How to market your business with social media marketing
If you want to engage your potential customers on social media, influence your market, develop more enduring client relationships, sell more and build your business this article is for you (but it may not be what you expect).
Because you can extend the reach of your business significantly using social media with the simple basics of human communication!
So, here’s how you can talk to more potential customers online…
Step 1 : Engage
Your potential customer will probably have favourite social media sites where he or she spends time.
Choose 3 social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are probably the best places to start) and see if you can find any of your existing customers on there.
I’m sure that you will!
Take a look on their profiles and see what they are interested in, what films they like, what kind of music they enjoy, who they are following.
By all means, say hello, ask your potential customer to connect with you, build some rapport.
Write something interesting about you…
or if writing’s not your thing, make a video or an infographic…
or post a photo of your team…
post a photo of a satisfied client…
post a photo of your office.
Step 2 : Educate
You may wish to create a blog, a great place to post your content.
The good thing about a blog is that you can create it on your own domain.
For example : My blog, where you are probably reading this article, is at digitalfreelance.co.uk/blog
You can design a series of blog articles that will educate your potential client on what you do.
Remember you may be talking to people who do not share your level of expert knowledge!
Break each blog post down into simple, understandable, easy to follow steps.
Your goal is to have your posts going out systematically and consistently, to a predictable schedule.
There is no right or wrong way to do this.
Simply pick a schedule and stick to it.
There are a number of tools you can use to automate your posts.
We use hootsuite.
Step 3 : Survey
You can use online surveys to find out what result your potential customer really wants and the transformation he or she is seeking, to guide you in what subjects to cover in your educational content.
Marketing, for small businesses is mostly about identifying where your prospective client is STUCK and articulating the solution or result you can provide to get him or her UNSTUCK.
If you can think in terms of the problems that your prospective client has before he or she finds you, and the solution that you provide to those problems you are well on your way.
This is the transformation you provide.
You can also get some ideas on the problems you solve by asking your existing customers why they purchased from you.
You can run a survey using Survey Monkey, or create your own group on Facebook or Linkedin, invite your best clients and ask them what problems you solved for them and why they bought from you.
This may seem really obvious, but you may be pleasantly surprised by the response you get.
Step 4 : Demonstrate results
We have found that organising a free consultation or planning session is one of the best ways we have to show a client how we do business, what he or she can expect and the kind of problems we solve and results we deliver, and to help a potential client decide if our services are a good fit for him or her.
Case studies are also a really good way to demonstrate the value you provide.
And if you’re a start up, so you don’t have any case studies yet, you can create some educational content.
For example : One of our clients in the building a dog based business niche provides a video on how to become a pack leader and communicate with any dog to obey your commands.
Step 5 : Share values
Unless your product is an impulse purchase, most of your potential clients will be most likely to buy from a business, or individual they know, like and trust.
So, resist the temptation to become the pushy salesperson, and get down to building a relationship.
Most long term relationships are based on shared values.
Ask yourself what is really important in my business?
What do I stand for?
Be prepared to have some people like what you are saying, and recognise that others won’t.
That’s ok.
Focus on building a relationship with people who share your values.
Step 6 : Measure progress
There are metrics available on all social media platforms.
You will get an indication on what to do next by measuring your level of engagement and how much response you get from the audience on your social media platforms.
Most businesses progress from making contact, to engaging to building a following, to making sales.
Paid ads can be a great way to build a following and promote offers, particularly on Facebook, but I recommend finding out what converts before you invest any significant budget.
Step 7 : Keep innovating
Your relationship with your audience will evolve over time, so it’s important to use your creativity to keep improving and developing your communication.
And eventually you may come to align your content with your own unique voice and be yourself.
Want to accelerate your social media presence and find your voice…
