Social Media for Business Archives

4 Ways to Increase Sales on Social Media

September 11, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social selling can be a little tricky, but these tips are sure to help you increase sales on social media.

It can be hard to increase sales on social media. This is especially true when you consider the fact that people are not necessarily on social media to be sold. Social selling is a delicate art form that, with much practice, can be one of the greatest tools in your sales arsenal.

There are certain Dos and Don’ts when it comes to social selling. Below are four tips that will help you increase sales on social media. Keep in mind, like anything, social selling takes time. Nurturing your lead is going to be crucial to finding success.

Relationship First, Sales Second

If the first thing a new Twitter follower receives from you is a direct message that reads, “Buy our products at LINK!” you might be underwhelmed at the click through rate.

People engage on social media platforms in order to be social, not to be sold. At least not right away. Once a fan or follower develops a rapport with your brand, then you can casually move over to the sale. However, keep in mind that not all fans are leads, so be sure to have a set of criteria in place in order to qualify your social leads before getting to the sale. You certainly do not want to scare them off.

Listen to Conversations

What is being discussed in your industry? You don’t need an expensive, enterprise-level listening software in order to figure this out. Following hashtags or mentions with free softwares can provide you with the insights you need to position yourself for the sale.

Knowing what is being discussed by potential customers allows you to involve yourself organically in the conversation to build that relationship before selling a product or service.

Solve a Problem

Ever wonder why so many companies sell solutions? A lot of potential leads don’t know they have a problem until a solution is proposed!

When listening to conversations in your industry, learn what issue continuously arises and, once again, position yourself as having the solution for those problems. There is no better way to grab the attention of your audience than by telling them that you can make their life (and business) easier.

Don’t Sugar Coat It

Eventually, we get to a point where we know when we are being sold. It becomes painfully obvious. The only thing that consumers do not appreciate is being told that they are not being sold when they clearly are. It’s undermining and pushes them away rather than brings them closer.

When you reach that point, present your service or product and make the sale. Don’t drag a sale on longer than it needs to go. Leads don’t like it (if they’re buying, they’re buying) and it hurts your business (that’s a lot of time wasted).

Next time you try selling on social, employ some of these techniques and see how it helps!

What strategy do you use to increase sales on social media? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Why Social Care is Increasingly Important

September 10, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social Care – or customer service on social media – is becoming increasingly popular, and the numbers show that it is equally important.

Today, roughly 1 in 3 online adults prefers to engage in Social Care with a brand than to reach out through conventional customer service channels (i.e. phone).

Conventional customer service is time consuming. For the brand, it is an expensive practice that we have learned to accept. For the customer, it can sometimes be difficult or a nuisance. In fact, 48% – nearly half – of consumers say that they will leave a company website if they do not receive proper assistance.

With these numbers in mind, it is hard to deny that Social Care is an important feature to include in your social media strategy. Below are a few of the reasons why Social Care is increasingly important to offer to your customers.

People Want It

In an age where critics point out that face-to-face communication is diminishing, there is no proof more clear than the preferences of consumers. Over one third of consumers would prefer to tweet a brand than to sit on the phone and wait for a call to be answered. What’s more, people want their issues addressed right away.

Studies show that a shocking 71% of consumers want their issues addressed within 5 minutes of reaching a company. When you are dealing with conventional forms of customer service, achieving those goals can become expensive. But it can be detrimental if a brand ignores it; 92% of consumers have left a brand because of poor customer service. Though it may seem like consumers prefer robots, they still want to be treated like a human. A respected customer is a happy customer.

It’s Good for Business

Here are the real reasons why Social Care is so important. When people get what they want, they spend more and stay loyal.

As noted above, nearly half of your site visitors will leave if they cannot get the information or assistance they are looking for. On they other hand, people who receive strong customer service on social media spend, on average, 21% more. That’s a major difference!

Customers who receive good social media service also recommend your brand to others. Over 70% of customers, in fact, will recommend a brand based on the good service they have received.

With a good Social Care program in place, everybody wins. A respected customer is a happy customer, and a happy customer is a loyal customer, and loyal customers keep us in business!

Do you engage in Social Care? How has it worked for you? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

New Social Media Demographics [INFOGRAPHIC]

September 9, 2013/by Corey Padveen

When it comes to marketing, you are going to need to know where your social media demographics can be found.

With billions of accounts in the socialsphere, it is hard to choose which avenue might be best when it comes to social media marketing. Your business demographics might be well-defined, but your social media demographics might vary considerably.

In the infographic below, there are some fairly recent statistics on social media demographics, and there are some pretty interesting ones at that. Of the great stats below, perhaps the most interesting one relates to Facebook demographics. Currently, a surprising 46% of Facebook users are over the age of 45!

