I'm a Marketing trainee- I'm looking to see what the best practices are for converting social media followers into actual clientele. Looking for any suggestions on this? Thank you!
Hello, great question here. First of all you should understand that there is no 1 way and depending on who your audience is and what you sell the answer will definitely vary. A short answer however would be - engagement.
Forget about likes and follows and shares are engagement, if you want to be a successful marketer you need to see engagement as conversations. The more conversations you can build around products the more you can rely on them to follow links or follow up on a request when you do make one.
With that said, social media updates should be about what your followers want to see - depending on the social media -
try to avoid being too pitchy on each post.
My name is Humberto Valle, I have been a strategist for about 10 years now and have helped countless of entrepreneurs and businesses thrive through creative competitive strategy and marketing and I'm the co-founder of Unthink.Me. I hope my answer helps you a bit.
There's a few things I've done in the past which has converted and something which may fit into your culture.
1. Remove friction by asking BETTER questions of what they need help with. The power of a question.
2. Answer the question. Give them MORE than what they are asking for. If you want them to trust you, start a relationship, PROVE to them you care.
3. Follow up. How did it work out or setup a skype to chat wit them. Get to know more about THEM so you can navigate what it is they REALLY need.
4. Patience. It's like fishing. Sometimes you get a good run, sometimes it's dry. Keep hustling! Keep helping!
Cheers mate.
a.
make a youtube video, explain what is the benefit of your products or services..
start a contest and spread the world
research how other competitors are doing their marketing, make a budget and start a marketing project.. there are no right or wrong way to do this because it depends on your budget
1. Talk about their situation, where they are now, the problems they're having that you solve. Show pictures, tell stories, get their attention through self-interest.
2. Talk about your solution to their problem. Again, show pictures, tell stories, be consistent with your message. Don't blast features of your product or service: share problem situations and the results or "end picture" you get for clients.
"Hey, I want that!" is the reaction you're looking for--not because of features, but because they want the outcome you offer.
3. Move your prospect off the social media platform and onto your own ASAP. Then you can control the conversation. No distractions...no other ads...only what you want them to see. Have them sign up for an email series, or a video series, or an ebook--all about their problem/solution--so you can continue the conversation.
4. Have a Conversion method to get them to buy something after they've been educated. Believe it or not, many people market but don't have a conversion tool! IE. there is nothing for the prospect to buy. It's crazy but it's true. Put something to buy at the end of your funnel.
This process will Qualify prospects In or Out based on whether the problem situation resonates with them or not. You want buyers who have that problem, not "everyone." The newbie wants "everyone" to be a buyer, and they're wrong to do so...that only leads to buyers remorse and public complaints. Get the right people on your list.
BONUS!
5. Have a higher ticket Upsell for buyers to get. This is where you make your real profit. Again, huge mistake newbies make: trying to survive based on just front end sales. You need a back end to really profit.
Without more information it's very hard to answer your question. What business are you in? What research have you done to indicate that social media is a good way to attract new customers?
With that being said, the real answer is that you are asking the question to the wrong people. The answers you've received know nothing about your situation so they are taking wild stabs in the dark in an effort to attract your business.
If I were you, I'd start by talking to several dozen of your existing customers and asking them this question "If you were me, how would you go about attracting people like you?" The answer may be social media or it may not.
As a marketing trainee you need to know one thing... and that is that your customers will tell you the answers.
The first thing you need to do is to figure out exactly where your target audience is online. Which social media sites are they on and how often are they on them? This is all research that must be done beforehand.
Then, you (or a marketing professional) must create a social media strategy. This strategy is like a plan that will layout the future pathways toward achieving your goals through social media marketing.
Here are some blog posts I have recently written regarding how to get new customers on social media:
-http://www.bloominari.com/blog/how-to-capture-leads-using-facebook-in-3-easy-steps
-http://www.bloominari.com/blog/why-use-linkedin-market-business
If you'd like help with social media marketing or even just some consulting, please let me know because I'd love to help you!
