Do you want to promote your product, service, idea or brand name but you’re having trouble getting started? Look no further. Regardless of what you want to promote or sell, selling through social is an easy and cost-effective solution for distributing your message and telling your story. In addition to being easy to use and cost-effective, social media opens the door to a broad range of people including professionals, business owners, gamers, marketers, techies and the list goes on. What do all of these people have in common? Well, when it comes to consuming brand messages and content, consumers expect quality and demand creativity.
Here are 5 ways to increase sales through social media:Whether you are a salesperson or a marketer, social media is a tool that can lead you in the right direction for increasing brand awareness and sales activity. But first, consider the goal you are trying to accomplish. Do you want to increase the traffic going to your website? Do you want to find more qualified leads? Are you trying to engage your audience with content? Whatever your goal may be, one thing is certain, social media encourages engagement and relationship building. And what is an essential part of selling or promoting a product and/or service? Networking and building relationships with people who like what you’re offering. What happens next? These people become your loyal fans that “like” and “share” your story with others.
1. Ask questions.
A lot of them. Questions are a great way to engage and interact with your potential customers. Try posing thought-provoking questions and see how it sparks a conversation with your audience. In addition to asking questions, you can start answering questions too. Do you belong to any LinkedIn Discussion Groups? If you’re not participating in any groups right now, you should get started today. The LinkedIn Discussion groups are a fantastic forum for asking and answering questions. Adding your “two cents” to relevant groups will get your name and/or your brand name out there as well as help position yourself as a credible source. Just remember, this is a professional outlet that should be used accordingly.
2. Take action.
You can take action through tracking and analytics. Often times, social media gets a bad rap due to the uncertainty of how social media activity relates to revenue. Lucky for you, there are now a variety of tools that can help you track your audience and analyze your success. To name a few of these tools that you may consider checking out: Hootsuite, TweetReach, Klout, TweetDeck, etc... All of these differ in certain ways but can help you gain insight into your audience’s engagement patterns and behaviors. After you gain this insight, you will be able to optimize and adjust your approach.
3. Focus. Focus. Focus.
On your target audience that is. When you’re selling a product or service and you’re looking to utilize social media as a strategy to gain new leads and build brand awareness, then there are a few questions you must consider asking yourself before you start your efforts. (1) Who is my target audience? (2) What challenges are they facing (3) How can my offer help provide a solution to those challenges? (4) What type of information are they looking for? If you have the answers to all of these questions, then consider yourself in a great place. If not, then you’ve got some work to do. Remember, information gathering is a very necessary and essential phase of the sales process. Especially when it comes to your social media outreach. Information gathering will help you focus on your audience as well as provide ideas for compelling and engaging content that will create awareness around your company and your offering. But beware, social media is about relevancy and personalization. If you are blasting messages to anyone and everyone, you won’t see the results you might hope for, but rather, you will find that you achieve the greatest success by creating a very detailed and focused target audience.
4. Be consistent.
It’s easy to get lost or discouraged among the mass amount of information that is being shared via social media. But don’t give up. Staying consistent with your message and the frequency in which you post updates is crucial to building your company’s credibility as well as establishing your authority on a particular topic. One of the keys to successful social media participation is actually being active and engaged in a variety of ways. As we mentioned above, asking and answering questions is a great way to get a conversation started with other like-minded professionals in your field. In addition to that, you could participate simply by sharing an interesting article or video that caught your attention and would be relevant to others in your network. You will be pleasantly surprised by who “likes,” shares or comments on your post.
5. Step out of your comfort zone.
Maybe you have a more traditional sales background and you’re looking to break into the digital sales space. Or maybe you’re just looking to learn more about an industry that you know nothing about. Whatever it is, social media is a great vehicle for stepping out of your comfort zone to start discussions or connect with people that you normally wouldn’t. In addition, it’s a great way to start gathering current information about a specific topic or industry. There are experts out there that are always willing to share their expertise and insights. You will see that if, for example, you belong to any type of LinkedIn discussion group or if you are connected with a veteran in your industry. Pay attention to the conversations that go on, you’ll learn a lot.
Remember, just like everything you do, social media requires the proper preparation and planning. If you take the time to really understand who your audience is, how to engage them with fresh information and participate consistently in relevant discussions, you are well on your way to finding new prospects, building long-lasting relationships and increasing your sales.
What tips can you share about prospecting via social media?
