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9 Ways To Use Social Media To Drive More Bookings As A Business
Isn’t it interesting how social channels have evolved from mere platforms for friends and family into places where businesses can connect with potential customers? And businesses aren’t the only ones who have benefited from this. Even consumers can now conveniently interact with their favorite brands and discover new ones from their social media accounts.
So the question becomes, is your business making the most of social platforms to drive more bookings and increase sales?
There are several social media networks, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, Twitter, and TikTok. These platforms have powerful features that can help you achieve specific business goals, like creating brand awareness and driving more sales. Today, we’ll talk about using social media to drive more bookings.
Businesses use social media booking to generate more leads and convert their audience into paying customers. These bookings benefit brands offering hospitality, coaching, recreational, educational, and similar services.
About 4.62 billion people are connected to social media, and 55% use social platforms to discover new brands. With the right strategy, you can tap into this vast pool of prospects seeking the services your business provides.
So, How to leverage social media to increase business sales and bookings?
- Leverage Facebook
- Encourage Reviews and Testimonials
- Run Social Media Ads
- Provide Top-Notch Customer Service
- Make Use of Videos
- Offer Coupons, Discounts, And Deals
- Cross-Promote With Partners
- Promote your Booking Link across Social Channels
- Tell A Captivating Story
Keep reading to learn 9 vital ways to get more social media bookings for your business.
1.Leverage Facebook
Facebook provides lots of features that businesses can use to drive more bookings. At the very basic level, you have an “About Us” section where you can tell users all about your business. This is a great place to make a good first impression and tell users how to book an appointment.
Enabling ratings and reviews on Facebook is another technique to drive more bookings for your business.
In case you didn’t know, more than one-third of consumers won’t buy from brick-and-mortar stores without first consulting customer reviews.
Therefore, enabling Facebook reviews and ratings is crucial in showing prospects that other customers had a good time using your services. It gives you social proof making prospects know that your business can be trusted.
To enable ratings and reviews, click the settings gear at the top of your page. Then navigate to the “Edit Page” button on the left.
Click on the Edit Page button and scroll toward the bottom, where you’ll find a “Reviews” section. Click that, and you’ll see a switch to toggle reviews on. More on reviews in the next section.
It’s also vital to publish rich shareable content. This is one of the best ways to increase your reach.
As more users interact with your content through likes and shares, your page will be exposed to a bigger audience. This boosts brand awareness, attracting more potential customers to your page. And if the page is optimized correctly, more people will visit your website, and some will convert.
2.Encourage Reviews and Testimonials
We cannot deny the impact of customer reviews, customer feedback and testimonials when looking to build your brand using social media. Business reviews are customers' opinions or evaluations of your business services, premises, or product, while testimonials are personal statements commending a virtue of your business.
From an online pool by Smart Insights, 58% of customers reported that customer reviews frequently influence their buying decisions. In comparison, only 3% said they never factor in customer reviews while making purchases.
You can use business review sites such as TripAdvisor, TrustRadius, Capterra, or G2, depending on your business type. There are also Google reviews and Yelp reviews. Those review sites are beneficial, especially when generating social proof for your website.
But for social, using the inbuilt Facebook reviews feature is instrumental. It ensures prospects can see how brilliant your services are right from the platform, where they can also book an appointment.
Apart from written reviews, satisfied customers may also be willing to send pictures or videos you could use on your social media platforms.
Interestingly, these types of reviews, particularly effective video testimonials, are quite impactful. They offer authentic and personal insights into the user's experience, adding significant value to your business profile on social media
You can get social media reviews by politely asking customers during a physical conversation or sending an email using the information they used to book an appointment. This could be an email blast with a link to your preferred review platform. You can also place follow-up calls to know what type of experience the client had and ask for a review.
Usually, businesses use a 5-Star Review system which gives a quick insight into the quality of your services. Below is an example of a Facebook Review from 5Sport Coaching.
Reviews and testimonials are critical for conversions. They give you social proof allowing other potential customers to see how other people have benefited from your services. Therefore, your social media marketing strategy must include customer reviews and testimonials.
3.Run Social Media Ads
Another effective way to improve your social media bookings is by running ads. Social Media Ads attract customers and announce your business to your target market. So, it’s a good thing that businesses are becoming more open to investing in social media marketing. This is evident from the increased demand for experienced social media managers and the rise in the minimum wage and benefits for these professionals.
Before you set up your ads, consider your business objectives, target audience, and the locations of your potential customer. It’s also a good idea to look back at previous posts to see what your audience reacted to the most. This way, you can determine the type of ad your potential customer will respond to.
Also, details like the best social media platform to use should be addressed. You’ll need to determine where your target audience hangs out and use your ads on those platforms. For example, for a fitness brand like a gym or personal trainer, Instagram may prove more effective than other platforms. However, you shouldn’t just assume this. It’s always good to do your research and try out different platforms.
The beauty of social media ads is you can target them to your ideal audience. For example, Facebook lets you enter data such as age, gender, location, interests, and even behaviors to ensure your ads are shown to the right people. This increases your ROI significantly.
With social media ads, you can also get instant feedback on the performance of your ads through A/B testing and adjust your ad campaigns in real time. For example, a certain CTA or value proposition may prove more effective than another. Doubling down on what works will help you get the most out of each campaign.
4.Provide Top-Notch Customer Service
While you focus on getting social media booking and engagements, it’s also vital that you prioritize your customer service. Social customer service entails using social channels to provide support to your customers. Ideally, this is done before, during, and after a purchase.
Quality customer service will not only get you bookings from repeat customers but also encourage customers to recommend you to their peers.
