Scrolls to Sales: Why Your Social Strategy Isn’t Making You Money (with Sidney Hardin)

If your social media content is getting plenty of reach and engagement but not translating into sales, you’re not alone. In this episode of Untamed Social, host Laney Goff is joined by Sidney Hardin, a seasoned growth marketer and product strategist, to dig into one of the most common frustrations brands face: why high reach doesn’t always equal conversions.

Laney and Sidney break down the difference between content that engages and content that converts, how to identify if your offer is the real bottleneck, and why calls to action often fall flat. You’ll also learn practical strategies to improve attribution, map your content to each stage of the funnel, and find quick wins that move your audience from scrolling to buying.

If you’re ready to bridge the gap between engagement and revenue, this conversation will give you the tools to get started today.

Ready to break through the bottlenecks holding you back? Our bootcamps are built for momentum—laser-focused on the one area that’s causing friction, whether it’s planning, content, or clarity. In just one day, you’ll gain serious traction and walk away with renewed direction. Curious how it works? Tap in to learn more:  https://strellasocialmedia.com/social-media-bootcamp/ 

Transcript

Laney Goff: Welcome back to Untamed Social, the podcast where we get real about what actually works in social media. Today we're talking about, in my opinion, probably one of the most frustrating problems for brands on social media, which is when you have high reach, but low conversions. If your content is getting views, clicks, and engagement.

But nobody's buying, booking, or subscribing, then this episode is for you and I've got the perfect guest to break it all down to help us kind of decode everything. I'm joined by Sidney Hardin, a powerhouse strategic growth marketer and product leader. With over eight years of experience, uh, turning engagement into revenue. Sidney's worked with both scrappy startups and Fortune 500's aligning product, content, and media strategies to boost conversions at every stage of the funnel.

Sidney, thank you so much for joining me.

Sidney Hardin: Yes, thank you, Laney. It's an absolute pleasure to be here. Um, I used to work closely with Strella a number of years ago and back in the BYU days, and I, you know, had a lot to learn from that, uh, from that experience and I've used it throughout my career. So it's, it's a pleasure to be back with you.

Laney Goff: Yeah, it's really exciting. We love this, um, when this happens. Uh, we tried our best to stay in touch. I know Rachel, our CEO talks to you often, which is awesome. So we're excited. We knew that you were the one to be a part of this today.

Rachel was like, immediately, I know the perfect guest. So today what we're really gonna be diving into is the difference between content that engages and content that converts, uh, because there definitely is a difference. And we're also gonna talk about what makes a call to action fall flat. How to know if your offer is the real issue and some small changes that you can make today to start seeing results and kind of transitioning from that issue to making it a solution.

So let's get into it. Um, Sidney okay. You, you're probably familiar with this, but we hear this a lot. When we get a client and they say, you know, our reach is high, but our sales are low, and like social media isn't helping us to make sales or get, or get calls or anything like that, what's the first thing that you would look at in that situation?

Sidney Hardin: So I've gotten this quite a bit, um, in my time, especially for brands that are focused on longer sales cycles and if they're running a lot of awareness campaigns. My first instinct is to figure out if the attention they're getting is actually the right attention. So like high reach, you've seen the high view volume.

Um, it's gaining virality. It may feel like exciting and you think it's gaining a lot of traction, but if it's not translating. You have to ask yourself, who is actually engaging? Are they in the market in the first place? Like where in this, you know, sales cycles are they, and what are they doing after you see?

So. There's a couple of metrics I try to look at. Um, I think attribution and the final metrics are the most important place to start. 'Cause a lot of brands will only work, look at what they're seeing directly in the social media platforms. So they're looking at the last touch. So if they're giving full credit to the final click, whether that's a Google ad, a direct landing paid visit, or like a separate social ad, they're gonna assume that's the channel that works.

That's where we need to, you know, allocate our budget. But the thing is, social's often the first touch in this funnel, it drives the overall halo effect. 'Cause if someone sees your funny or engaging post, um, a post indicated, like intended to educate, um, they ultimately will remember your brand from that.

And they may convert later down the line when they're hit with an email or see you, I don't know, through, through like an event, for instance. So you really, like, you need to hone in on your multi-touch attribution. Um, because then you'll see how social helps kind of build and cultivate that funnel.

Laney Goff: Yeah. And I think that's a misconception of a lot of brands too, right? Like they, they think, okay, if I'm consistently posting on social media, I've got good content. And it's gonna immediately lead to a sale. And they forget that building that trust factor, that there are those multiple touch points and things that you need to get them off of the social media platform and, and have those other ways of communicating with them to keep them or to keep you top of mind.

Um, so I love that. I think that's really important and definitely something that brands miss a lot and they think social media is the answer.

Sidney Hardin: Yeah.

