Because it gets more sales right? Wrong
Because its free. Well its not
Because it’s the ‘in thing’. Are you serious?
In our last blog we talked about why you need a strategy, here I’m going to address the what and how of building a successful community of followers.
Social media can help you generate leads and achieve more sales, but not quickly or directly. Its a slow build and takes a lot of nurturing. Blasting customers with sales messages won’t give them the respect they demand, so if you want to gain the competitive edge – you have to show them they matter and you care.
It’s free to use social media, but the resources used to implement a successful campaign can be costly, so you might want consider if your staff have the ability and time available, or whether it could be outsourced.
And don’t just do it because you think you should. Do your research first because it’s not a quick fix, but if done well you’ll get great results.
Here’s how:
1. Find the channels that your audience use most frequently and start by listening (monitor whats being said about your brand and competitors)
2. Know what you’re there for: Is it to drive traffic back to your website (what page will they land on and do you have a call to action), research into a new product, brand awareness,or increase sales.
3. Give your customers what they want. You’ll need to do some research to find the answer to this one, but they might want to be in the ‘boardroom’, to be featured on your website via a competition, vouchers, or play with interactive promotions.
4. Engage and encourage participation, ask questions and options and always provide first class customer service and an immediate response
5. Create a list of what you want to talk about and diarise your posts. You should also think about the ‘tone’ you’ll talk in – will you be an expert, or more informal and friendly, your tonality should reflect the image of your business.
6. Know how to measure your results. (Will that be determined by traffic to your website, sales or followers)
Only 14% of us trust advertisers anymore, by demonstrating to our customers you care, are knowledgeable about your business and participating regularly where they are in the social space, you’ll build confidence, customers and brand loyalty.
Next we’ll be talking about the benefits of each of the most used platforms starting with Twitter, so come back soon
Social media gets a lot of coverage, but what is it and why all the fuss?
Lets imagine your at a party - the kitchens full and everyone’s talking about what they’ve been doing, where they’re going on holiday and the problems they’ve had over the last week. You commiserate, congratulate and then go into the lounge to grab something to eat. After a handful of nuts and a piece of quiche, you notice there’s hardly anyone there, you’re practically on your own, so you go back to where its all happening, in the kitchen.
Social media is the equivalent of whats going on in the kitchen. And the food in the lounge, is your website – where people go when they’ve made their mind up they want something.
By using social media to engage with prospects, explain about new products and services and provide customer support, you’ll not only be creating great awareness for your brand, you’ll also be influencing your fans to buy from you and not your competitors.
But social media is only effective when you build strong relationships with your followers, engaging with them in a way that encourages conversation and by regularly participating, so its not for the faint hearted.
But neither is your business.
Social media costs nothing, but blindly jumping on the band wagon without a strategy, knowing what you’re doing, or how to measure results will cost you dearly. At the very least it will be a waste of time or resources, but it can also be damaging to your reputation and business if done badly. So before you begin your campaign consider the following:
- Who will be responsible for managing the campaign
- What do you want to achieve – sales, brand awareness, provide customer support
- What channels are your target market using
- What message do you want to convey and the tone (friendly, formal, expert)
- How will you manage negative comments and have contingency plan if things go wrong
This can all be a little bit daunting, but addressing these issues means you’re prepared for when, or if they happen.
Whether you like it or not social media is here to stay and people will be talking about your brand online. Learning to manage those conversations and being an ambassador for your brand will encourage new customers to buy from you, keep you ahead of the competition and help enormously with research and development.
Posted Friday, January 20th, 2012 under
SAIM
Some people just don’t get it do they? I don’t go to networking events to hear people talk about themselves – I want to talk about me!
Not exclusively of course, but I want you to be interested in what I’m doing and why. What brought me to this point and if I’m any good – that’s what I’d like to hear that about you.
When we go to networking events we want to recommend people we’ve grown to like, know and trust, so it’s important to explain what differentiates us from our competitors (shame on you if you don’t know). So anyone that gives little more than a sales pitch unfortunately won’t be remembered and certainly won’t get referred.
Statistics tell us only 14% believe advertisers, whilst 78% purchase on the back of a recommendation, so building a rapport with other networkers helps build enough faith to recommend one another when the opportunity arises. (Nobody wants to make a referral which isn’t met with total professionalism, we feel it reflects on our own businesses).
There are many networking groups to join. Some are pay as you go, some free, but most require an annual subscription plus a monthly fee. I haven’t yet joined a group that didn’t work for me, by that I mean it paid for itself. I carried out some research first, visiting as a guest on up to three occasions before making my decision, then I made the effort to attend regularly – which is the key to building successful relationships.
Some of the groups I’ve been along to include The Chamber of Commerce (great for SME’s). The Chamber hold everything from speed networking, where you spend a few minutes talking to someone before moving onto the next person when the bell rings, to formal dinners.
Other groups, such as the BNI are quite regimented in their approach to giving (and receiving) referrals – it works for some, but not for me.
The IOD (Institute of Directors) is another great one and has enormous benefits attached to it’s membership – if you’re B2B I’d recommend checking them out.
Here are some top tips for success:
Do a bit of research beforehand if you can to decide who you want to meet.
Have your elevator pitch prepared (your 30 second spiel) and try to sell your benefits, not your products.
Take plenty of business cards.
Follow up any contacts you make with a short but relevant email. (You might like to suggest a short one to one meeting).
Refer, they’ll return the favour.
Be consistent, networking is about establishing your business and can’t be achieved in just one or two meetings.
Aim to talk to as many people as possible, remember you’re building brand awareness.
Be brave. It’s not always easy to introduce yourself to people you don’t know, but everyone’s there for the same reason. Just walk up and say ‘hello my names, from’ and the conversation will flow easily.
And finally enjoy, you’ll meet great contacts and make some friends along the way.
