The founders of Facebook probably never dreamed that their site would become major marketing platforms. Social media sites began as a way for people to connect with their friends but have since become very popular mediums for marketers to reach new customers. According to quotaDeck, 61% of B2B marketers rely on social media to generate leads.
Many people rely on paid advertising on social media sites, while others use a more organic marketing strategy. Both approaches can be very effective, but they need to be carefully planned out.
Some social selling campaigns have higher ROIs than others. The most successful marketers understand the core elements of a successful social selling strategy. Here are some things that differentiate them from their competitors.
Match the Sale to the Social Experience
Steve Fusco, the North American vice president and general manager for PayPal, told Entrepreneur that social selling strategies have adapted over time. The biggest challenge marketers must make is to focus on the social experience.
“Just a few years ago, a small business would be content to have a pretty website, a frictionless checkout experience and a solid handle on search-engine optimization and marketing. This worked because it matched with the way people shopped and bought. While they may have experienced discovery elsewhere, they always began a shopping journey with intent… What has changed, however, is that people now spend significant portions of their time on and within social networks built around their interests and relationships. As a result, the buying process has moved from one driven largely by a desire to find something to one that is more based on customers coming across things within the experience they’ve already created for themselves.”
It’s important to understand the mindset of customers on the different social channels that you plan to utilize. You need to customize your ad for each platform.
For example, many advertisers have found that journalistic style infomercials work best on Facebook, while Image driven landing pages are best when marketing on Instagram or Pinterest. Read case studies to find out what types of content marketing strategies work on each.
Don’t Recycle Third-Party Content
Far too many marketers spend their time tweaking ads and landing pages from other brands. Not only is this risky from a legal perspective (the line defining IP rights can be blurry), but it’s also practically useless.
In order to sell via social media, you need to keep your customers engaged. The only way to do that is to provide highly original content. Here are some things that you should do to create a unique experience for social customers.
Take your own pictures.
Stock photos are too generic for social selling. Original pictures will stand out more, so take your own and edit them with PhotoShop if needed.
Don’t rely too much on dynamic content.
There are a lot of dynamic content services, such as Geolify. These services allow you to create a unique user experience by tailoring content to your visitor’s location and other attributes.
However, you need to do more to make your content stand out. Use fresh graphics and customize your text to the target audience in each campaign.
Keep your ads and landing pages fresh.
Banner blindness is an inevitable problem with even the most original ads. Always test new ads and landing pages, so that you can replace any that begin to burn out.
Build Your Personal Reputation
Your brand image is vital to the success of your social selling campaigns. However, it’s also not enough on its own.
With social selling, you will be the face of your company. You’ll be personally promoting your product. It’s important to connect with customers on a personal level.
Be professional, insightful, friendly, witty and transparent. Don’t be much more likely to listen to your feedback and sales messages. Your personal reputation will carry you further than you expect.
@ryankhgb
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Social media is a great way for anyone to find new leads and audience. To do this you have to build trust which will enable you to build relationships. Social networking reaches more than 75 percent of all Internet users which means it can not be ignored. It is important to engage with these people, maybe you can try and find some common ground in order to spark up a conversation, which will put you in a better position to create a tailored and authentic “pitch” with relationships already in play.