According to cooler insights, social media customer care increases annual return on investment by as much as 30.7% and accounts for an 81% annual increase in revenue from customer referrals.
Furthermore, some customer service handlers use automated responses to respond to customers while they are away. Although it seems okay to do this, try as much as possible to respond personally to customers, as this will build better connections between you and them.
According to Hootsuite, 69% of United States Facebook users that message brands say it makes them feel more confident about the brand. Guess what? The more you respond personally to their messages, the more customers are likely to trust your brand.
As a business, responding to the unique needs of your customers is a priority. Social customer service does not only mean responding to messages; you also need to be proactive. Track customer conversations about your brand, check their comments across all your business social media accounts, and swiftly respond to any dissatisfaction they might express.
5.Make Use Of Videos
Images are great, but videos evoke the best emotions — more powerful and memorable than words.
Featuring videos on your social media business page assuages customers’ curiosity, visually conveys the best user experience, and establishes an emotional connection that drives more bookings.
Irrespective of your business type, you’ll need more than excellent copy to spur customer emotions.
For instance, if you had a travel agency, try showing video content of locations, historic properties, or short clips of other customer-travelers having a good time. This could influence people’s travel booking decisions because your social media video is gradually nipping their hesitation in the bud.
To drive social media bookings with videos;
- Spice up the video content with a catchy soundtrack. This gets your audience glued to visualize your offerings better.
- Use different marketing videos like 360° & Virtual Reality (VR) Videos, testimonial videos, live videos, and branded video content.
- Schedule and promote video content on social channels like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Linkedin.
Monitor your social media metrics as you distribute your video content. If you find that a particular type of video content drives more conversions — stick to it.
That said, explore different features on different platforms to get your content across to more people. For example, Instagram and Facebook Reels offer a wider reach than regular Feed posts.
Nevertheless, always post inspiring videos and ensure they have clear CTAs.
6.Offer Coupons, Discounts, And Deals
Everyone loves a great deal or the thought of getting one. Take advantage of this customer psychology to get new and existing customers to book an appointment via social media.
Thinking of ways to do this?
Offer discounts to the first three to five new customers who book your services. Or gift coupons to returning customers who book more services past a specific threshold. You may even capitalize on seasons and holidays to offer deals that boost social media bookings.
Here’s how Atlantic Hotel in Fort Lauderdale does this.
They encourage customers to book a spa session on their website to get 10% off and two welcome cocktails when they visit the hotel. While customers can walk in and get the same services at their hotel, they’re guaranteed a discount incentive if they opt for immediate online social media booking.
This deal helps to promote their services and increase bookings. Like the Atlantic Hotel, keep your offer nice and tidy, and make sure the incentive is worth it at the end of the day.
7.Cross-Promote With Partners
Cross-promoting campaigns are called that because they help your business with exposure to a new audience. In this case, you’ll partner with brands with complementary customer interests that you can leverage for mutual benefit.
You could run cross-promotions on social media in several ways.
For instance, your brand could sponsor another brand’s event, directly putting your services in front of its audience. Alternatively, co-host events on social media and have other brand owners come on it. You may even run joint ads campaign or conduct a contest giveaway with your services as an incentive to the winner.
However, your interests with the partner brand must align, and services must complement, not compete.
For example, the strategic partnership between Uber and Spotify allowed Uber users to listen to their own music during the ride.
How? Passengers with a paid Spotify subscription could have their favorite music playing before entering the ride. When in the vehicle, they can wirelessly control it through their phone until they arrive at their destination.
By doing this, Spotify was able to increase subscriptions, and Uber was able to secure more bookings via their app.
8.Promote Your Booking Link Across Social Channels
You can use social media to promote your booking link since most potential customers are on it. Add the booking link to your social media profile by integrating it with tools like Omnify.
To get more eyeballs on your social media profile, share content that shows off your expertise and specific skills in solving customer pain points. This’ll attract ready-to-book customers to your page, increasing the chances of social media booking via your link.
Promoting your booking link on online communities like Quora will significantly benefit your business. Create specific posts and insert your booking links naturally. Don’t go ham on it, though. Your post could be flagged as spam. We don’t want that.
9.Tell A Captivating Story
You must build genuine connections with customers by telling stories that put your brand’s narrative front and center.
Social media is an effective channel for sharing captivating stories that inspire people. It doesn’t matter if it’s about you (the CEO), the people making your brand or your services. So long as the storytelling campaign spurs a warm emotion — you’re golden.
Airbnb did it with its Wall and Chain storytelling campaign.
The simple story, made as an animation, inspired people to feel and buy into the brand’s ethos and message that it has worked hard to create. It conveyed emotions about family, connection, and being a global citizen in a world where social media and its viral effect can connect people from anywhere.
Put your brand's story (ethos, message) into context and consider how you can convey it universally. Your brand becomes more powerful and relevant when it's tied to what you do.
In Closing
Using social media correctly will undoubtedly help you increase bookings, return visits, and business revenue.
But social media marketing isn't a one-size-fits-all approach — what works for some may not work for others.
Provide excellent customer service and run social media ads. Get existing customers to share their reviews and testimonials. And also, research your audience, cross-promote your brand, and figure out what works for you.
With these tips and examples as your guide, you’ll quickly increase your bookings in no time!
If you want to optimize your operations and devote energy to expanding your fitness business, Omnify has the tools to help you! From helping you with online classes and scheduling your services to manage your members effectively, your business can be automated and simplified, allowing you to manage your resources in the best way possible. Find out how Omnify can fulfill your business needs, sign up, and GET STARTED FOR FREE today!
Help your business make the most of social platforms to drive bookings and increase sales. Read this complete guide on leveraging social media for bookings.
