5 STEPS TO SOCIAL SELLING SUCCESS
The best place for any business to market and seek out new customers is obviously through social media. With the majority of customers across the globe engaging in one or more social media platforms, having space and ads floating through their newsfeeds can help you reach customers in a new way. With a social media funnel, you are able to take advantage of different marketing options that are free and can reach such a high volume of potential customers.
Once you have created your social media profiles, there are five steps to social selling success. These steps help you successfully capture the customers you want, maintain those customers, generate new customers, and establish a level of marketing advocacy from your customers for the long term.
Step 1: Perception and Awareness
When you begin utilizing your social media funnel, perception and awareness should be at the forefront of your mission. Attacking customers with pleas to buy your service or product is not the right approach. Making them aware of your existence and the fact that you can provide a form of solution to something they need is all you need to focus on. Trying to push a sale on someone that you are just meeting will scare them away faster than them making a purchase.
Before you approach your customer base, you need to be aware of their personalities, also. If your target audience reacts better to a certain type of post, preferred social media channel, or even how products are presented, then you should be aware before moving forward.
Step 2: Compare and Promote
In the second step of the social media funnel, your customers are doing their research. At this stage, you take that awareness from Step 1 and apply it to see how your potential customer base is interacting with the competition as well as your product. Your customer base is looking at everything from product/service quality, cost, and reviews from those who have used your services in the past.
In order to get ahead of the competition at this step, offering free trials and free consultations for products and services can put you ahead of your competition and generate more leads. Based upon your business and its operations, choose the appropriate promotion. In order to capture the readers who are still in this stage and on the fence about your business, make sure to implement new ads and infographics that attract their attention and subtlety direct them to your page of services or products. Adding links for case studies and informational blog content on your social media pages is a great way to promote your brand without making direct content. Your potential customer base will take interest in the content you share, as well, and gain an interest in your brand.
Step 3: Lights, Camera, Action!
At this point in the social media funnel, you\’ve danced around your customers leaving them gifts and info about your business. This step is where you take action, and how you move forward is important. Be prepared to offer customer reviews, case studies, and any demos that are related to the success of your product or service. In many cases, customers will decide to take action when they see some proof of positive results, especially from others who have used your business and found success. During this step, you need to remarket and target in order to grasp and keep the attention of your audience.
Making that initial contact should be calculated and generated after you have completed your research and understand what it is your customer is looking for in your service or product. Actions are often calculated so that you have a higher chance of getting them to make a purchase and establish a relationship with them.
Step 4: Make an Engaging Plunge
Once you get your customer, and they make a purchase, it is important to keep them engaged and returning. Stay active and develop a relationship with your clients. While they may seem overly enthused in the beginning, you need to keep them coming back, especially when the enthusiasm starts to subside.
Reaching out to your clients consistently throughout the year lets them know that they are missed and want them to return for more services. This is especially critical if you add new products or services to your business line. Generate blog articles and social media posts that further navigate their attention to your business and steering them away from the competition.
While you are engaging with your client, make sure to stay consistent and represent your brand in the same style and tone with each engagement. If you can show loyalty to your brand and your standards, so can your clients.
Step 5: Turn Loyalty into Advocacy for Your Brand
Once you have established and continued maintaining that relationship with your customer, they are more likely to promote your products or services to their friends and family. Rave reviews about your service and your interaction will be left behind for new customers to read and make the choice to choose you. All the social media platforms offer an area for reviews. Those who are really advocating for your brand, however, are doing more than leaving reviews. They are liking and sharing your posts across the platforms so that their own followers are able to see and become acquainted with your brand. Often, they will be taking pictures and videos with your product and tagging you and your business in the process. They are part of your tribe and are now invaluable as they are a part of your best sales team – satisfied, vocal customers. Shower them with love, product, discounts, special events and access to new releases. These people are gold, treat them as such.
There you go, you’ve got the fail proof steps and formula for success. You’ll tweak parts for yourself and your business as you go along, however the basic steps remain the same when approaching customers. Give it a try, rinse and repeat.
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