Entries Tagged 'social media' ↓

One of the main barriers preventing businesses from getting stuck into social media is that they don’t believe you can actually sell using it.

Other than the time issue, many people don’t utilise social media because… ‘Why do I want to know what someone had for lunch?’ Yes, people do talk about sandwich preference, but that is all part of building relationships and allowing people to get to know you.

And those that do dabble give up after just a week or two because they aren’t seeing results. Well, first off it takes time for your social media activities to bear fruit. And, if you’re just using Twitter or Facebook to bombard people with lame sales messages, you’re not going to have any success because you’re just turning people off you and your business in their droves.

You see, although it is possible to sell just about anything through social media, it’s not somewhere people hang out who are looking to buy a particular product. They are there to see what people are saying, or looking for information to a particular problem they have, or an expert to give them a helping hand.

How to get results

As more and more people become ‘comfortable’ with social media, they are increasingly turning to it to find out information. And that’s where you come in.

So, if you are going to make the most of this golden opportunity to reach out to a whole new marketplace, you need to have a strategy in place.

1. Test

The only way you are going to find the right approach is by testing.

Which method produces the most engagement?

Once you’ve discovered what works for you, stick to it, but continue to monitor your results.

2. Target

If you want to use social media you have to ensure you are targeting the right people. Use keywords within your tweets and updates and hash tags.

So, make sure you know who your audience is and what’s important to them.

3. Trust

People will only buy from you once they trust you.

How do you get them to trust you?

Giving away great information, engaging with them and making your content easy to share will help to build trust.

4. Engage

Social media isn’t a one way street. If you want people to like you and trust you, you have to engage with them. Ask them questions, post a poll on your Facebook page, do a question and answer session and ask for feedback.

All of these activities will make you more accessible to them. And if you’re accessible, you’ll be seen as approachable – a business they would want to buy from.

5. Call to action

Of course, once you have their trust and engagement you have to ask them to do something – don’t assume they will automatically buy.

Direct them to your website, make them aware of your offers, or ask them to sign up for your newsletter. Whatever it is, make sure it’s clear.

So, can you really sell anything through social media?

Yes, you can if you get your approach right.

Over to you

What successes have you had with social media?

As a copywriter I’ve gained several new clients through Twitter – leave a comment below and share your experiences.

You know how great social media is as a way of promoting your business and building relationships.

You also know that it’s imperative these days for your business to have a website

But how good are you at marrying the two together?

The power of two

In today’s online marketplace, it is essential make the most of your exposure. It’s not enough just to have a website, a Facebook page, blog or Twitter account.  Now you must ensure you’re making the most of all your online efforts by making them work together.

The seamless integration of all your online and social media outlets will maximise your promotion potential, impressions and sales.

So how can you make that happen?

Socialmediaexaminer.com has produced an excellent post that gives you the low down on how to ensure your business website and social media platforms are working together to maximise their online exposure.

Grab a coffee and take a few minutes out of your day to check it out and refer back to what you’re doing at the moment.

Make 2012 the year you integrate all your online activities to give your online presence a real boost.

9 Tips for Integrating Social Media on Your Website

This article was written by Daniela Baker, a small business blogger at CreditDonkey, a credit card deals website. She helps entrepreneurs compare small business credit cards to find rewards right for their business. 

The author’s views are entirely his own and may not reflect the views of FreelanceCopywritersBlog.com. If you are interested in producing a Guest Post for this blog, please get in touch with your ideas.

When was the last time you went to a corporate website, other than your own? OK, now when was the last time you went on Facebook or Twitter?

Yeah, this is the reason why some people are asking whether social media is killing off company websites!

According to blogger, public speaker, and social media strategist Jeff Bullas, company Facebook pages seem to be absorbing corporate website traffic.

For example, he cites three companies that have both a booming Facebook presence and developed corporate websites: Coca Cola, Starbucks, and Oreo. A quick check this morning revealed that Coca-Cola boasts 36.6 million Facebook fans, Starbucks has 26.6 million, and Oreo has 23.7 million. They’re doing well, right?

Except Bullas noted that Coca-Cola’s corporate site traffic dropped by over 40% last year, Starbucks’ site traffic reached a plateau, and Nabisco’s traffic plummeted from 1.2 million hits each month to just 321,000 per month in a year. The social media strategist pointed to a Webtrends study showing that 68% of Fortune 100 websites have been experiencing negative growth, with a 24% decrease, on average, in unique visitors.

Even back in 2009, blogger and Internet media entrepreneur Adam Ostrow pointed out how common it was becoming to see business cards which included Twitter usernames instead of domain names and ad campaigns that included URLs to Facebook pages.

But is this death, or just specialization?

