Contrary to what some people believe, social media is much more than just a way to get noticed online. It allows you the opportunity to grow your brand, connect with your current customers, and generate real leads for your business. However, if you truly want to stand out from the crowd, then you can’t just view social media as something you can do on the side. You’ll have to invest a lot of time and effort into producing content that will generate engagement and leads for your business.
If I can promise you one thing, it’s this- there probably isn’t a more powerful sales tool on the internet than social media. You may be familiar with the phrase, “content is king”, and for today’s fast-paced, digitally savvy world, it certainly is. There are so many people producing content these days – from videos to articles to images – that if you want to make people stop for a minute and listen to what you’ve got to say, you’d better make sure that your message is worth their time.
I make a point of producing original posts, videos, and blogs daily and then post them across all of my social media channels. I give my audience all this expert information for free, only wanting one thing in return – for people to take note of what I’m saying and use my advice to help them on their business and sales journey.
When engaging with prospects on social media, you must also remember that people tend to be somewhat sceptical about what they don’t know. Very few people trust what they haven’t experienced or learnt more about. It’s kind of like buying a car. You wouldn’t purchase a new vehicle without first test driving it, would you? For example, I’ve got an online sales university called Make-It-Happen University, where I teach people how to sell. I can’t expect people to pay for my courses before they first experience who I am, what I do, and what the university offers.
When people visit your social media pages, they’re essentially window shopping – they’re checking you out and looking at your specs. If you manage to intrigue them or capture their attention, you’re much more likely to turn these ‘window shoppers’ into serious buyers.
This is why it’s also essential to have all your product information and click-throughs available on your social media pages. You should make it as easy as possible for people to find out what they need to know about you. If they don’t find what they’re looking for, then they’ll leave your page and follow someone else.
Infographics, visual content, and videos are far more likely to grab someone’s attention than a dull, text-only post. And original content performs far better than an old article that you found on the web that’s already been shared one million times. Think about what your target market would be interested in, and then give them more of that content.
Ask questions, get to know your followers, and offer helpful solutions. If you talk at someone, then they won’t engage with your content. However, if you speak to them, and let them know that their opinions matter to you, then they’ll be more likely to stick around and comment on your posts more often. And that’s what you want on social media – engagement. The more people who like and comment on your posts, the more people will see your content, and the more followers you’ll attract. If no one ever engages with your content, then Facebook will mark you as irrelevant, and you’ll have a pretty hard job of breaking through the rest of the clutter on social media.
Need some tips on how to get started on your 2020 social media strategy? Here are my top 3 tips!
- Do your homework: Spend time learning about social media and how it can help your business. It’s more effective than cold calling and door knocking. There are so many different platforms and options for what you can do, so spend some time exploring and discovering everything available to you.
- Ask questions: Ask your audience questions that are relevant to the product or service that you sell. This will work as research for you, and your audience will also be more interested in engaging with your content.
- Know your audience: Make sure that you are very familiar with your target market, and that you tailor your content to suit what they are interested in.
