Selling with SOCIAL MEDIA

1. What is Social Media?

2. What are the Main Social Networks in Use?

3. What’s your Social Media Sales Strategy?

4. How can I Sell with Social Media?

5. How do I Measure the Results?

What We’ll Cover TodayWhat We’ll Cover Today

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?

How would you define social media in your own words?

According to Brian Solis, Social Media is:

“The DEMOCRATIZATION OF INFORMATION, transforming people from content readers into PUBLISHERS. It is the shift from a broadcast mechanism, one-to-many, to a many-to-many model, rooted in CONVERSATIONS between authors, people, and peers"

In the past, you pushed your message to a specific audience (i.e. – Advertising, Direct Mail)

Super Bowl Ad Introducing Macintosh - 1984

Super Bowl Ad Featuring E-Trade - 2010

Sources: Mac Ad. Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20254513_20009920,00.htmlE-Trade Ad. http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/new-etrade-commercials-2010

Not much room for two-way communication◦ Word-of-Mouth was sought out most (Water-cooler talk

after a funny ad last night during Super Bowl)◦ Contact through phone (Customer service) or in-person

(In line at the store)

Brenda, did you see that

hilarious ad last night? WOW!

I’ve been telling everyone!

Brenda, did you see that

hilarious ad last night? WOW!

I’ve been telling everyone!

Transparency was tougher to identify◦ Example: Car dealerships always say they’re largest or

have most sales…

Source: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2009/12/07/lost-locations-roundup-flying-a-service-station-king-midget-factory-custom-car-dealership/

The one-way model has morphed into a two-way model

The CompanyCustomer relationship has become a cyclical, web-like model

Source: http://www.vedainformatics.com/blogs/5-things-about-social-media-marketing/

BusinessBusiness

MessageMessage

Reaches Customer, trickles down to friends and friends of friends

Courtesy of Socialnomics

The digitized version of in-person, word-of-mouth communication

In real-time and immediate A digital medium allowing your audience full

access to support, critique and bash you to others ALL about content! The phrase “Content is King”

was never more important Most importantly - TRANSPARENT

WHAT ARE THE MAIN SOCIAL NETWORKS

IN USE?

There are 901 million + “active” users 155 million U.S. users as of 2011 7 billion monthly visitors to Facebook.com 526 million daily active users on average - March 2012

Source:: Facebook Company Info: http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22

Fan pages are perfect for building online communities, engagement and lead generation.

More than 140 million active accounts Is based on 140-character posts More than 340 million tweets each day Twitter usage has doubled since 2010 People connecting based on common

interests in real-time (e.g. #Indians or #DWTS) Percentage of adults using Twitter daily has

doubled since 2011 and quadrupled since 2010

Source: Twitter company info: business.twitter.com;Pew Report on Twitter demographics www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/44999.aspx

Great tool for customer service dept., for lead generation, product/service support, etc.

More than one-fifth of Facebook-connected users are on Pinterest daily (which represents more than 2,000,000 members). source: Mashable

U.S. users spend an average of 1 hour and 17 minutes on the site, ahead of Twitter (36 minutes), LinkedIn (17 minutes), and Google+ (six minutes). source: AllTwitter

Pinterest has 10.4 million registered users. source: AppData

PinterestPinterest

A visually driven network that can greatly increase customer engagement and sharing.

PinterestPinterest

Boards with Pinned Items

Like, Share and Comment on Pins

Has more than 161 million users worldwide with two new professionals signing up every second

On pace for 5.3 billion professionally oriented searches in 2012

Executives from every Fortune 500 company could be found in 2011

The first social network to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) - LNKD currently $91/share

Source: LinkedIn Press Center: press.linkedin.com/about & CNN Money

Group/Business pages allow for sharing of information and help connect professionals

Key data on types of positions, industry, revenue, etc.

WHAT’S YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SALES STRATEGY?

