In this day and age, nearly every successful business embraces the power of social networking. Getting “Likes” is a great way to build your community of followers and keep them connected. Engaging on Twitter will keep your business current and help you communicate quickly with every customer.
But beyond the marketing potential, is it possible to use social networks to gain profit for your business? The answer is yes, and it’s easier than you may think. Here are some tips to maximize social networking for the best results in gaining profit.
Find Your Audience
The internet is so vast, social networking without an action plan is like throwing a message in a bottle out to sea. All social channels are not created equal, and various features attract different crowds. There are so many businesses out there using social media to market their businesses. Some have a plan of action, others seem to just wing it depending on their marketing strategies. Looking at their KPIs through sites similar to https://webpresence.digital/uk-blog/b2b-digital-marketing-kpi-reporting/ may be able to show how effective these two strategies can be when it comes to their digital marketing, especially when it comes to a business’s target audience and customer base. Knowing where your marketing will succeed and where it fails, is an important part of any business.
Business Insider is one of many resources that has studied and broken down the demographics of social media networks. For example:
- Facebook users are mostly women, while Twitter is used mainly by men.
- Teens continue to use Facebook more than any other network, but consider Instagram “more important.”
- LinkedIn is used mostly by adults, aged 30 to 49.
It is crucial to identify where your audience is, and then create a plan to reach them. Do your research. What social networks are they using the most?
Make It Personal
The unique power of social media is that is it a two-way street. You are not just putting up a billboard: you have the opportunity to join conversations with your customers.
Every major social network allows users to link their comments directly to your brand account, and most of them provide the capability to search for specific hashtags and/or keywords. Tools like Hootsuite and TweetDeck can be set up to monitor keywords on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. In just a few clicks, you can see how people feel about your brand, and what they’re saying about your business.
Initiate discussions on relevant topics, and reply to comments and other conversations. Those personal interactions aren’t just internet chatter, it’s excellent customer service, which means return sales and word-of-mouth recommendations. Think about your social channels as an extension of Sales, not just an extension of Marketing.
Direct Social Selling
Social isn’t just about the long game of building an audience and growing relationships. Everyone from national retail chains to crafty work-at-home moms are seeing good success selling directly through social media networks.
Pinterest has been touted all year as the rising champion of e-commerce. More popular than email for sharing content, and with a more lucrative buyer than Facebook, businesses are embracing Pinterest for direct sales.
How do you do it?
- Product Boards. Set up and curate boards based on the product. Include your brand’s offerings, as well as products from other brands. Pinterest users aren’t looking for your brand, they’re looking for products and inspiration. Be a well-rounded resource.
- Inspiration Boards. Sell services and less exciting products by pinning pictures of the finished product (whether it’s actually your client or not – “We can do this,” is just as good as, “We did this.”). Sell lawn care services with beautiful gardens, and paint with gorgeous rooms.
Pinterest users flock to the site to plan their weddings, homes, vacations, etc. It’s no wonder they’re ready to click and buy, so provide the opportunities. Not sure where to start? Search for other businesses in your industry, and look at what they’re doing.
Instagram is rapidly growing, and businesses are taking note – up to 91% of retail brands are pursuing sales on Instagram. New strategies and tricks are always being invented, but some of the best so far include the following:
- Department Hashtags. If you have a wide variety of inventory, designate hashtags to isolate different departments. Something like #BrandMens would link users to your men’s line, for example.
- Email Reserves. If your inventory is smaller or more specialized, post your image and details, and consider the item sold to the first buyer(s) who leaves a valid PayPal email address in the comments.
- Soldsie. Services like Soldsie allow users to purchase products via the comments, but without leaving personal information.
The marketing strategies are endless as well. Many companies choose brand reps from the Instagram community: they send free samples, and the reps post pictures of themselves and their families wearing/enjoying the products. This is often one of the best ways to market products online. Instagram influencers have thousands of followers who they can promote your products to. Many businesses are jumping on this trend as it seems that social media marketing is the future. If you’d like to get an influencer to promote your business, it might be a good idea to get in touch with a company like Socially Powerful, for example. Socially Powerful is an influencer marketing agency that could ensure your business gets promoted by some of the best influencers on Instagram. Whilst that’s a great way to spur up some business, giveaway contests usually also include elements like reposting a branded image to users’ personal accounts, tagging friends, etc.
Social Profit
You’ve heard about the possibilities for building an audience, expanding your brand, and improving communication with your market via social media, and those are all valuable reasons to be involved in these networks. If those were the only reasons, it would be compelling enough to draw startups and enterprise brands into social channels.
But marketing and customer service are not the only benefits. Social media can have a direct impact on your brand’s bottom line. As more and more brands explore the full potential of these user-directed networks, buyers will expect to see not only your presence but your product.
Don’t wait. Start by determining which networks host the biggest segments of your target audience, and learn how to establish your voice there. On Wednesday, October 22, Lauren Hogan, Digital Manager for HomeAdvisor, will be one of four panelists for Grasshopper’s next live, online fireside chat. This event, How Everyday Businesses Can Leverage Social Media to Grow and Brand Their Businesses is a free, round-table discussion designed to help normal business owners get the most out of their social media networks. We hope you can join us.