One of the most influential tips I've ever received since I began working in marketing and community management is the power in being proactive. Proactivity isn't just a good trait to pick up when it comes to business, it can help you in many aspects of life. You'll be surprised how captivating the hearts of your customers before they even know they're going to be your customers can help you in staying two steps ahead at all times.
It's no surprise being proactive is the first habit discussed in Stephen R. Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. When it comes to your marketing and social media strategy being proactive means more than merely anticipating your customers future wants and needs. Captivating future consumers requires a real-time and data driven approach that can be easily adapted toward the constantly evolving needs of your consumers. With these tips you'll be able to predict which content will drive traffic, which social channels will grant you the greatest ROI, and how to engage preemptively, now that's a proactive strategy.
1. Get in the Fast Lane toward Engagement
Before your prospective consumers buckle down and commit to whatever it is you have to offer, wine and dine them a little. While some leads require more nurturing than others, everyone can benefit from some positive social engagement. Social engagement; this can mean many different things, from becoming an opinion leader on Twitter and keeping your future consumers up to date on advancements in your field, to joining in the conversation yourself. If you're a social guru, like myself, in addition to exporting all of your privy content to other social media sites you can start your own a little closer to home.
Set up shop right in the corner of your own page with a pop-up social network to keep all of your engagement and community members near by. Spot.IM allows you to create this community feel right on your page exclusive to your future consumers and community members.
If you're thinking about actively engaging your customers before they've even technically signed up, you're one foot into the fast lane. From here on out you can effortlessly remain two steps ahead throughout the entire process. Not to mention that customers who engage with brands online, tend to spend 20-40% more on those brands, or brands products.
2. Don't Wait
What are you waiting for? The days of old reactive marketing and business approaches are far over. Don't wait for your consumers to come to you on their own time, actively find ways to seek them out. The trick here is doing this in a way that makes them feel like they're actually the one finding you not vise versa. According to multiple studies on consumer's behaviors when it comes to decision making, consumers take pride in making their own uninvolved decisions.
Consumers today like to do their own research, evaluate their options and find their 'best deal'. This however, does not mean you should wait their twiddling your thumbs until they discover you themselves. Prime their minds with your name so it's always right there at TOPA (top of mind awareness). Use social media to gain this brand awareness without seeming to in your face advertising-like. If people just happen to be having a discussion about your brand on Facebook, this could work to get your brand into their minds to prime their decision making.
3. Know your hard to reach spots
Being proactive has a lot to do with data, utilizing your data and metrics to make changes in your campaigning and strategies for the better. All too often, marketers wait too long to process their data, and by the time it's been evaluated the next campaign is already off the ground. This is a tough spot for marketers because they're essentially blindly guessing what worked and didn't work from the last campaign to formulate the next one.
By making use of mobile device platforms such as Pepperi, you can align the sales and marketing teams to ensure everyone is on the same page. Not only will everyone be filled in with analytical data for any given case, but it's delivered straight to your phone so there's no excuse for 'lack of information' all of your metrics will be delivered in real time for continuous optimization. Using your previous customers pain points, and data you can re-evaluate and plan better to avoid these mistakes in capturing your future consumers.
4. Don't be a mind-reader, be a mind-leader
No, I don't expect you to become a magical genie that can predict where your future consumers are hiding and what they're looking for through the use of your crystal ball. You can however, use your mystical ways to inadvertently tell your future consumers what to think about by becoming a mind-leader. You can't tell them what to think, however, by becoming an opinion leader in their area of interest you can definitely tell them what to think about.
Make yourself an expert in your industry by getting the credentials, build a growing network of followers, and finally write about it. Whether its on your own company's blog, or contributing to other industry blogs share this content with your social media following and you'll be surprised the influence you can make.
Your future consumers are out there somewhere and it's up to you to be proactive and get to them before someone else does. These tips will help you be the first to captivate your consumers and keep you ahead of the game, it's a lot more work than simply letting things happen but you'll be pleasantly surprised by your newfound loyal consumers and significant increase in ROI.
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