Social media is the future of shopping! Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat are huge drivers for businesses because people are no longer searching Google for the latest and greatest, they are looking to influencers to see what they are wearing, where the are going, and what they are doing. I would start with using Facebook Ads and Instagram Promotions, great tools to get new followers and clients! If you want to further discuss the next steps to working with these platforms feel free to set up a call!
Find someone popular and get them to talk about what you’re selling and offer them a deal. This will make people who follow that person want to purchase the same thing because they trust him/her.
Become know, liked, and trusted! You want to become the attractive character in your business. The way to do this is to post crafted messaging in a specific framework to gain clientele. Message me if you want to set up a call!
Great question. I think that you need to be on a few social media sights such as Facebook , Linkedin and Twitter. You need to get a good following in those sites. People need to know you and trust you. I think you need to engage in conversations with people . I think if you can do a zoom presentation about what you do that can do 2 things get well known to people. And it is a chance to build trust with people. Two other possible ideas join a networking group this will give you a chance to meet new people and develop relationships and build trust with people. Second Join a meetup group that is focused on social media. Good Luck with everything
TCP will help you attract new clients. Before we go to the TCP, we will have a look into social media and try to understand it a bit. Social media has impacted us in more ways than one, not just on an individual level, but also the society, the way we do business and politics. The way we connect to each other, have conversations online, conduct business, maintain relationships, or simply gather information and interact with others has changed drastically, thus affecting our social behavioural patterns. Social media can have a strong influence on a person/group/or community through the dissemination of information via social networking channels, thereby having the power to influence the way people think or act or react to a stimulus. There are social networking sites, bookmarking sites, dating sites, photo sites, video sites, blogging platforms, micro-blogging platforms, discussion forums, Q&A sites etc.
Kaplan and Haenlein classified the social media into six different types based on their media research and published it in an article in Business Horizons. They classified the social media as:
1. Collaborative projects (e.g. Wikipedia)
2. Blogs and Microblogs (e.g. Twitter)
3. Content Communities (e.g. Youtube)
4. Social Networking Sites (e.g. Facebook)
5. Virtual Game Worlds (e.g. World of Warcraft)
6. Virtual Social Worlds (e.g. Second Life)
Kietzmann et al. studied the social media activities on the Internet and found that the behaviour of the consumers on the Internet had changed from simply expending content, reading it, watching it, buying and selling products or services to now take a more active part by utilizing various platforms like content sharing sites, blogs, social networking sites and wikis – to create, modify, share and discuss Internet content. According to their article, this represents the social media phenomenon, which now has the capability to significantly impact a firm’s reputation, its sales and even survival for that matter. In spite of this phenomenon, many executives are still ignoring this form of social media simply because they do not understand it, or the various forms it can take, and even how to engage with it and learn.
Thus, to help the organisations to engage with, know and understand the social media better, they came up with a honeycomb framework that defines the social media by using seven functional building blocks, namely: Identity, Conversations, Sharing, Presence, Relationships, Reputation, and Groups. Using this honeycomb framework, they have tried to explain the implications that each block can have for how firms should engage with the social media. The figure shows how different social media activities are defined by the extent to which they focus on some or all these blocks. For example – LinkedIn focuses primarily on Identity, Reputation and Relationships, whereas YouTube focuses primarily on Sharing, Conversations, Groups and Reputation.
In this manner, one can study the focus of each social media platform to be able to understand it better and be able to use and engage it in the right manner to get the maximum leverage out of it.
Kietzmann et al., in the article published in Business Horizons, have explained in detail how the framework can be used to compare and contrast the functionalities and implications of different social media activities and also presented guidelines for how firms should develop strategies for monitoring, understanding, and responding to the different social media activities.
Now we will investigate the Conversation Prism and it’s working.
