This is how social media can help with your sales activities
We live in a world of sales. And we also live in our modern age of social media. Can we even recall a time where we didn’t have a mobile phone glued to our hands or direct access to companies and brands across multiple platforms?
It must be hard for millennials to try and imagine a world without mobile phones, apps and social media.
I feel almost like social media rules our lives. In yesteryear it was tv and now it’s Facebook and Instagram – welcome to our new tv!
Social media is here to stay, so we may as well make peace with that fact and get the most out of it. Never in history have we been presented with an opportunity where we can reach consumers and customers 24/7. So let’s take advantage of this great opportunity and see how social media can help us with our sales.
Here are a few tips I want to share with you on how you can use social media to your business advantage:
1. Relationship building with online connections
Back in the day we had cold calling, now we can connect online. The really cool thing about this is you can build a relationship with prospective clients by connecting with them on LinkedIn, sharing a weekly LinkedIn publication and commenting and sharing other people’s posts. You can have a conversation on Twitter, direct messaging & shopping on Facebook, and engagement on Instagram. Remember, a prospective client needs to see your brand 7 times before they sit up and take note. Keep building online relationships, make quality, strategic connections and educate your followers.
2. Creating quality brand awareness
By having a content strategy in place and curating your content you create quality brand awareness. Please don’t make that fatal mistake of posting something for the sake of keeping your social pages active! Rather not post anything at all then.
Have a strategic content plan in place. Keep in mind that your social platforms forms part of building your sales funnel. You want to engage online with prospective clients and eventually take the conversation offline to a face-to-face or digital meeting for them to sign up for your services or to buy your product.
Consistently post on a daily basis, however, make sure that you share educational content that is informative and sways the viewer to become a regular visitor to become a prospective customer to become a lifelong customer.
3. Custom your content for each platform
Take the time to carefully plan your content, even if it’s only for the first quarter. It may be that your followers on Facebook like to be kept abreast of your latest product/service offerings, whereas your LinkedIn followers would love to hear your weekly thoughts on how certain pains in their business can be solved in an easy and effective manner. Perhaps your Instagram followers would love to see beautifully curated posts with a link and reminder to your weekly blog.
Do you get the gist that each platform needs to be catered for in a different way?
Some business owners like to link all their accounts to a social scheduling app as it is easier for them to share the same content across all platforms. Personally I prefer more curated content and this is because I know my audience and I know that my Twitter followers are mostly different to my Instagram followers.
Take the time to understand your market, your audience and understand what they would like to see, read and engage with. If you’re not sure, ask them! Whether it’s via a social post, a blog, an email blast or even a phone call.
Take the time to really plan your content, keep it seasonal, keep it informative, keep it fun!
Bringing it together
You have been presented with a magnificent opportunity of engaging with and on boarding prospective clients that you previously couldn’t have reached. You can market your services and products for free on social media. This is such an easy way to fill your sales funnel and bring in new business. As long as you take the time to plan, strategise and share great content, your sales can only soar!
Happy social selling!
About the Author : Karen has facilitated and hosted many sales masterclasses, workshops and training sessions to not only boost sales confidence however to also instill sales skills and tools that are personalised to each individual.
Karen is also a sought after speaker at Sales Conferences & Seminars, Secretarial Conferences & Symposiums and Entrepreneur Conferences & Workshops, where she engages her audience with story-like presentations of sales, outsourcing and business.
To learn more or to book Karen, visit her website.
