When Alec Baldwin commanded the staggered real estate sales team at Glengarry Glen Ross to ALWAYS BE CLOSING, the last thing on his mind was posts and tweets – how could they know how much the sales process would transform in a film that came out 12 years before Facebook and 14 years before Twitter.
Still, if they produce Glengarry Glen Ross 2: This Time It’s Inbound (and we hope and pray that they do), then there’s a good chance that social media will play a predominant role in the ALWAYS BE CLOSING mandate – because for businesses who know how to use this tool, it’s a goldmine for qualified leads and an effective channel new sales.
We’ve previously discussed 19 ways to maximize your social ROI, but now let’s look at 4 social media marketing best practices that all businesses should implement:
4 Ways Sales Should Be Using Social Media:
1. Target the right platforms.
Some businesses believe that social media platforms begin and end with Facebook and Twitter (and the shareholders of these companies thank them for it). However, there are dozens of other platforms – such as YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Spiceworks, Google+, and so on – that may, and often do, need to be part of the action.
Simply put: your business should have a social media presence where your current and future customers (i.e. buyer personas) congregate. So, for example, don’t just set up camp on Facebook or Twitter and wait for the throng to arrive if they prefer to gather on Instagram.
2. Offer Valuable Content
Posting for the sake of posting (or Tweeting for the sake of tweeting, or uploading for the sake uploading…you get the idea) isn’t just a bad strategy: it’s an anti-strategy, because instead of attracting customers and building communities, it will send them away to more interesting and engaging pastures.
No, your content doesn’t have to be riveting. And it can be about your business, too – such as announcing a promotion, highlighting an award, pointing to a new blog post, eBook or Infographic, and so on. It can even be (and at times, should be) fun and light as well, such as sharing a picture of the staff holiday party, posting a work-safe yet rather disturbing video of breakdancing IT staff, and so on.
The point is to provide content that your community will find interesting, engaging, and informative, and constantly point them to your assets (e.g. eBooks, etc.) and contact forms. You want to get them into your orbit, so that you can get a sense of who they are and start to nurture them along the customer journey.
3. Be Regular
This best practice is sponsored by the Bran Suppliers of America: BE REGULAR.
That is, don’t post a flurry of updates and tweets for a few days or weeks, and then forget to tend your social media garden. In addition to undermining the whole purpose of having a social media footprint in the first place – i.e. regular engagement – the optics of letting weeks or months pass between posts and tweets is pretty bad. Basically, you should be posting to social media daily, just as you should be blogging daily.
4. Engage the Community
Join the community groups that make sense for your position and your industry and take an active part in the discussion. Answer questions. Post helpful posts. Quickly respond to questions and comments, and thank members of your community for re-tweets and shares. This sounds simple (and it is), but it can be hard to find the time. If you can’t do a social media reply/response sweep at the end of each day, at least set aside a couple of hours each week.
Even the most seemingly ordinary communication on social media can turn into a profitable sale down the road – and create an inspired brand evangelist.
The Bottom Line
Social media is a potent tool that is helping business of all sizes attract leads, convert them into customers, and generate revenues and profits. However, not all businesses are reaping the full potential of social media.
If you’re concerned that your social media engine isn’t firing on all cylinders, then contact the inbound marketing experts at Leap Clixx today. We’ll either train your team on what they need to do or manage your entire social media profile.
As Uncle Alec always says (or at least we feel he should) ALWAYS BE LEAP CLIXING.
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