them, the more they will pay for them.

Highlight Happy Clients

The features of your products are certainly important, and we want everyone to know that we provide only the best, but the stories behind the products you offer are even more powerful. Every time a client orders products from you, document their experience. Take photos and video of them picking up their artwork with a huge smile, ready to take it home and proudly display it on their wall.

Once it is hanging in their home, ask them to take a photo and send it to you, and then share that on social media. Tell their story alongside these photos. If you photographed a woman empowered by her boudoir experience, write about it. Other women want to be empowered and celebrate themselves, and they will be inspired by seeing someone just like them doing it.

For every happy client you have, there is another just like them waiting for the perfect post to pop up in their news feed telling them how to get what they want. Make that perfect post yours, not someone else’s. The artwork we provide clients is powerful. Harness this power by sharing the stories of happy clients and their artwork.

One of my longtime clients recently posted a photo on her Facebook page of her daughter standing next to their brand-new artwork from our session. I shared her photo on my page, and all of that client’s friends have liked and commented on the photo because the story is valuable and important to them. The power is in the story.

Document Your Special Touch

There should be something special you do that sets you apart. Some people package their artwork with branded bows and bags, and that is their special touch. Others include white gloves with artwork delivery so clients can hold their photographs all day long and not worry about fingerprints and damage.

Whatever it is you do behind the scenes before your clients receive their artwork, highlight it. Video is especially powerful here. It gives your fans a raw and real look behind the curtain at how much work and care you put into their experience. Upload a video and let them watch you cut the ribbon and wrap up a big order for a client. Talk about what you are doing and why it is important for you to do it. The more value you infuse into the artwork that you deliver, the more clients are willing to invest in it because they can’t get it anywhere else.

Use Facebook Live

Facebook Live is a powerful tool that allows our clients to be a part of our experience, and the more they are a part of our experience, the more they will be invested in us and what we do.

If you have a client coming in to pick up their artwork, do a Facebook Live video of that experience.

Talk to your audience and let them know why this is important both to you and to your clients. If they ask questions on the live video, answer them. Engaging with them is important. It makes them feel seen, heard and validated. I recently had a portrait client who is also a photographer purchase a large canvas after she saw me showing them off during a Facebook Live studio tour. Because she is a photographer, she knew where I purchased the canvases and their cost, but still paid my rates. She knew she wanted a canvas from her portrait session before we even shot it, because she saw how passionate I was about it on my Facebook Live.

Share Your ‘Why’

Who you are, your life experiences, and your wants and needs are totally unique to you. Together, these aspects of you create your “why,” or the reason you do what you do the way you do it. Figuring out your own personal why is imperative to business and life. You will quickly and easily get lost if you are not allowing your why to guide you.

The reason I do what I do is because I want to inspire people to live their happiest life possible. I do this two ways: by living my own life the happiest way possible, and by encouraging other people to live their own best life, even if the route there is a rough one. If I hadn’t known this, I might have said yes to things that weren’t worth it, I might have strayed from the path I needed to stay on, and my business intentions might have been way off.

Your why informs your intention, and clients sense that. If your motives are pure, everything you do for your clients will be good for them and they will appreciate that. If your intentions are wrong, like working only to make lots of money, your clients will sense that, and they won’t purchase as much.

Your clients want to reward you for giving them an experience whose value far exceeds the monetary amount. A client rewards a business with money. So if we want our business to be successful, our clients must see our good intentions. Find your why and infuse it into everything you do. If you’re having trouble with this, read Find Your Why by Simon Sinek.

Clients buy what they see. If all you show on social media and your website are images, then that’s all they will come to expect when hiring your studio: digital images. Showing the products you wish to sell informs your clients what products are available, but also shows how much you value the products—which means your clients will value them too.