Social media can be confusing. It's something you do to communicate with customers, but can social media actually increase sales and grow your business? The answer is absolutely, but there are a few things you need to do to get there.
Assuming you have already identified your sales goals and target audience, here are 6 tips to help you grow your sales through SMM (social media marketing).
1. Choose social media outlets
Social media profiles like Facebook and Twitter allow you to share short posts and link to articles and share photos. A blog allows you to write industry articles and share your expertise with an audience. Look at your target audience and consider their needs and habits. Use these factors to determine how to proceed.
2. Blog & converse with customers
Starting a blog gives you a platform to share your collective expertise. Sales experts and business executives can share their insights and knowledge that will interest and inspire their audience. But writing great content is worthless if you aren't getting people to read it. It is imperative that you promote your blog. Encourage commenting and respond back. Share your post through other social networking sites and promote it everywhere you can. Email signatures, business cards, invoices, Twitter & Facebook are all places to share your blog.
3. Create Social Profiles
You need to determine what social profiles you are going to create. You need to consider what profiles your target audience is using. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, SlideShare and YouTube are a must for most businesses and a great place to start.
4. Make press releases work harder
Press releases are typically used to spread the word about company news. However you can do more with them. Incorporate your keywords into your press release and add credibility by referencing your sources and quotes. Content should be compelling and well written. Once you have a finished product promote it everywhere. Post it again on your blog and link back to your site. Also share the press release with social media. Encourage others to share it. As long as you've used an interesting topic people are likely to help you spread the word.
5. Incorporate social media everywhere
If you are using social media to increase sales you really need to get it working hard for you. Put Twitter and Facebook share buttons an all of your business articles and web pages. If people are sharing your content and site with others they are really expanding the reach of your message. RSS feed buttons should be in place on your blog and easy to find. The easier it is for people to keep up with you the easier it will be for you to make the sale.
Also, start incorporating your Facebook Fan Page and YouTube URL’s into your offline marketing as well. A lot of Fortune 100 Companies no longer even advertise their direct website in television commercials and focus primarily on Facebook and YouTube to where they want to drive their traffic.
6. Evaluate and adjust
With any marketing strategy there will be things that work well and things that need work. Google Analytics is a good place to start measuring success. Additional tools like bit.ly, Klout, Social Mention, Addictomatic and HowSociable will help you get the big picture.
These tips can help you create a complete social media strategy. There is power in information sharing and your social media marketing plan can help bring great success to your company.
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