Brian Solis (a principal analyst at Altimeter Group), an anthropologist, a digital analyst and a futurist developed the Conversation Prism (TCP) in 2008, which is a visual map of the social media landscape. His study in digital ethnography is an on-going one that tracks dominant and promising social networks and organises them by how they are used in everyday life.
Brian partnered with Jesse Thomas to bring a unique perspective to the social media ecosystem. Their collective effort in creative design and thoughtful approach helped to make the Conversation Prism the standard illustration for all things social media. As of 2013, the Conversation Prism has gone through four different versions with the version 4.0 marketing the most significant change since 2009.
He defined it as a Prism in the traditional sense of the word, as a prism disperses white light into a spectrum of colours. In this case, the white light is the focused stream of conversations that are often grouped, but not separated by voice, context, source, or outcome. This beam of dialogue is blasted into a spectrum of discernible light to see, hear, learn and adapt. Thus, he has literally brought “conversations to light.”
Halo 1: That is the centre of all conversations, with Brand You. The idea here is that you should explore all the social networks and opportunities that would work best for you (your brand) so that you can gain or introduce value. Here, Value could be defined in terms of not just traditional ROI, but in terms of the brand resonance or equity, relationships, leadership, intelligence etc.
Halo 2: Once you have successfully identified the role that you wish to play in social media, you will need a meaningful engagement within those social networks to bring about effective results. Focusing on this aspect in the Halo 2 are five pillars:
What is your vision for social media, the purpose or reason for being social and if it can be justified logically against other investment opportunities? What is the value you intend to deliver and how will you assess and communicate this value towards the social interactions and relationships that are involved here? However, it is also imperative to understand the level of commitment that would be necessary to provide and gain value as you scale, so you need to be careful before investing in social media. With the advance in technology, the networks, and nodes of doing business are becoming more human and information is readily available at our fingertips thereby bringing in more transparency in all that we do or say.
Halo3: Social is a way of conducting business functions today, be it HR, Sales and Marketing, Communications, Brand Development, Service or Community. All these functions are essential to mature business perspective from a command and control mentality to that of engagement and openness.
Halo 4: The last of the four concentric circles in the Conversation Prism reminds us of the importance of listening in a conversation, and in doing so being able to learn and adapt so as to improve all that we do inside or outside the company, thus, being in the “Always Be Improving” (ABI) mode. Therefore, each of the concentric circles is designed to work together, to help you improve strategies and results to improve the way you work, how you build relationships with employees and customers, the ability to create and improve better products, services and experiences, and overall, the role you play and the stature you earn as a result.
Apart from this to attract new clients you must understand the benefits that individuals will seek from your social media outlets:
1. Personal Use: Individuals can use the social media for personal reasons, which may be for keeping in touch with the latest technology, news, gossip, and happenings around the world or in their own locality. Social media is also fast replacing the traditional means of communications. In this day and age, it would be hard to find a person who does not use the e-mail facility to send messages to friends/colleagues and/or for official purposes or use the social media for collaboration.
2. Explore Your Creativity: The social media is available in many forms, as explained in the previous chapter. People can use this media to explore their own creativity, for example, a person who loves to write can create their own blogs and explore their writing talents. Blogs are the best way for individuals to express themselves, their views, and opinions on any and all subjects. In this manner, a person can establish their expertise in their particular niche subject by using the blog effectively. There are several other writing platforms that allow people to submit content on their site and reward them in different ways. Due to the very nature of social media it is easy to reach a large audience and find an interested readership.
3. Social Interaction: Human beings love to socialise and interact with each other. The social media enables people to interact with each other using the universally accessible and scalable communication techniques that are available today, in the form of websites and the mobile phones.
4. Get Empowered: The social media has succeeded in putting the power back into the consumer’s hands. As mentioned in the paragraph above, any individual can have a “social influence” by virtue of his/her social interactions on the web or via mobile technologies.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
