There is a common misconception that you need to have a lot of followers to get orders from social media. While so many small business owners are trying to “go viral”, they are missing the point that who sees your content is far more important than how many people see your content. How do I know this? 

I had hundreds of videos going viral, on TikTok and on Instagram. Some of them got me a lot of orders, and some of them got me followers, but didn’t get me any orders. We want to get orders from the posts we are sharing, right? Isn’t that why we are marketing our products on social media in the first place? Hear me out. This experience has thought me a lot, but most importantly it thought me how to focus on marketing that leads to orders, instead of marketing that leads to followers, who don’t even care about my products. I can confirm, that you don’t need a lot of followers, if you have “the right type” of followers. So, today I am sharing with you the top 3 things you need to focus on with your social media marketing when you are hoping to get orders.

1. Create content that your ideal customer cares about

Trying to reach for the masses, is like going to a football stadium and scream: “I have handmade pony stickers! Who wants to buy them?”. Focusing on the masses and hoping someone out there will like our product, often leads to collecting random followers who are not interested in buying from us anyways. 

But creating content for the ideal customer is like going directly into  stickers fan club and saying “look how cool these stickers look on my computer, wanna try?”

The truth is we don’t need millions of people to see our product, we just need the 20 RIGHT people who are already obsessed with what we are selling. Those people will share the posts with their friends and their friends with their friends.

So how do you create content for your ideal customer?

We are bombarded with ADS & things-to-buy 24/7. ON and OFF social media. Our brains learned to tune it out, so if we are just sharing our cute products and telling people to “shop-in-bio”, our posts get lost in millions of same advertising kinds of posts. In order to stand out, we need to create content that will make them “stop the scroll”. If we want to get the genuine attention of our ideal customers, we have to create content that catches their attention and they care about watching.

FACT: I get most orders from reels/TikToks where I am not even telling people to go shop my products, but simply showing lifestyle content of “how-to-use” my products

Wondering how to do it with your product? Here are 3 simple ideas on how to start creating content that people care about:

1. show your product in use: make a reel of your morning routine using your iced coffee cup
2. show how to take care of your product: how to store your candles to prevent discolouration
3. use trending audio to create a short video showing your product in use – this helps people imagine how it would feel to own your product.

PS: If you still don’t know who your ideal customer is, check out this guide that will help you to find yours! 

2. Be consistent

I know, I know, there is not enough time in a day to do-it-all, but consistency pays off big times, especially on social media. Posting consistently on your social media: 

• not only makes your small business look professional, but also
• keeps your small business in front of mind of your followers, so when they need to buy your product you are the first small business that comes to their mind
• makes you “liked” by the algorithm
• teaches you what works and what doesn’t, so you can improve

I hear you, it is very demotivating to keep posting when you don’t see any results & you may even feel like you have no idea what you are doing. But the only way to get better is to practice. So instead of focusing on short-term results, focus on your practice & I promise it will pay off. 

3. Engage with accounts your ideal customer is following

Engaging on social media helps you to connect with people. No, I don’t mean your competition, or other small business owners selling cute keychains. I mean if you are selling candles, you should follow and engage with all the local spa salons and other self-care providers. Think about where your ideal customer is hanging out, where they are possibly already shopping and engage with those accounts. If you already have followers, engage with them. When they see that you are engaging with them, they are more likely to engage with your posts too!

That is all my friend – simple, but VERY important. Remember – instead of stressing about your content not performing well, keep creating content that speaks to your ideal customer. If you focus on the journey, instead of the final goal, you will get there I promise!  If you’d like to know more tips about how to grow and market your small business, make sure to follow me at @smallbizbabescommunity. 

Good luck & talk soon,

Michaela

PS: Do you want more people to see your reels & TikToks? Perhaps you are still hoping to go viral, so you can finally start growing your business on social media. I’ve got you! 

I organically grew an engaged community with over 100K followers on TikTok and Instagram, repeating this simple process over and over. And I created my secret viral checklist for you. Click the button below to grab yours, so you can start making your reels the right way & grow your business on social media faster.