Laney Goff: That happens more often than we'd like.

Sidney Hardin: Exactly, they need that full funnel, um, follow through and preferably like a nurturing sales process in mind. Um, I think one of the things social can help with, uh, throughout that deeper funnel engagement is really helping you assess if the traffic is qualified in the first place. So if you're getting a ton of views.

Maybe like a percentage of them click through and you're not, you're noticing they're not aligning with your target user profile. That's a good step to, that's a good sign to take a step back and really think about, who am I going after? This message is speaking to the wrong people. Like where can we shift?

Laney Goff: Yeah, and this is, uh, uh, not something that you and I like kind of prepped on before, so hopefully I'm not like throwing a wrench into things for you. But, you know, one thing, last week I had a podcast with a, a business strategist. And him and I were talking about how for social media for him and also for Strella is something that we see a lot is that on social media we're actually not getting the right audience.

So like for us, we give a lot of valuable insight on our, with our content, and so does he. But he's getting a lot of marketers who are following him, who aren't his, you know, ideal client. It's not his target audience. And the same for us.

We're getting other social media marketers or managers who are following us, and that's the majority of our audience.

What kind of advice would you give for a situation like that where you're getting peer to peer kind of engagement, but not your target audience.

Sidney Hardin: I think you're, I think it has to do with the mapping the funnel to your content, so. Where you start focusing on the mid funnel is really where you introduce the value proposition. And that value proposition is gonna look very different for marketers who are trying to win clients versus clients with more niche strategic business issues that they're trying to solve for.

So really like ensuring that, um, that content's aligned to that core person need. And I think really a lot of people kind of fail to dive into that level, um, of detail, but it's absolutely critical for honing your messaging. And from there you'll collect signals on your site or to collect signals, um, through other channels that will enable you to retarget strategically.

So if you are noticing more of those users who align with your target audience, you know, keep hitting them with those repeat ads, like keep pushing them, um, within a short period of time down that funnel. Um, take advantage of that recency and then over time, uh, you'll gain additional content insights that will further inform the value prop and it'll just become a self-serving cycle.

So that's, that's kind of where I would, I would start to be honest.

Laney Goff: Yeah. I think that's, that's really great advice for us. What we, we looping back to this episode. Um, but I have a feeling like that this is a common problem for a lot, a lot of people. I like how, how you frame that with it being the mid funnel. Um.

Sidney Hardin: I mean, I'm encountering it too from a product standpoint because I have to think about is the product we're building really what our users need, or is it what our clients think the users need? So we're encountering a situation of leaky bucket where we're having a huge like influx of users, but they're not necessarily, we're not, we're not retaining them.

Like really, like we just have to step back and try to put ourselves in the user's shoes.

Laney Goff: Definitely. Yeah. And that's something, it keeps becoming a topic on every episode I feel like. So maybe this is good for our listeners, is kind of shifting that mindset of you know, just being a producer of content and actually start consuming content and really consider who your audience is and what it is that they're looking for.

Um, it's really easy whenever, if you are part of a marketing team or if you're a social media manager and you're fully in the brand, really easy to get stuck in, in that producer kind of vibe and, and you miss out on looking at it from a consumer perspective. So. That's funny because I feel like every episode this comes up.

Sidney Hardin: Yeah, I think it's people. I honestly think it's the biggest challenge because it requires stepping outside of yourself, stepping outside, whoever your paying client is, and really thinking, getting into the psyche of the user and it, it's easier said than done. I think everyone struggles with it.

Laney Goff: Yeah, I think so too. I think so too. So, okay. Talking about like, you know what some of the problems could be. How much do you feel like the offer itself plays into conversions? Um, like does it play a role and how can a brand determine if their offer is the actual issue?

Sidney Hardin: Yeah, so I think it's often the hidden bottleneck. Um, if they're clicking through firstly and they're not completing the action, that means your landing page experience and like the value prop itself isn't compelling enough. So you try to test this using a couple different lens. So firstly, like we look at clarity.

Do people immediately understand what they get? And usually you have to the communicate this within that initial touch point on a page. So like from a product standpoint, we try to prioritize, um, placement within the viewport, like as soon as they touch that, that page, do they see it? Social first three seconds of an ad.

Um, then you need to communicate urgency because people aren't gonna be motivated to jump on it, um, unless there's, you know, a time critical element or it's literally impacting their bottom line. So that could be like a financial savings or incentive. It could be this is a limited time offer, like exclusivity, kind of appeal to those values that promote urgency.

Laney Goff: Yes.

Sidney Hardin: And then relevance is also important. Like, sure, you can promise this, but how, how, why does it relate? To the expectations set by your content like it has, again, that goes back to the user persona and understanding what engages them, what are their interests, and tying that into like the problem you're solving for.

