Does your social media feel like extra marketing chore rather than a platform which you are gaining sales and business from? So many businesses fall into the trap of using Social Media as they feel it is a ‘must’ but are not integrating social into their marketing strategy or plan.
Social media, once just a means of connecting with friends is now massive – and getting bigger all the time, both out of business and within businesses. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn are now familiar channels in the business world.
Social media’s growing presence can give the impression that it is a relatively simple and easy way to generate sales and business leads. Many businesses already see it as the next step in attracting more customers. But the reality is that companies often find it a challenge to prove the ROI for social media. Here are just a few reasons why:
• As more and more companies take up social media, the social media ‘buzz’ increases, consequently making it even more of a challenge to stand out against competitors and partners.
• Many businesses have the ambition, but lack the strategy and integration into a larger full-mix marketing plan. Often knowing the over-all outcome they would like to achieve from using social media, but lacking the key strategy to make social work for them.
• Due to this lack in strategy many businesses are then failing to convert sales, thus making it very difficult to prove any ROI when it comes to spend.
So what do you need to do to turn social media activity into real business leads?
‘If you are going to do it, do it properly’
If you feel that social media is a great tool for generating and winning business for your company then invest in it, and do it properly. Avoid any temptation to act for the short-term. Take some time to plan out your strategy and ensure your social media goals align to your overall marketing messages and goals.
Worried about the time that this will take? Talk to us about how you can plan out and schedule your messaging through our social tool within CommuniGator.
Do your homework
Would you rush into a large print campaign without researching your data first? I expect not, so do the research before you rush into any social media marketing.
Make sure you are connecting with and following the correct target market for your business. Find out what your competitors and business partners are discussing and who they are connected with.
Create Your Integrated Social Media Marketing Plan
Remember to align your social media with your long-term marketing strategy and your wider company proposition.
Carefully create a structure to complete the marketing process by taking new connections from interest to consideration, by attracting them to useful and relevant content back on your website.
Want to know how many people have clicked on website links from your posts? Google Analytics or our own GatorLeads software will inform you how many click-throughs you received and even which companies have visited the website.
Make it relevant
Driving successful leads through social media relies on interesting content which is relevant to your target audience.
Create and post content with a strong focus on attracting the interest of your potential leads, and remember to always align it to your business proposition.
Include Your Sales Team
Ensure that your sales team are part of your social media lead generating planning. Your overall plan should always be about how to turn your social media connections and followers into leads and then hopefully customers. Your sales team are an essential part of this so ensure they are always included.
Analyse Your Data
Understanding how to measure ROI on social media has been a huge topic for many of us marketers over the past four years. However, reporting software has grown at the same rapid rate– so make sure you are utilising it.
Look at how your social media influences your customer journey from awareness to engagement to acquisition. Remember you can use GatorLeads to help identify which companies have visited your website from your social media posts. Also don’t forget to use the Google or GatorLeads URL builder to create trackable links you can share on your social networks.
Start implementing social media into your marketing strategy and find out how our tools can help.
Want to know more? Check out Spotler’s full social media capabilities.