It’s important to note that neither Bullas nor Ostrow are predicting the death of company websites. Rather, the rise of social media seems to be taking them in a different direction.

Bullas, for example, argues in favor of integrating and optimizing content for different websites, such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. That way, consumers can be more engaged all around.

He suggests using social media pages to send traffic to your corporate site by offering links on your company’s social media profile pages. For corporate blogs, include a sample of the start of the latest blog post in your company’s Facebook status or tweet, then include a link to the article. Make a Facebook or MySpace contest that requires users to track down information on your website, then announce you’ll publish the winners on your corporate website. Use social media to link your fans or followers to on-site coupons and use e-mail marketing, too.

That way, social media sites can help interested visitors find your corporate site instead of being a replacement for it.

Need help figuring out how to make your company website and social media communications play well together?

If this is all leaving you confused, consider hiring a social media consultant to help. With so many experts participating in the social media trend today, this task has never been easier.

Many major freelancing websites, such as Elance, even allow you to pay remote workers using your credit card. Business credit cards can be particularly helpful when using this strategy. Using a business credit card allows you to earn rewards that go toward your bottom line, access a steady source of cash to help you through dry periods, and establish business credibility.

Look for a social media strategist that’s familiar with many different social networks, has good feedback from past clients, can show you their own social media presence, understands new technology, plans ahead, and has a professional attitude.

Social media presence + corporate website = better communication with consumers.

In short, your brand’s social media page may take some attention away from your corporate site, but that doesn’t mean that you have to choose one or the other. With a little effort, you can make them work together for best results.

Think of it this way: your brand’s social media page can hand out flyers while your corporate website hosts the party.

For many new tweeters, that is probably the first question that springs to mind.

After setting up your account, you probably searched for friends, family and colleagues and then came to a grinding halt.

What happens next? How do you find new followers?

Let Twitter give you a helping hand

If you go to your Twitter page, you should see something like this:

At the top of the screen you can see #Discover, clicking on this brings up this screen. As you can see, it gives you the options ‘who to follow’ and ‘find friends’.

But what happens when people follow you?

Should you automatically follow them back?

The simple answer is no. Take control of your Twitter stream and follow only those people you want to follow.

Here are 5 very simple ways to make sure you get value out of your Twitter experience:

1. Say farewell to spam

When someone follows you, take a look at their tweets. Are they excessively promotional? If so, they are more than likely going to be a spammer. Unless you want your stream full of their plugs, don’t bother following them back.

2. What are they saying?

Someone’s Twitter feed will tell you a lot about them. Take a look at their past tweets – do you find them interesting? If so, follow them, if not, don’t bother.

3. OTT

Tweeters come in all shapes and sizes; some have a lot to say, others very little. If someone follows you who is a prolific tweeter think carefully before following them back. Do you really want them to be filling your Twitter stream 24/7?
If what they’re saying is interesting, go ahead and follow. But if you’re not so sure, it may be better to pass.

4. Silent night

Twitter is all about being social and that means interacting. If you’ve been trying to engage with a particular follower and they’ve just been ignoring you, you’re not really getting any value out of that relationship so it may be time to unfollow and find someone who’s a little chattier.

5. Bio and interests

The best way to find out a bit about your followers is through their biography. Personally, if there is no avatar (i.e. uploaded their own rather than using a generic one), or there is no bio (or a very poor one) I won’t follow back.

Your bio is where you can add details about you, your likes and dislikes. It’s the best way to work out whether you have something in common with your follower or not. If you do, you are far more likely to enjoy a great Twitter relationship.

At the end of the day, Twitter is about being social. It’s not about a band of silent stalkers that don’t interact with each other.
Choose who you follow carefully to make sure you get the most out of your experience. By following these 5 very simple ‘quality checks’, you’ll be able to ensure your Twitter followers will add value to your social media activities.

Sally Ormond – Copywriter and Tweeter

Although many businesses are now using social media as a marketing tool, few of them have worked out how to see a return on their investment.

Let’s face it, if you are going to spend man-hours on using social media as part of your marketing strategy, you’re going to want to see some sort of return for it.

In an earlier post, The Money’s in The Relationship, I showed that your return through social media is measured in relationships rather than cold hard cash.

Taking that a step further, I came across a great post on socialmediaexaminer.com that looks at the 4 steps you need to take to sell with social media.

After all, it is your customers you are interacting with through Facebook and Twitter, so there must be a way to encourage them to buy from you through those platforms.

The post tells use that to improve your ROI your marketing and campaigns must include these essential components:

• Attraction
• Retention
• Conversion
• Measurement

To read more about how it’s done, follow the link and discover the 4 steps to selling with social media.

 What do you think?

Are you convinced? Can you sell through social media?

Leave a comment and tell us your experiences.