There is constant debate over whether or not social media marketing can reach prospective leads that are not millennials. After all, are older generations really using Facebook and other social networks? Of course, LinkedIn is made up of professionals, many of whom are older. But this statistic shows that your demographics can be anywhere on social media, and it might be dangerous to ignore any one network because of preconceived notions of who might be using them.

Take a look at the infographic below and let us know which statistic you think is most important or interesting when it comes to social media marketing. Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Equity: Responsive Branding

September 6, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social media offers great opportunities for Responsive Branding™, and that can add a lot of value to your business.

What is Responsive Branding™? The concept of Responsive Branding™ relates to making brand and marketing modifications based on the preferences, comments and reactions of your audience.

If there is one thing that people are not shy about when it comes to social media, it is letting the world know how they feel – about anything. This includes your brand. In his book, Socialnomics, Erik Qualmann notes that, “The beauty of social media is that it will point out your company’s flaws; the key questions is how quickly you address these flaws.”

Responsive branding is the way your company can address these flaws. As you monitor market reactions to your marketing and advertising efforts, you can make modifications in real time in order to appeal to the tastes of the market. Few other platforms offer such a feature, and the benefits can be astronomical.

Real Time Adaptation

Imagine knowing exactly how the market would react to a new marketing initiative before launching it. Sure, there are focus groups, and other conventional marketing and advertising techniques, but these are time-consuming, expensive and may not entirely accurate.

Responsive branding allows your brand to reach out to the market and gain their insights before the official launch of a program. A great, very recent example of this is Yahoo!’s logo redesign.

The search giant has been rebranding since Marissa Mayer took over roughly one year ago. Recently, they decided to present a new logo to the world. But were they going to have a creative team work on it behind closed doors and present what they thought was the best option? Of course not! Why waste money, time and resources doing that when you can let the market tell you which of your options is best for them?

Social Media Polling

As noted above, focus groups are expensive, difficult and not the most accurate. Social media eliminates much of the difficulty associated with focus groups and conventional testing.

Reach out to your audience on social networks. Your fans, followers and subscribers are your market. These are the people that have expressed an interest in your product or service and it is this demographic you should be catering to. Once again, the financial benefits associated with social media polling are significant.

Essentially, the Social Equity derived from Responsive Branding™ is obvious. A slew of new opportunities presents themselves with regards to your overall marketing and branding strategies thanks to your social media efforts.

Does your brand engage in Responsive Branding™? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Case Study: DKNY #UK2012

September 5, 2013/by Corey Padveen

How did DKNY leverage the power of social media in their #UK2012 campaign to drive live traffic to their store?

FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out. We have all heard about it and many of us have experienced it at one time or another. DKNY and their marketing team recognized that people enjoy being where the action is, and created the #UK2012 campaign in order to capitalize on that.

DKNY wanted to do something big last year when they were re-opening their London location. They decided that, considering the nature of the campaign and the power of social media, there was no better way to drive success and traffic than with a viral video campaign that leveraged FOMO, social media and industry influencers.

Essentially, DKNY reached out to 50 industry influencers and asked them to begin discussing the store re-opening using the #UK2012 hashtag. As the video below shows, the event went viral and people from all over the world were getting ready to visit the new London store.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yUrxaBBhvrs

Thanks to the digital marketing experts at Fashionbi, we were able to find that the campaign generated over 12 million impressions, DKNY’s active followers increased by 31%, retweets of DKNY’s content increased by 42% and #UK2012 became an organically trending topic on Twitter.

As one tweet puts it, “DKNY #UK2012, Social media is the new press release!” This campaign goes to show it.

So what can marketers learn from the campaign?

Adapt to Changing Markets

There was a time when social media would not have even been considered as a viable medium to direct physical traffic to a local store. The marketing team at DKNY, however, realized that social media has become one of the world’s primary tools for communication.

It is important, as marketers, that we keep in mind that social media is much more than a place to post vacation pictures. It is the primary resource for sharing information and keeping up to date. When you are generating buzz, few places are better for getting started.

Capitalize on Influence

For every one influencer there is an attentive audience of thousands. In a recent Social Equity segment, we discussed the great value of influence marketing. By reaching out to influencers, DKNY was quickly able to reach the viral status that every campaign hopes to achieve.

Keep influence in mind when putting together a campaign. It can be the quickest way to social media success, as exemplified by the #UK2012 campaign.

Every Channel Has Its Use

In the video above, virtually every major social network is showcased as playing a role in the success of the #UK2012 campaign. It is premature to nix a network from a social media strategy early on in a campaign or program. Every social network can add value in some way or another, it is just a question of figuring out how it can be leveraged to benefit your brand.

Big Spending Is Not Big Return on Social Media

Social media is about time, commitment and fluency in every network. Spending thousands on paid ads and featured posts might generate exposure, but it will not necessarily translate into the same success as understanding how to use social media.

