Most of us have been exposed to the noise and chatter about all the many benefits of social media for business. As the fastest growing sales and marketing channel, social media is the “buzz.” Even though we are constantly exposed to trainers, educators, and consultants promoting their events, programs and seminars to learn, use, and understand this phenomenon known as social media, there are still lingering questions as to whether this is something I need for my business.
If you are like most businesses, you have probably already set up a Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or Blog site and are now trying to figure out what to do with them. Or, you are standing at the starting line paralyzed by the daunting proposition of social media and not sure what to do first. Many of you are asking the questions “is it necessary for my business?” and “I hear about it, but how does it financially benefit my business?” Great questions. Let me provide you with very simple answers and give you some tips to get started.
Social media is a valuable, highly interactive sales and marketing tool. More and more businesses and individuals are utilizing social media to share information, find solutions, and look for suppliers and resources. And the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is the over 50 crowd. You will be using the social media tools eventually. Why not start now?
Once you accept that social media could be of value to your sales and marketing efforts, here are the steps you need to take:
- Have a plan. The reason most people struggle with social media is they do not have a plan. We rarely go into anything in our lives without a roadmap or a plan. Social media is no different. When I work with my clients, at a minimum, we answer these questions: What do you hope to accomplish? How do envision accomplishing that? How are you going to track and measure results? A social media strategy will help you avoid aimlessly putting out content that is not of value or does connect with your target market.
- Know who you want to communicate with. Any effective sales and marketing program requires knowing your target market. Once you know who you want to communicate with, you are in a position to define where those people are, how they communicate today, and what to say to them. This process helps you focus your social media efforts specifically to your audience. Know who your audience is, where they are, and have a conversation with them.
- Remember this is a conversation. The most valuable and powerful component of social media is effectively connecting and communicating with people. Social media is essentially a virtual networking event where you connect with people and begin building relationships with them. While you cannot see these participants, you can still connect with them. Like any networking event, this is not the place to try to sell your product or service. If you try, you will not be successful or well received. The objective of your social media activities is to build connections, establish credibility and expertise, and create awareness of your brand and your value proposition.
- Tackle one tool and get very good at it. Once you defined your goals, your market, and know how to communicate effectively, the next step is defining which tool you want to learn to use first. You cannot or need to do it all. Start simple, keep it simple, and get very good at it. Until you become proficient and understand how social media works, keep it simple. Learn one tool first.
- Expand your effort. Once you get comfortable and proficient with how the social media world works, you can strategically decide where you want to go next and add another tool. The learning curve on the next tool will be very short. Next thing you know, you will have a complete social media program built into your business model. And you will realize that it was some work at first but, it was worth it after all!
I encourage every one of you to think about your business. Identify the conversations you would like have with your prospects, your customers, and your market. Then, embrace the concept that social media is a great place to connect, communicate, and collaborate and collect (and share) information with them. Enjoy!