How to Use Social Media to Increase Sales

Join a community and create a persona:

Companies needs to spend time with the tool they plan to use, whether It's Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc. It’s important to build up a personal account, have conversations, and become acquainted with the norms and expectations of the community. Companies needs to keep in mind that their brand image needs to be a likable and trustworthy within social network communities. It’s effective when companies comment a lot to get people to go to their site. Once you have a lot of traffic and a live feed then the network will consider your company to be a trustworthy resource.

Determine the best way to connect with prospects:

• Facebook is the popular place for a business to drive consumer sales.
• Linkedin is a platform for sales of business to business products or services.
• Twitter can be employed for all kinds of sales.
• Blogs ignite all types of live chats and encourages for live comments.

 

Connect:

Friend, follow, or connect with individuals with profiles that match your clients. The company can conduct a search on each social networking website to find people who are talking about their industry or using their products and services. Companies can drive consumers to their site by encouraging consumers to “retweet” a comment.

Build a relationship:

Companies need to develop relationships more than they need to develop leads. Relationships go a long way and will then create leads. After establishing the relationship, you can tell if the prospect might want or need your product or service.

Engage in a conversation:

As recently discussed in my interview post, Interview with David Prince, VP of Marketing at CQ Fluency, you must be sure to engage your readers. Don’t just post a message with a pitch, because that will not interests your potential consumers. If you really listen to what the prospects are saying online, you can open doors to conversation without having to force it. Encourage consumers to contribute to a conversations and share content, it will increase awareness. Their friends will see it and their friend’s friend and their friend’s friend friend will see it.

Social media is about being social but most importantly it’s about building relationships between consumer and companies. People buy from a brand they live and trust. The questions is, how do companies build relationships and eventually increase sales? The preceded were ways to increase sales. The above are simple strategies that companies can implement to help them closer to the goal of increased sales. It’s not difficult, it’s about building rapport and connection with your desired audience.

Preparation for a Social Media Disaster

Ever posted anything that you regretted out in front of the whole world on social media? You may need to restrict yourself to robot-like discipline to keep you from making mistakes. In this generation it’s interesting to be authentic, yet it’s so risky!  The things you post on social media can be potentially disastrous. Companies are also at fault for posting something of great embarrassment.  It’s important to think of pre-crisis preparations like setting up social media policies and crisis communications plan.

The following are ways to address regrettable Facebook or Twitter posts:

Don’t have a knee-jerk reaction: don’t act on impulse, instead think of a well thought out response rather than a quick knee-jerk response. Many times businesses are not prepared to handle a social media mistake as there are many. Companies may not respond to the situation quick enough. But, it is essential that a company takes a moment to carefully deliver a message to respond to the community.

Don’t hide the mistake: companies should never act as if they didn’t make a mistake. If you social media manager posted an offensive tweet or post, it’s the responsible thing to accept it. Its damage control to delete the comment or post but it’s essential to react to the post and apologize for it.

Rebuild you image: the brand/image of a company can survive a social media disaster, however, it will take time to rebuild the company’s reputation.

Social media is a valuable resource for marketing your business. Unlike many traditional marketing channels, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and many others allows you to communicate to your customers in real time. The downside is the instant connection with consumers that creates a greater risk but, with the above mentioned ways you are prepared to damage control your brand.

What brands have done a phenomenal job in rebuilding their brand from a social media setback?

Interview with David Prince, VP of Marketing at CQ Fluency

David Prince is the VP of Marketing at CQ Fluency. They are a communications company with a difference: cultural fluency that ensures the message is adapted seamlessly for all audiences. He brings a wealth of knowledge in the worlds of brand building, multicultural solutions and team leadership. This interview will give you insight into why social media is essential for a business to be successful. 

What is your experience managing multiple social media accounts?

When I worked for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention we worked on the VERB campaign. It was a social marketing campaign to increase physical activity among youth. The sources of influence were on tweens, teachers, program leaders, and parents. Through this campaign I utilized multiple social media accounts to advertise. Back then MySpace was the hot commodity of social media as well as Facebook.

How do you stay on top of the latest innovations in social media?

I follow key blogs such as Social Media News and Social Media Network/Marketing. In my Twitter and Facebook newsfeed I follow several companies and prominent names. I engage in discussions on several LinkedIn groups. I also utilize Google alerts and receive an e-mail daily in regards to current events and trends in the social media industry.

What different social medium are you experienced in and how effective have you found them?

I am experienced in the Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, and Pinterest. These social media tools are effective at brand building. Social media also drives sales for a company. It’s a great way to promote the brand and products. It increases awareness of the brand and image. Social media are a way to strike conversation with your consumers. You are able to see what their interests are and can relate to them through your next product or service.

Now that we covered the bases, here are further questions I asked:

Enhance Awareness/ Improve Perception:

How do you remain fresh and relevant in a constantly changing environment?

It’s very vital for companies to stick with their message and remain persistent in an ever-changing environment. You should stay on the message across all social media platforms. New people are always discovering your brand.

What ways have you helped improve brand loyalty in the past through social media?

While I worked for the U.S. Army I made a push to Twitter. I enhanced their technical abilities and initiated the first tweet from space during one of our projects. Overall, I raised the level of army technical standpoint.

How do you build an engaged social audience?

You must understand how consumers use the many platforms. Understand how they’re using and when they’re using it. I learned that Facebook is primary used  at home, Twitter is an on-the-go platform where Pinterest is used for consumers to "pin" images and objects that they like. All in all, you must know how consumers use different platforms differently.

Educate Your Audience:

Do you feel that social media can be used to educate our audience, if so, how?  If not, why?

Yes! You are allowed to tweet 140 characters depending on the medium you are using. You must repeat your message/motto but repeat it creatively to get the message across.

How do you get users to listen or participate in the discussion you are creating?

Best way to get people to listen is to ask a question! But, provide options to respond to the question such as:

“Have you tried XXX Company’s new feature?”

1. Yes, I like it!
2. Yes, I don’t like it!
3. Not yet
4. Jury’s out

It’s easier to interest people in online conversations when you make it easier for them to respond.

Convert Leads/Drive Sales:

In what ways would you suggest using social media to help drive sales and/or convert leads for our brand/company/product?

Reach out to consumers through TV, radio, and e-mail. You must identify who the core consumers are then it’ll be easier to create personalized online conversations for them to join.

Can you provide an example of a successful campaign you've launched in the past?

"Talk to a U.S. Army Solider" is a campaign I’ve launched. It’s geared towards those interested in joining the army such as recruits and their parents and families. The means of communication included, e-mail, and a discussion board on the goarmy.com site and a Facebook page. I learned that if you want to invite people to participate in your campaign go with the latest social media trend. Facebook is a social media asset that everyone must use to promote their service.

It was such an insightful interview. It was interesting to learn from a social media professional standpoint. Companies cant survive without social media. From building new potential partnership relationships, receiving real time customer feedback, to enhancing your brand image. Social media does it all! You must understand how to use it and when to use it.