For DKNY, #UK2012 became a trending topic on Twitter with no paid media. The influencers volunteered and the Wall Street Journal wrote an article about the campaign as news, not an ad. The proper planning and execution of a campaign is what makes it succeed.

Special thanks to Fashionbi for their hard work and the excellent data they provided for this article.

Which lesson do you think is most useful for marketers? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

4 Content Types that Generate Engagement on Pinterest

September 4, 2013/by Corey Padveen

What types of content should you be sharing in order to generate engagement on Pinterest?

We have all heard of the tremendous benefits associated with Pinterest. Not only is it one of the fastest growing social networks around, but it is one of the leading sources of referral traffic for businesses that use it. That said, it is only those businesses that are generating engagement on Pinterest that are reaping these benefits.

If you are sharing content and no one is talking about it, you might miss out on all that Pinterest has to offer. Take a look at the tips below to find out what types of content produce the most engagement on Pinterest, and try and apply them to your own content strategy.

Personalized Content

People want to know what makes you tick. Whether you are a brand or an individual, you should be sharing content that expands your profile. Do not simply share business-related images and videos. Show people who you are and humanize your brand.

Take Victory Jewelry, for example. In addition to boards that showcase their pieces, they also have a board of mermaids, and pictures from the ocean. When people can see into your brand a little bit more, they will have a much easier time connecting with it.

Customized Content

Engagement on Pinterest is a two-way street – that’s for sure. You will want to get out there and share the content of others if you expect to have your own content shared. That said, people will also want to see some original content.

Original content is one of the easiest ways to share embedded links, as it doesn’t require the process of going into an image and changing anything. Custom content also shows people your creative side and, once again, can help humanize a brand.

Optimized Content

Laziness is very apparent on Pinterest. If you share images with no descriptions, no links, no tags or, if you are an ecommerce business, no prices, people can tell that you are no putting much effort into your Pinterest marketing.

Be sure to optimize your content in every way so that people can both see that you care and find you more easily! Don’t make the mistake of hurting your chances to get found with Pinterest!

Resourceful Content

Infographics, tutorials, instructions and other resourceful content is great for generating engagement on Pinterest. People are more inclined to comment, share or click on content that they find useful. Whenever you can, try and share content that people can use and not simply enjoy looking at (although that is very important, as well).

What other types of content do you think is useful for generating engagement on Pinterest? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

3 Steps to Getting Started with Twitter

September 3, 2013/by Corey Padveen

What are the 3 key steps every brand should take when getting started with Twitter?

When you are getting started with Twitter, there are a few steps that must be taken in order for your page to look and work for you.

Below are the three steps that every brand should take before really getting started with Twitter marketing.

Complete Every Section

You create your Twitter account and are walked through several steps before you can start tweeting. These are not for nothing!

It is important that you fill out every one of your sections for several reasons. First, sharing links in your profile will help increase the ease with which followers can click through to your website or blog. Your about section also help with Twitter searches and SEO. With the right use of keywords in your Bio, it will be much easier for users to find your page.

Geo-targeting your tweets (and account) can be a very beneficial tool for local businesses trying to garner international attention. The ability for users to look you up by proximity means that it will be much easier to build a geo-targeted audience and help them find you.

Personalize Your Page

You have the option to include a profile image, a background image and a header image on your Twitter page. Take advantage of all three!

You can add valuable information to your background on the left-hand column. You can include specials, calls-to-action, your physical location(s) and anything else you would like your audience to know. Your background image can be an extension of your profile bio, or an image that tells the audience more about your brand.

Your profile image is your headshot. This is the first thing people see when they look at your profile and you don’t want to appear as nothing but an egg. The general assumption is egg=spam. Nothing hurts your brand more than having users think you’re a spambot.

Lastly, take advantage of your cover header image. Put something together that is both creative and a resourceful use of the space. Like the background image, your header is an extension of your profile, and allows you to do more than a short 140 character tweet might allow.

Hint: your profile image should be 150x150px (shows up at 80x80px), your background should be 2500x1600px with a 200px left border, and your header image must be 520x260px.

Segment Your Followers

Twitter Lists are a very under-utilized resource that can be very beneficial to your Twitter strategy.

When getting started with Twitter, create lists and segment your followers right from the get-go. If you find potential customers, put them into a list. Industry influencers should make up another list, and so on. When your followers are all given a clearly designated segment, you can send targeted messages to each. You can send promotional tweets to engaged potential customers and share an informative blog with your industry influencers.

Lists are a great way to drive targeted traffic from Twitter, and few brands use them effectively. Don’t miss out on the many uses of lists!

Keep these three steps in mind when getting started with Twitter and you will find that the network is about much more than sharing more than people might want to hear. There are many business applications to Twitter and these three important things will help you derive these benefits.

What other important beginner steps can you think of for Twitter? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

How Restaurants Use Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]

September 2, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Restaurants are very well-equipped to succeed using social media, they just need to know how to use it!

