Making sales is a very vital part of any business and should not be overlooked.
However, getting our first customer or first set of customers may not be as easy as we think.
One of the most significant and powerful tools in boosting sales for our photography business (or any business at all) is social media.

We live in a very visual and social world. People are driven more by what they see than what they hear you say.

People are always online, searching for information, and in the long run, searching for you (they don't just know it yet).

What steps do you need to take to represent your brand online and find all your customers who are typically searching for you?
Let's find out.

1. Identify the most popular platform for your target audience: Let us imagine that you are a wedding photographer. The majority of your target audience would be young adults and not married couples. It would, therefore, make sense that you set up your social media account on a platform with lots of young people. That way your business would be relevant to them.
This applies typically to any business and not only photography, you simply need to understand who your target audience is (who you are selling to) and where they spend a majority of their time online.
Once you have identified this, it's time to set up your online shop!

2. Set up a social media content plan: Once you have successfully identified the social platform where your customers spend their time and set up your shop, it's then time to help them know who are and the value you provide.
There is no better way to give out value online than through content.

Good content shows your customers that you have knowledge, experience and expertise in your given field.

And people are more likely to purchase a product or service from someone that has these key factors.

To create a social media content plan, you need to understand the value that you provide to your customers.
Are you an events photographer who can make every event memorable for your clients and capture their happiness for life? That is value.
Are you an editorial photographer who tells real stories and helps people understand what happened? That is value.
Or perhaps you're a shoemaker and can create personalized shoes for people who have a hard time finding shoes that fit? That is value.

There are 3 major components to a social media content plan:
- Time of post (what day and times in a week do you want to post on your platform)
- Type of post (would your customers prefer videos or photos)
- Post Content (what the post says)
You do not need a complicated calendar to start, simply open up a Microsoft word document and write down the details above as they apply to you.

You do not need to post every day of the week. What matters is the quality of your content and not the quantity.

Don't know what your post content should be? Here are 6 content categories that you can use to continually create valuable content:
- About me/ my business
- Behind the scenes videos/ images
- My unique selling point
- Benefits of my product/ service
- Events and milestones my business has reached
- Things that motivate or inspire me

3. Create helpful content that solves problems: Did we already mention that content is very important to sales? If we did, then great, let that sink in.

We need to learn to create content that isn't only visually appealing but also useful to our customers and solves a real problem for them.

This ties back to your unique selling point.
Why should anyone purchase your product over your competitors? Why should they keep coming back to you for the same service offered by more than a thousand people?
Once you understand the value that you can provide over others, it is much easier to create content that drives sales.
If your content is not pushing people to buy from you, then you need to understand the problems your customers face better.
Do you bake beautiful cakes and no one buys them? Could it be that your customers are looking for something more than beauty? Perhaps they want unusual flavours, cheaper cakes or prefer cupcakes.

Depending on your situation, you may need to reassess your customer's needs or find other people who fit your target audience. Never stop solving a problem. Never stop creating value.

4. Capture attractive photos & videos: Social media is a visual landscape. The best way to sell is by showing.
Show what your product can do.
Show what your service offers.
Show why we should place an order right away!

Capturing attractive photos and videos is not about taking professional product photos, it is about explicitly showing what your product/ service offers and the problem it solves.

Check out this link for the best strategies you can use to capture your business and boost your sales on social media.

Once we realize that social media platforms are a very useful way to quickly reach our target audience, interact with potential customers and boost sales, we can begin to appreciate the online space more and look forward to making new customers every day.
Remember that content is king!
Provide value, solve real problems and establish your authority in your field of expertise.
Thank you for reading.