"The noise of social media is too hot out there!"
Truth be told, social media is awesome and if you rightly approach it, it can generate buyer leads and increase your sales. But it's easier said than done. How can you leverage social media to 'earn the trust' needed to boost your business?
If that's your question, I'm here to give you a foolproof way to make social media marketing blissful.
In this article, we shall consider:
- Social: what does it mean and what basic knowledge do you need to get better return on investments (ROI)?
- Media: how many times have you used 'media' in your marketing campaigns? Did you know it has the potential transform your business?
- Communication: how to cement the gap between prospect's and your product. Until this is done, guess work and assumption would take over.
What Is Social?
In the concept of internet marketing, social means connecting, sharing and the interaction between groups of people. And when these people comes together to share their opinions, a circus is initiated and business can take place.
But we mustn't forget the real essence of social media. People don't like to be sold, even though they like to buy - they need to make buying decisions out of their free wills. Social networks were created to fill the ultimate need of man - communication.
A lot of social media marketers and bloggers are approaching it wrongly. Eliminate the dollar bill from your mind. Your fans are not money-spillers. They're real asset which can be leveraged upon to achieve tremendous business exploits. Striving to make money from your fans would only sabotage your success.
Instead, come as a human and begin to fulfill their greatest desire for helpful information. When you've earned the trust, only then are you allowed to pitch or showcase your salesmanship. In a nut shell:
- Be human
- Make friends,
- Study your fans to know what they want
- Deliver in a friendly way
- Be unique, don't hard-sell.
Media: what's that?
Do you really know what 'media' stands for in social marketing? Off course, we write about it, tweet and share our media contents but how can we tap into the rich resources of media marketing?
First, the media are groups of people who scour the web for quality, newsworthy and helpful contents. It means that the media isn't limited to a set of persons; anyone can be among this group. You're a media personnel because you share other people's work.
Social 'media' marketing therefore comes handy - from our brief definition of who the media are. Your twitter followers and Facebook fans are the media.
If you successfully pique their minds with quality and sharable contents, they would share it, link to it and promote your business, willingly. "On the internet, the media determines who gets publicity, not you." - Brian Clark
It also means that social media marketing is an arm of Crowdsourcing (mass promotion by satisfied crowd). There are specific types of post you should share with you social media fans, it must be unique, timely and easy to implement. That's what newsworthy contents are meant to do.
Here's how to make your media contents sticky:
- Write a catchy headline
- Keep abreast of hot trends
- Write posts that are newsworthy
- Break the bricks: write in simple sentences and light paragraphs
- Share with fans, followers and subscribers creatively
Communication - The Key!
Communication is the key that opens the goldmine to social media bliss. As email marketing thrives on effective communication, social media also relies on it. As it is in modern times, without communication, it's almost impossible to live. We live by sharing, getting across to and with other people and determining what they want and how to provide it.
Social media networks were created to help you communicate effectively. It doesn't matter what product or service you're selling, the key is to recognize what makes people tick and use the same tactics to craft worthy and valuable contents.
With the growing number of blogs and social media networks, it's becoming exceptionally difficult to communicate and build a cognitive brand. You know why?
"Prospects need fewer options to make decisions."
If you provide so many options, potential customers would be confused as to what truly works. So, don't suffocate your social media fans with plenty of contents. Provide only the right solutions, and wake them up with your unique voice and style. This breeds effective communication - which is essential to your success.
Want to communicate effectively with fans? See highlights:
- Ask intelligent questions
- Be there when they need you
- Answer comments and clarify issues
- Spend time with fans, 30 - 1hr won't hurt
- Have a strong voice, don't cower
- Follow up with insightful contents
- Stay fresh
Now, you can earn the trust
If you've followed the social media tips above, then, you've successfully created a platform to successfully market and sell your products and services. At this point, your fans esteems you highly - isn't that all you ever wanted?