There is no shortage of examples for how restaurants use social media. We did a case study on a restaurant’s use of Instagram a short while back to showcase just one of the ways social media can be a powerful tool for restaurants.

However, despite the obvious use of review sites like Yelp! or sharing images of food on Facebook or Instagram, some restaurants have a hard time understanding how they can benefit from the strategic use of social media.

In the infographic below, there are ten great examples of how restaurants use social media, and what they can do differently in order to benefit from the tools. Though some of these uses may seem trivial, many restauranteurs and marketing teams tend to overlook even the most obvious uses of social media when it comes to their restaurants or restaurant clients.

Take a look through some of these examples and think back on when you engaged with a restaurant on social media, and what they did differently that made you remember them. Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Equity: Influence Marketing on Social Media

August 30, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Your business can benefit tremendously from influence marketing on social media.

There are few forms of marketing that have as big of an impact as influence marketing on social media. With a very clear understanding of who your industry’s influencers are and a plan on how to leverage their power, you can reach audiences tens if not hundreds of times larger than your own.

In the past, we have looked at case studies like Kotex and Standard Life, where brands leveraged the power of influence marketing to quickly reach their goals and expand their presence online. Here, we aim to explain how this form of online marketing can really add a lot of value to your business in terms of Social Equity.

Influence Marketing Defined

So what exactly is influence marketing?

If you’ve read the case studies we mentioned above, you know that influence marketing has to do with leveraging the influence of others on certain social networks in order to reach a broad audience very quickly.

Generally, influence marketing can be a benefit when it comes to reputation management (e.g. having influencers speak to their audiences on your behalf) or individual campaigns (e.g. having industry influencers promote a campaign to their massive audiences). Furthermore, engaging with influencers and leveraging their power can save you a bundle as well.

The Savings of Influence Marketing

Reaching millions of users can be very expensive. You want to reach a targeted audience with any campaign. What’s more important, however, is reaching an engaged audience. If my campaign has 20 million impressions that’s great, but if not one converts, it’s a failure.

Perhaps the greatest value of influence marketing is the fact that by reaching out to your industry’s influencers, you are essentially reaching out to a very engaged audience by proxy. Influencers did not get to be where they are by building an audience of disinterested followers. People hang on their every word, and if they talk about your brand, you can rest assured that it will translate into buzz and intrigue for your business.

The speed with which all of this takes place – thanks in large part to the inherent nature of social media – makes it a very viable undertaking from an economic standpoint. You can start seeing return within hours of a campaign launching; this is assuming, of course, that it is well thought out and geared towards the right audiences.

By engaging with your influencers and leveraging their power, your business can benefit in a very big way.

Have you ever taken part in a form of influence marketing? Tell us what you did in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Case Study: Financial Times

August 29, 2013/by Corey Padveen

What is there for marketers to learn from the Financial Times social media strategy?

Visit the Financial Times Google+ page and you will see an innovative use of social media by a brand in an industry that many think is outdated. The Financial Times social media channels looks great on the outside, but there is a lot taking place on the inside as well from which marketers can take a lesson or two.

At a 125 years old, the Financial Times is not necessarily a brand that many would expect to see incorporating social media in such a crucial way. With the exception of a select few, like the Huffington Post, news publications tend to use social media for nothing other than a secondary vessel through which to share information. The Financial Times, on the other hand, has adapted their model to incorporate social media to the fullest, and it is paying off in a big way.

There are two key features when it comes to the Financial Times social media program that make it stand out. First, it is engaging with its broad audience on a number of channels, primarily Google+. Second, the marketing team behind this strategy has been paying close attention to the analytics of their social media efforts, and they have been evolving according to the successes and failures they have experienced.

Below are three key lessons that marketers can learn from the marketing team behind the Financial Times social media success.

Sharing Rich Content

Much like the case study we did about H&M, the Financial Times shares rich, social-specific content to their social media audience.

Their networks do not simply regurgitate information posted to their website, they are sharing much more with their audience in order to keep them engaged.

Engaged with the Audience

And speaking of engagement, this is at the forefront of their strategy. They are not simply sharing, they are talking.

The Financial Times has built their network to its current size by engaging with their audience wherever they could. By listening to what is being said, the strategy was able to adapt and appeal to what the audience wanted. This has proven to be among the most successful factors in their strategy.

Monitor Analytics and Adapt

The only way to grow a social media program is to pay close attention to your results, and use that data in order to expand your network. This is exactly what has grown the Financial Times social media program into what it is.

Few brands – in the media field or otherwise – truly pay attention to their metrics. It is hard to imagine considering the weight put on the measurability of social media. By focusing on their analytics, the Financial Times has managed to continually grow their social presence.

Which of these three features do you think is most important for a brand’s success on social media? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

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