by Francois Muscat | Oct 7, 2015 | Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization, Social Selling
Social selling refers to the leveraging of social media networks and your personal brand to achieve your sales goals. It helps the sales person find the right connections and build trusted relationships, which in turn will make them better at most aspects of their jobs. Social selling is a powerful strategy which can help sell ideas, establish credibility in your niche, secure funding, attract talent and win over new customers. Since 25% of all time online is spent on social networking, it should be easy to see why this is such a powerful tool, whether it be for business development or brand promotion.
Potential investors, employees, colleagues, clients and customers are at your fingertips, but it’s not that easy. Social selling is not about placing adverts or promotions on your profile; it’s not about jumping on the bandwagon and doing what every other company is doing. It is not posting random thoughts or articles whenever the urge takes you. It’s not about self-promotion. It is about forming a solid brand strategy and like any campaign your business is involved in, it takes a hard work and persistence.
With so many people now using the internet to research their purchases and actually buy things online, you don’t want to miss out on this opportunity. Using social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+, is the way to connect with your potential clients and differentiate yourself from your competition.
Here are some tips to help your social selling efforts succeed:
- As mentioned before, start with a strategy. Create a profile for yourself which embodies the values, vision and purpose of your business. Decide on your target audience and start connecting with these people. The time spent establishing a presence on social media platforms puts you in front of your customers before they start buying. What could be better than delivering the right content, to the client on the right channel, at the ideal time in the sales cycle? Sales manipulation does not get better than this.
- Word of mouth is still the best marketing tool – if you work hard at gaining your clients’ trust and giving them a customer experience that leaves them feeling happy and loyal, they will share it with their networks.
- Track your results – like any strategy, if you can’t measure your efforts, you will struggle to know if you have succeeded. There are many tools online to help track traffic, giving you detailed reporting on where your sales or interest is coming from.
- Do your homework: understand your potential customers and find out what it is they need and want and who they are. People are more willing to share on social media platforms, so without feeling like a snoop, you can find out what makes them tick and send relevant and interesting content their way. Research shows that people are more likely to interact on social platforms when the profile has a photo, so make sure you put one up.
- Be authentic: once you have identified your potential customers, find common ground and establish a connection. Respond to a blog you liked, post comments with thoughts of your own, congratulate successes. You have a better chance of achieving sales through an already established relationship.
- Nurture and maintain your social media relationships. People want to interact with people they can trust. Social selling is about giving and receiving, interacting with people in a way that is non-confrontational.
- Seek referrals: within your groups of specific stakeholders, see if there are connections in common. Request an introduction from the mutual friend – this could be the end to cold calling.
- Listen to conversations and debate – join and follow group discussions in your industry to gain customer insights about needs, interest and trends.
- Engage with your customers: there are over 1.5 million unique publishers actively sharing content on LinkedIn. You can become a voice in your niche by sharing relevant content, blog posts and industry news. Try to publish content – if you do, it will become part of your profile and then shared by everyone, not just the people in your network.
The time dedicated to establishing a presence on social media platforms is never time wasted. It is an investment in your brand and if used correctly, will reap many benefits for your business.
by Francois Muscat | Oct 5, 2015 | E-mail Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization
Social media marketing should play an integral part in your email marketing strategy, and vice versa. The first and foremost thing to do is ensure that your email and social media marketing campaigns look and feel the same; the second is to build a link between the two.
The benefits
Besides the resultant positive brand association, there are other benefits to integrating your email and social media marketing campaigns. Email marketing is inexpensive, and if it drives more clients towards your social media platforms, that means more returns on your investments – put simply, integrating the two means more cash in your pocket all round.
Integration – how to do it
- Ask your email clients to either share your email or like you on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. depending on which social media platforms match your brand.
- Include social icons in your email – it makes it easier for your subscribers to click and connect.
- Send an email for each social network, for example, send a “follow us on twitter”, or a “check out our pin” email.
- Offer an incentive, like a discount voucher for x number of shares, or offer email-only promotions to encourage non-subscribers to sign up.
- Promote your email subscription on social media too. For example, tell your Facebook followers that you have a newsletter and give them the option to opt-in via Facebook.
- Highlight ‘tweetable’ comments in your email that people can easily retweet.
- Make sure your emails are mobile optimized – many users now read their emails on their phones.
Engaging with your customers on social media platforms builds their trust, which may inspire them to read your emails and, in turn, buy your products.
If you need help establishing your email marketing strategy, or integrating it with your social media campaign, contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Sep 14, 2015 | Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization
Charities need to rely on public support in order to succeed. One of the best way to spread their message on limited funds would be by investing in a solid social media strategy which can appeal to their target audiences.
If you’re running a non-profit organisation or a charity, here are a few ways you can use social media to make a difference:
Consider your reach on each platform
LinkedIn is the professional networking tool, while 80% of 18 to 24-year-olds and 73% of 25 to 34-year-olds are using Facebook and Twitter. When crafting a social media plan, make sure you’re engaging on the social networking sites your target audience uses on a daily basis.
