The Social Media Conversion Funnel
Getting someone to pay for content or products online depends on:
—depth of relationship between creator & consumer
—relevance & expense of product
Usually, that requires multiple interactions to build trust & most likely....
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...shifting consumers from shallow platforms to ones w/deeper loyalties (like dating—>cohabitating—>engaged—>married—>house—>kids)
Shallowest to deepest social networks:
TikTok
Pinterest
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
Podcast
Newsletter
Paid (Patreon/Substack)
2/8
Depth varies by creator, user & network + there are multiple connection types (eg friend vs follow)
Depth is driven by
—interaction duration/frequency
—uniqueness & utility of content
—attachment to creations vs creator
—availability of substitutes
Brands use other criteria
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If every Instagrammer died & was replaced by similar-looking ones tomorrow, few would stop scrolling. Brands know that.
Pinterest fully devalues individuals for posts/objects & pinboards/collections. Creators are a conscious afterthought. It assures loyalty to the platform.
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A typical content creator funnel might:
a) grab people on TikTok or Twitter w/clips or threads
b) transition them to Instagram or YouTube
c) then podcast or newsletter
d) finally, convert 5-10% of (c) to paid
This will vary by content type (art, text, video, audio, etc.)
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Product purchases are a bit different.
Products that lend themselves to visual presentation, targeted properly (fun, compelling demo videos), can convert on shallow platforms. Many successes have appeared on @SharkTankABC. Instagram or Facebook work best, maybe Pinterest.
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Businesses can get leads from LinkedIn.
YouTube & podcast product sales are mostly expressions of trust & loyalty to creators, since the same ads appear on many shows & discount codes are a pain.
Want more? Check out The Rise & Fall of Influence: SteveFaktor.com/influence/
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I also did a ~3-hour, 9-part series on media strategies on my Patreon (Patreon.com/McFuture), but knowing how social media conversions work, you can start w/the free podcast/newsletter at SteveFaktor.com.
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Patreon.com/McFuture
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