Facebook◦ The 35+ demographic accounts for more than 30% of the FB user-base◦ On average, fans spend an additional $71.84 on products compared to non-fans

Twitter◦ 30% of users have annual household income of $100K+◦ 31% of 18-24 year olds are Twitter users

Pinterest◦ Average annual household income is between $25K - $60K

LinkedIn◦ 68% of the users are over the age of 35◦ 69% of all users make more than $60K/year

Your audience uses these social networks everyday. So how are you reaching them?

You’re probably not…

Let’s look at what you’re missing

Social Media ROI: Socialnomics video (4:15) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypmfs3z8esI

DON’T just create a social presence because everyone else is!

Just because you have a page doesn’t mean you’ll succeed

QUESTION: How many of you have stumbled across a Facebook Fan page that hasn’t been updated for months, if not longer?

Social Media is Strategic… and it shows

Keep it simple when developing strategy Be realistic. Start small. Go after the lowest

hanging fruit and build from there…

Three key questions that will drive strategy:◦ 1) What are you trying to achieve?◦ 2) Who are you trying to reach?◦ 3) How will social media tools help facilitate this?

Types of goals and objectives:◦ Build awareness◦ Change perceptions◦ Reach new audiences, new geographic areas◦ Gain feedback on a product or service◦ Use it to see what your competitors are doing◦ Provide better customer service◦ And on and on…

◦ Make sure goals and objectives are tied to business objectives and sales goals

Set your goals and make them your guiding light!

If not, you’ll end up like this guy!

Social media allows precision audience targeting (demo info, user data, etc.)

Once you know your target audience, social media allows you to build a community◦ This community allows the online conversation to

become offline (real world) Gain some basic insight into your audiences’

habits, likes and dislikes◦ Can help target better

Create a basic messaging platform What is the essence of our business or

organization? Capture that essence with key words and phrases Develop a tone, a context to your posts and

responses… what’s your business’s PERSONALITY?

DO NOT post sales pitches. Create a conversation that engages them to talk about your business.

Make your entire team part of the messaging discussion◦ That brings them in on the ground floor

Give them ownership, claim to this “voice” you’re creating for your business

Ensure the person/s who are the “content creators” keep continuity in that voice

Give access to your SM accounts sparingly, to those you trust most – they will be the digital voice of your business!

Create a social media policy guide, including: How to respond to positive and negative posts or comments Who should be responsible for posting and responding Rules for use for employees with their own personal

accounts

HOW CAN I SELL WITH SOCIAL MEDIA?

Graphic courtesy of Technorati

If you’re brave, take a stab at trying them all!

By the way, this is only just a few of the thousands out there!

Begin by researching where your audience resides online

If you have a direct competitor, review their social networks and take notes

You don’t have to use every available social media network!

Start slow… if your customers use Facebook the most, start there… then build.

Top line information ◦ Logo and tagline if you have one◦ Business background (Facts and stats)◦ Location and hours of operation◦ Contact information (Website, email, phone, etc.)◦ Add your other social networks links (if applicable)

Your tools need to match your objectives! This means:

◦ Identify realistic business objectives ◦ Market and respond in a timely manner – SM is real time!◦ Create content that creates interest, encourages sharing

Industry information Featured products and what they do for the customer Customer stories and testimonials Connect your products and services to awareness days (i.e.

World Environment Day if you sell recyclable products) Interact on a regular basis with your fans

Sales & Message AlignmentSales & Message Alignment

Sales & Messaging Example Sales & Messaging Example Integrate your Facebook, social messaging to generate quality sales leads. Remember: Talkto your audience! Don’t market.

Facebook Links to Microsite Product Page

Direct current and prospective customers to this area◦ Utilize this page to intrigue the customer with compelling

content and call-to-action (i.e. visit a targeted microsite, call, email, Tweet, etc.)

Develop a Timeline App (Tab)Develop a Timeline App (Tab)

Your voice/message needs to be shorter, more concise.

Listen more at the beginning, retweet other industry leaders, then get in on the conversation!

Use hashtags (#FollowFriday) to view topical streams and get heard

Use a “branded” profile (your company name), not a personal page.

Be personable, real and honest, don’t hard sell!