Create sharable content
Social media posts with pictures and videos are more sharable, so always consider how you can include great imagery in your posts. When your social updates get shared, your message will become visible in the news feeds of your online networks, which is the key to gaining traction online.
Engage with social media followers
Your organisation needs to be relatable and human, so don’t simply focus on pushing out one-way communication. Acknowledge members who are donating time or money, answer questions and reach out to interested parties on social media.
Do you need help crafting a successful social media strategy or managing daily content and interactions? WSI OMS can help. Contact us to find out more about our digital marketing consultants.
by Francois Muscat | Sep 9, 2015 | Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization
Social media marketing has taken over many traditional forms of marketing. How can you ensure your social marketing is of the highest quality? What are the essential principles for successful social media marketing? Here are six essential principles of social media marketing that might answer the above related questions:
- Honesty – It is of the utmost importance to be honest with regards to any online presence. It is about building trust between you and your audience. Whether you are promoting a client project or tweeting a corporate partnership, it is best to always be honest.
- Presence in Conversations – Social media marketing requires you to engage with your audience which means you need to actively participate in online conversations.
- Positivity – Negativity does not sell and should not be present on your online social media platforms. Positivity will attract traffic rather than scare them off.
- Transparency – Another key principle of social media marketing is that of transparency. Always ensure you are transparent about your brand, business or service.
- Share Content – One way of ensuring an active social media platform is by sharing the content of other users. This is a fantastic way to keep your audience interested and engaged.
- Relevancy – Ensure that all content posted on your platform is relevant to your cause, service, business or brand. The idea is to build an all-round brand which can easily be spotted by your followers.
E-mail marketing, SEO and copywriting services are only some of the services available with the function of optimising your social media marketing practices. The principles above are concerned with ensuring a successful social media marketing campaign.
Call on WSIOMS today for effective social media marketing strategies
Contact WSI OMS for all your e-mail marketing requirements.
by Francois Muscat | Sep 2, 2015 | Digital Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization
Marketing professionals consider Twitter’s new live-streaming app Periscope to be the future of digital marketing. The question is how can businesses use Periscope effectively and ultimately increase brand awareness and loyalty.
Here are five tips for using Periscope as an effective social media marketing tool:
- Consider video broadcast timing – Most people do not have a long attention span when viewing online videos and updates. The key is to understand your target audience and then to go ahead to create captivating video broadcasts. The idea is to keep the primary message clear, concise and to the point. Your followers will have 24 hours to view your video broadcast which leaves you with enough time to reach your desired audience.
- Create the perfect title – The title of your video broadcast is what will ultimately intrigue your followers to watch the video, therefore it is worth spending time on creating the perfect title for your broadcast. The most effective styles of titles include techniques such as a straight-forward title which explicitly describes what the video is about. Another technique is an exclusive title which you lead your audience to believe that by viewing a particular video they are gaining exclusive access to information. An invitation to learn is another effective technique used to intrigued virtual audiences.
- Finding your broadcast should be easy – Periscope gives you the option to post a private broadcast or to share the broadcast on Twitter plus share the location. Sharing your broadcast on Twitter and adding the location is what will get you a bigger audience.
- Respond to your audience – Periscope has a feature which allows your broadcast to rank higher ,which is generated by the amount of people that ‘heart’ your broadcast, similarly as found on Instagram. By responding to your audience’s comments, you are building further brand awareness on a more personal and concrete level.
- Experiment – Periscope is a relatively new app and therefore leaves much room for experimenting with different methods and approaches. Since Periscope allows you to analyse a few stats you should be able to keep track on what works and what is less effective.
Periscope is perfect for professional digital marketing. If used correctly it can take your business to new levels, reaching audiences far and wide and building brand awareness and loyalty every step of the way.
Call on WSIOMS for social media marketing today
Contact WSIOMS for all your digital marketing requirements.
by Francois Muscat | Aug 17, 2015 | Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization
Spring is just around the corner and just as you need to spend some time spring cleaning your closets at home, you should also be focused on doing a bit of ‘upkeep’ to your digital marketing strategy. Here are some things to take a look at before the new season kicks off next month:
What’s not working anymore?
Do you have ‘legacy’ digital marketing strategies that aren’t really bringing in any business but still take a lot of time and effort? Relook your campaigns and strategies to determine what’s not giving you a return on investment.
Which social media profiles need more attention?
If you’ve created social media profiles for LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and GooglePlus, make sure you’re contributing relevant, unique content to each profile. If you see some of them aren’t performing well, find out if this is because your target audience simply isn’t using these channels, or if you need to rethink your strategy for that specific profile.
Investigate new options
Have you been procrastinating when it comes to launching a mobile campaign or uploading PowerPoint presentations to SlideShare? These simple, yet effective tools can add new fuel to your digital campaigns, so start researching and investigating platforms you haven’t been using in the past.
Need digital marketers to help you relook your internet marketing strategies? Whether you’re interested in paid google advertising and search optimisation or targeted social media, email or content marketing strategies, WSI OMS can help you. Contact us for more information today.