Laney Goff: Definitely. So you just gave like a three step formula right there, so we got clarity, urgency, and relevance. That's, I mean, I feel like you really nailed that on the head and simplified it because sometimes I feel like it's easy to complicate things. Um. And I think that first step of clarity is really important. And where people really mess up is because it's too confusing. Like, how are you ever gonna convert somebody if they have no idea what they're even getting into with that first touchpoint, like you stated? So I love that. That's a tip to take away today, listeners, is it's that, that three step of clarity, uh, urgency, and relevance.

So I love that. I love that. Um. Yeah, I think that's something that, you know, brands really need to consider when they're looking at their offer. And a lot of times, like you said, like they just miss it. They just, they think, okay, like, I've got it right. My offer is great. That's not the problem. It's, it's my content.

And no, it's, it's a mix.

Sidney Hardin: It's a little bit of ego at the end of the day as well. 'Cause you're like, yeah, I think I know what they want. Like how could they not want this?

Well, that's not always the case. And I see it every single day, and it's a constant balancing act. So no, I don't think—

Laney Goff: Yeah, I can imagine. Definitely. Okay. So considering, um, offers being an, an issue, one thing that I will admit all day long is that a call to action is always a struggle for me, in your opinion. Okay. I, I, I understand definitely the clarity, the urgency, the relevance, all of that. But when I'm creating a, a social media post, sometimes, you know, I feel like not just myself, but a lot of brands, marketing strategists, they really, it's hard for them to grasp the understanding of what an effective call to action would be.

Where do you see brands really going wrong with them and like, what would you say is the solution?

Sidney Hardin: Yeah, I mean, I've honestly encountered this recently where we were trying to decide a customer journey funnel, um, using omnichannel approach, so across Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit. Um, but designing the call to action to different stages of the funnel is, it's kind of challenging because if the first time they're interacting with your brand is sign up buy now, that's gonna turn off a lot of users because they haven't warmed up to your brand.

They, they're not familiar with, you know, how, how the content's relevant to their business and their core needs. So you kind of need to design your call to actions, um, like based on the funnel. So for awareness, for instance, you wanna spark curiosity, try a softer approach, like see how it worked for this individual, how it changed their life.

Um, that's where you kinda lead with your values. And I wanna say like you appealed with the human, the human aspects. Um.

Laney Goff: Mm-hmm.

Sidney Hardin: The consideration stage where mid funnel, that's kind of where you start to request a little more for your audience, right? Um, but you still wanna offer them something in return. So get your free quote, for instance, or, um, you know, submit the form to learn to learn more.

So were you requiring a little bit more of an action? Um, but you present it early on in the process after you've primed them to be ready, uh, to take that next step. And then the decision stage, right? That's where you're ready to sign up, make the purchase, book now, and that's where those three aspects I talked about earlier will come into play.

Laney Goff: Yeah. So I think it, it is important something that, like when we have consulting clients and we get to this portion of things and we're talking about, you know, a lot of, a lot of different things, but calls to action being one of them. I think a lot of people fail to realize that there are different stages that a potential client could be in.

So I love that you brought that up. Um, and so I agree with you. You know, we always have the awareness, the interest, the consideration. Um, I think we use four. For whenever I teach the consulting. Um, but I think that it's important for brands to understand that you have to consider where your audience is.

So speaking of that, with like the different stages, if you're like creating a content plan, you know, obviously you're gonna have that audience that is already, uh, introduced to you, right? They, they're already past the awareness stage, but then you've got those that you're trying to reach to have them get to know you.

Would you, what would you say would be like the percentage of content that you would kind of split up? So like, would it be 50% being awareness content, 20% being consideration? Like how would you split that?

Sidney Hardin: I am hesitating because it depends so heavily on the type of business. Um, like I said, the lifecycle of a customer as well. So for instance, if you're in B2B, those tend to be higher ticket items. And it can take longer— more of a warmup period, um, to establish that trust, establish that relevancy. So I typically, I don't know if I can break it down into percentage, but I would definitely allocate more of my funds towards that awareness phase where you're attempting to educate, show your subject matter expertise, or entertain in a way that you become memorable.

Um. Because from that point on it, you can retarget based on the most qualified leads because you don't wanna be wasting your money on users who may just view your content, not necessarily wanna take that further action. So that's where we're targeting really comes into play. Tends to be a little bit more expensive, um, to run, but you're going after a more targeted audience, so you get a lot more bang for your buck there.

Um, and then at that point, a lot of, like, the conversions may take place off of social as well. That's another consideration for B2B. Um, so really making sure you have that social, um, the, those social drivers tied into your CRM or your CDP to promote those end funnel actions for B2C, though, that's, that's another story, right?