Trying TwitterTrying Twitter

Traditional practices translate to Twitter◦ Spark up conversations based on common interests◦ Focus on customer needs and solving problems

Design your social experience to sell◦ Don’t just pitch your product; engage the audience◦ Tell your story once the person is engaged

LEARN – use Twitter to gather info

Trying TwitterTrying Twitter

Network, network, network LinkedIn is a digital rolodex Research your customer contacts Advertise directly to a certain profession Stay connected; keep contacts fresh easier

Connecting on LinkedInConnecting on LinkedIn

Allows you to show off your personality

Integrate with Facebook and Twitter accounts

Use images that set the stage for selling◦ Selling lemonade? Show a hot sunny day or lemons

Link back to your website, FB page, etc. (builds SEO)

Pinning on PinterestPinning on Pinterest

Images of product/service with people! Inspire creativity among loyal customers Tie in to holidays and current trends

Pinning on PinterestPinning on Pinterest

What a pin on a board looks like

Fail to Plan… Plan to Fail

Don’t Just Start with the tools…Don’t Just Start with the tools…

Done your research Set goals and business objectives Chose the social network/s you will participate in Aligned your sales and message Set up your pages with key content Strategized how you will utilize these networks to

interact and market your customers

What do I do next?

Share content between social networks Cross- and back-linking creates great search

engine optimization (SEO) – It makes your business get found easier!

Always try and tie your links back to your website to increase your ranking in search results

Use hashtags, targeted keywords, links from other social networks to enhance your social search results

Good SEO makes me like you!

Types of ads in a nutshell – Cost per Thousand (CPM) and Cost per Click (CPC)

On Facebook, you can target your customers by their interests (sports, politics, cars, etc.), geography, demographics and psychographics (buying behavior)!

On LinkedIn, you can target prospects/leads by job title, function, industry, age and geography… or by company size and revenue if you’re B2B

On Twitter, you can use the “Promoted Tweets” and “Promoted Trends” on Cost per Engagement basis.

Send a message to your friends to check out your new business page and “Like” it◦ A great way to get a small base of fans◦ Friends are more prone to share with their friends

Run a contest or giveaway to compel people to “Like” page◦ Create an incentive when advertising (Coupons)

Promoted and paid advertisements on Facebook are powerful tools!

Messaging is key here! A conversation will better connect you to you audience.

Advertise directly to certain professions

Look at keywords and highlight your specific audience

Promote your LinkedIn presence

LinkedIn AdvertisingLinkedIn Advertising

Promote tweets to people outside your network

Twitter AdvertisingTwitter Advertising

HOW DO I MEASURE THE RESULTS?

Common Measurement QuestionsCommon Measurement Questions

Slide via @ChuckHemann, Digital Analytics at WCG

But you want more than this…

There are limited ways to measure social media… but how do I measure ROI?

Benchmark your sales data up front Set goals based on that data (i.e. I want to increase

sales leads from 10 per month to 15 within six months) The extra 5 leads could = $X dollars. These are

quantifiable numbers! Monitor your social networks, seeing what posts your

customers like, if they share or comment, etc.◦ Tied your customers interactions on your

social networks to the “actions” you want them to take.

Monitor & MeasureMonitor & Measure

Measuring your Facebook PageMeasuring your Facebook Page

Review important data points, make educated assumptions and decisions and move forward.

Facebook advertising can be measured in a vast number of ways.

Facebook Ad MeasurementFacebook Ad Measurement

Wrapping Up…

Now that you have a page or pages, you are in charge of the content

Keep a calendar of when and what to post Your personal account is now connected to the

fan page as an administrator◦ DON’T accidentally post something thinking your fan

page was your personal page

Just because you created it, doesn’t mean your customers will flock to your page

It takes a little leg work… some manual labor Do research. Find where your audience hangs

out. What they like.◦ Again, look at your competitors pages, or similarly

aligned fan pages

Courtesy of: http://blog.sironaconsulting.com/sironasays/2011/02/the-use-of-social-media-in-the-last-12-18-months-has-become-a-widespread-tool-in-the-business-toolbox-although-frustrating.html

Tom Duke will moderate questions…