If your sales and marketing teams seem to be working overtime, chances are your business strategy is not aligned with a social media plan. This can lead to a huge loss for your company in terms of finances and possibly, customers. Studies show that more than half of business selection processes are carried out in the digital world, which is often lost on a company’s sales team. It is therefore essential to increase the visibility of your brand and products to these invisible prospects, using as many social media platforms as possible.
Social Media Marketing and your Brand Image
Social media marketing provides a means for business owners to be aware of issues surrounding their products and services. If there is a problem with your product or service, you can know about it immediately and take the necessary steps to handle the problems as soon as possible. Customers will choose a company over and over again when they know that they are being heard, and that their valid complaints will be efficiently corrected.
Companies with active social media profiles enjoy more loyalty from their customers. When you are sincerely engaging and interacting on social media, an impression is created that you are more than just a faceless corporation, but a group of people with a shared vision.
In essence, social media is a major part of how companies maintain their brand image, and how sales teams bring in high-value leads. Social media marketing is therefore more important than ever to help branding and sales teams stay aligned.
How Companies Can Work Together For More Social Marketing Benefits
As simple as it sounds, having regular meetings is an effective way to stay on point. Such meetings can ensure that any miscommunications and issues occurring in the different departments of the company – including branding and sales – can be resolved.
There is constant engagement between sales reps and prospects. However, an understanding of what the prospects really want is a great way to get them excited about your products and services. Companies can stay in the loop by making available a process for creating content for social media, using regular brainstorming ideas, coordinating an editorial calendar to keep members up to date about the when and where of content, as well as making use of shared documents to collect ideas.
While social media is a great way to publish new offers and content, companies’ sales and branding teams need to be kept abreast of any promotions, so that they can answer questions and respond to leads in the appropriate way. Therefore, a shared calendar should be available to display promotions, and teams should be updated on any new company offers. Sales staff can also have standard talking points about the offers and the value they hold for the customer.
In the end, teams simply need to pay attention to each other in order to be better at their respective jobs, and to successfully achieve results. Listening to one another is an effective way to learn about the real needs of the customer, and to generate ideas for more content for social media.
Should You Use Micro-Influencers?
Influencer marketing used to be about working with big name influencers with millions of followers on social media, and cementing relationships. Recently however, there has been a slow shift to micro-influencers, because marketers and brands are recognising that when it comes to influencer relationships, quality beats quantity.
We can expect an even greater move towards this, as brands focus on their niche and on building relationships with the highly focused micro influencers. Such sets are made up of people who might not have up to 50,000 followers, but those they do have are super interactive, constantly engaging and prepared to buy into the influencer’s adverts.
As social media marketing keeps evolving, companies can only maintain or improve their positions by keeping in close proximity to their target audience. The only way to really make an impact is to take the time to understand and provide for the needs of the customer. Unsurprisingly, when you stay in front of your customer base, there is a greater chance that they will buy from you. Social media marketing and the use of micro-influencers does more than just keep your brand name in front of prospects, it also provides you a chance to be consistent with incentives for them to buy.
The Best Way to Connect With Prospects
Your first step is to find out where your target audience are having a conversation, and go there. If you can’t find one, move your company online using a service like NZ Domain Names, and integrate social media. Before making use of social media marketing to make sales, you need a real understanding of your client base, or else you will simply be wasting your time. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are popular and each have their own effective use.
LinkedIn is a professional networking environment, appropriate for sales of business-to-business products or services. It therefore offers the right place to connect with people in big corporations who might be interested in what you have to offer.
Twitter can be used for all kinds of sales, with listening as the most effective way to find out the needs and concerns of prospects. Listen for problems that you can solve, and use what you hear as leverage to reach out to prospects through emails or phone calls.
Facebook is great, but like any medium, it’s not just about posting products. You have to engage the community and present products in exciting and fun ways. Also, appeal to the lifestyle of your end-user by incorporating a collection of fitting posts, products and images.
Companies do not have to limit themselves to these three social media sites alone, as there are other great places to generate leads, including blogs, live chats and comments sections online. As long as there is relevant conversation taking place online, you will be able to find prospects.
Company sales people and marketers have successfully used social media marketing to connect with people about issues related to their products and the problems they need to solve. Providing a solution to someone when they need it opens the door to a lead who is interested in learning more about a product and service. Social media is a means to that end.