Because you want people who are primed, they understand the lifestyle you're selling. They understand, you know, the, uh, values that you're promoting. But you wanna drive that action quicker. So in that case, I would spend a lot more on those direct conversion ads, like upwards of, you know, 60, 70%, um, and only use like the 30% or so for social proof and, um, drive that, you know, initial trust.

So that, that's honestly the split and that's how I would think about it. Um, everyone is different, but working across different industries and different life cycles is, it's a, there's no one size fits all.

Laney Goff: Yeah, and well, I think that's great advice too, because it's really easy to get trapped, especially if you're in the service industry, like you said, with it being those higher ticket items then it's easy to look at product-based businesses or even other service-based businesses that maybe aren't, you know, so much of a boutique price or, you know, something like that.

It's easy to see that their conversions are gonna be a lot higher then someone like you, you have to work a lot harder in my opinion too, if you have a high ticket item or, or product or service, that you've gotta work harder when it comes to promoting. And it's not even promotional content, it's literally just letting them get to know you.

Like you said, giving that memorable, um, content that keeps you top of mind, but also showing your value and your expertise. So I think that's great advice. Um, especially for those who are in those higher, higher priced services, um, it's not gonna be the same. It's definitely not gonna be the same.

Sidney Hardin: No. And like you'll encounter this too with some clients who are trying to sell like a expensive SaaS product to small business owners for instance. And they're like, why won't they just buy it? Like I'm sending them the product white papers. Like this is how the product works. Like, can they not see this is a tool that will make their workflows better?

Like no, there's more of a lead up time there and that's where like the social and the top of funnel, um, investment will really come in handy in the long run, so brands just have to be prepared for that.

Laney Goff: Yes, they do. They do. Um, okay, so then to end this, what's one small change, or not a change, but yeah, a change I guess, that a brand could make today that could possibly increase their chances of converting an audience that's already engaging. So like they've got the reach, they're getting decent engagement.

What's the, the one thing that you would give them advice on today as a small win?

Sidney Hardin: Um, that's a tricky one. So I would hone in on where that last, like I've mentioned at the beginning, where that last, last touch was, and if they're seeing a higher percentage of those coming from, let's say Facebook as opposed to Instagram. That's where I would hone in on the retargeting. 'Cause you wanna go where the people are and where they're actually showing traction.

Um, I've been working recently, like with this pre-seed startup just consulting on the side and they had preconceptions that we need to launch on Instagram, we need to launch on Facebook. That's where we're seeing traction in low, um, low conversion rates, uh, sorry, low conversion costs. And I was kind of hesitant about it at first.

And I said, well, have you considered Reddit? Like your, your customer base is on Reddit, but we're not running anything to them right now. And they're like, well, that, that doesn't make sense. We're trying to sell a lifestyle. We're trying to sell something very visual. I'm like, well, what do your customers actually want?

Um, so I started posting organically on Reddit just in comment threads. Like, hey, check out this app. This will solve like your, your dating woes, for instance. And we have gained a couple hundred users within a day or so, which is, it's a high, high margin for us just from going after those organic strategies.

And from there we're able to see the last touch was Reddit, let's invest more into Reddit retargeting. So that's kind of how I would go about, like those quick wins is kind of look at your last touch. Um, but you also have to kind of play the field to, to figure out where that last touch is.

Laney Goff: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's a, it's a balancing act too. I mean, that's something that we are really big on is understanding like, what platforms should you be on? Um, and, and people oftentimes think, okay, well I like to consume content on Instagram or TikTok or Pinterest, whatever it is. And, but that doesn't necessarily mean that that's where your audience is.

So I love that. I think that is perfect advice. So if that's you, I would really reevaluate kind of where your audience is and consider other platforms that maybe may give you better value for the type of audience that you're looking for so that you can actually take that retargeting and all of that initiative and turn them into a conversion, whether that is booking a call, buying a product, whatever it is, that is a conversion for you.

So I love that. Sidney, thank you so much. You were an absolute gem, and you have so much knowledge, where can people connect with you to, to learn more?

Sidney Hardin: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, it's been a pleasure, Laney. So nice to reconnect. Um, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. I am more than happy to talk through, you know, some strategies. Take a quick look at your customer journey funnel. From both like a product and marketing lens, try to see if there's any gaps we can fill.

And, you know, this is a passion of mine. Even though I'm in the tech space now, I, I still work really closely with marketers in the day to day because I can't just keep, I can't keep my hands out of it. So, yeah, that's—

Laney Goff: Well, that's good, you love what you do.

Sidney Hardin: Exactly.

Laney Goff: Awesome. And if you're enjoying Untamed Social, make sure to follow, leave a review, share it with a friend or a teammate who needs to hear it. Uh, until next time, go create content that doesn't just look good, but actually works. We'll see you in the next episode, bye.

Sidney Hardin: Bye.