How to make your Sponsored Ads convert

Hello Vendors,

If your Sponsored Ads are not converting, please pay attention.

Here are the possible reasons why your Sponsored Ads are not converting and how to fix them:

1. Your Response to Inquiries: the way you respond to inquiries via DM or the comment section plays a key role as to whether those inquiries will convert to sales or not. Example: a Prospect comments “How much?” Most vendors will usually respond, “Check your DM,” which isn’t a bad response but it doesn’t arouse the prospects’ desire to buy because you are giving them extra work to do when they are not even sure of buying eventually.





Therefore it is advisable you outrightly reply such comment with the actual price especially if you are a product vendor because most times, your prices are fixed so instead of replying the comment with ‘check your DM,’ you rather say, “it’s 5000 but we may give you a surprise discount if you send a Whatsapp message, here’s the Whatsapp number, 090xxxxxxxx, or can I send you the Whatsapp link via Dm, if you don’t mind?”





Do you know what you have just done? If the prospects chats you via Whatsapp, you are a step closer to closing that sale and keeping the Customer for life because you can add them to your Whatsapp Broadcast list and subsequently keep in touch by periodically sending them good wishes like a Happy New Month, Greetings and marketing messages in the form of Copywriting especially when you have Promos and new Arrivals.


2. What you are advertising is Poor quality or a regular product: The second reason why your Sponsored Ad may not be converting is because your product is poor quality or it's a regular product. It is not advisable to waste money marketing a product that you are not proud of or a product that is all over the place except the price you are offering is highly competitive. I have seen a Vendor who produces and sells Skincare products but her skin is reddish, unattractive and has freckles on her Face, how would anyone want to buy such a product, seeing the seller’s skin? So please, ensure that your product is good quality, and actually gives the result it promises.


Also, if your product is common and can easily be bought from anywhere, there’s no need advertising such a product because delivery cost will scare people away except the price you are offering is quite cheaper than they would get from anywhere else, however, I advice you find a unique and high in-demand product that is not common before promoting it with sponsored Ads.


3. Customers want POD: The third reason why your Sponsored Ad may not be converting is because you do not offer Pay On Delivery. If you do not offer Pay On Delivery, it becomes more difficult to sell since you are still an unknown brand. Many people have been scammed through online shopping so if you want to get more customers from online, you have to first establish Trust. Here are a number of ways you can do this:


I. Logistics/Delivery Company: state clearly the Logistics agent you are using to deliver your products and build a mutual relationship with the Logistics Agent. Get closer to them and let them know that you are giving out their contacts to your prospect just in case any of your prospects decides to call for verification. This becomes easier and more convincing if you use a popular logistics agent such as GIG, DHL, PEACE MASS, etc.





II. Reviews: This is like the most effective means of increasing sales online. People would normally trust other people’s feedback about a product/service. So try to get as many reviews as possible, especially visual reviews, example, the picture or video of your customer wearing or using your products. It works like magic. And if you do not yet have any review, the easiest way to get some is to offer some of your product or service for free to potential customers or better still to an Influencer or a Micro-Influencer who has your target audience as followers then ask them for real life reviews. Try this and see how wonderful the result will be.



III. Pictures and videos: the importance of having your pictures and videos on your Social media pages can never be overemphasized because only a scammer would never dare to show what their Face looks like. If you are a genuine business page, it shouldn’t be much of a big deal showing your audience your pictures and videos especially lifestyle pictures and videos.


IV. Sell through popular online stores like Jumia: online stores that have gained popularity and trust like Jumia and Konga are very good means of increasing sales because they offer pay on delivery so you don’t have to bear the losses that come with Pay on delivery. Also, since they take care of your logistics, it saves you the time and stress of delivering these orders yourself thereby providing you more time to improve productivity in your business.





V. Leverage on Delivery Companies in other Cities: you can leave some of your products with some Delivery/Logistics Company in other cities outside yours especially the city where you have high demand for your product. You can even use friends/family you trust by keeping some of your products with them so that the cost of delivering your products to those cities can be reduced. This will also help increase sales.



VI. Bulk Delivering: you can offer free delivery with bulk delivering so letting the customer know how long they have to wait before getting their product since you will have to wait for orders to increase from a particular location before sending so that you can send them all at once to that particular location. This also is very likely to increase your Ad conversion.


4. You don’t have an irresistible offer: The fourth reason why your Sponsored Ad may not be converting is because you do not have an irresistible offer. There are some kinds of offers people just can’t refuse such as the type Mobile network companies offer for Data Subscription. This is just to win customers and prospects over because once you can get them to buy the first time not minding that your profit is little, over time, you can recover your profits. The idea is just to get customers to jump at your offer when they see it, once they do, you can then convert them to your loyal customers gradually through customer service and loyalty programs. Example of an irresistible offer is free delivery, buy one, get one free (e.g buy a dress and get a free kimono, buy a shoe and get a shoe maintenance product for free, buy a set of jewelry and get a free rubber wristwatch or pendant, etc.)


5. No Lead Magnet: The Fifth reason why your Sponsored Ad may not be converting is because you do not have a Lead Magnet. Not everyone who sees your Ad is ready to buy immediately, some may be interested but not ready to buy at that moment so how do capture those intending buyers? One effective way to do this is by using a lead magnet. A lead magnet is something valuable you can offer your prospect for free or at a very subsidized amount in exchange for their contacts (usually Email and phone numbers). Example of a lead magnet for a product vendor can be to stake one or two products to be won through a draw then ask your potential customers to pay half the price for the product and pick a number which they are to submit via a form you created (you can use Google docs or Mailchimp to create a free form and collect users details) so they stand a chance to win the product through a raffle draw which you can do via Instagram Live or Facebook Live.