Social Media + Ideal Prospects = Love & More Sales!

For many business owners, social media marketing feels like a puzzle: on the one hand, hundreds of millions of people are using social sites on a daily basis; on the other, there aren't a lot of proven ways to attract customers from social media other than pay-per-click ads on Facebook or promoted posts on Twitter, which only seem to work for certain types of businesses.

So, how do you use your social profiles effectively... and do it without wasting your advertising budget? The answer is simpler than you might think – use social media as a source of information first, and lead generation second.

This isn't actually an unconventional idea. Most Fortune 500 companies love that social sites can help them build a brand and improve customer loyalty, but they are even more excited about the fact that customers put so much information into their own profiles. By studying what's there, they can learn a great deal about the market. You can too.

The first step is to identify your best group of buyers, that proverbial 20% that accounts for most of your sales and revenue. Then, study their social content to answer a few important questions:

What do my most important customers have in common? Sometimes, the links between important buyers aren't as obvious as you might think. In the past, companies have spent huge amounts of money to determine the "missing links" between their best customers. With social media, you just have to devote a little bit of time.

What demographic traits can I use to identify good prospects? If you can't find a trait that seems to bind them, at least look for generalities – things like age, income, job title, company size, geographic region, marital status, interests, etc. The closer you can come to developing a profile for your perfect customer, the easier it's going to be to market to them later.

For example, our client Kerfoot Canopy Tours' sweet spot may be people who seek adventure, are interested in ecotourism or outdoor sports or even families looking for something different. Try to get into the mind of your prospect. What else are they interested in? It's likely that Kerfoot's clientele is interested in fitness, nature, camping and travel. What kind of content or social media messages will resonant best with them?

What themes or ideas do they discuss the most, or seem to worry about most often? Sometimes, it isn't something about the customers themselves that is most important, but the situation they are in, or the challenges they are facing. Again, the answers might not be as obvious as you would think, and a little time spent researching can pay big dividends.

Who else are they linked with, and where else do they go on the Internet? Studying these details can help you find out who your real competitors are, where linking or advertising opportunities exist, and even the types of relationships that exist between your customers, prospects, and other businesses in your industry.

Once you dig deeply into these questions, you can begin to understand a lot more, not just about the men and women (organizations) who keep the checks coming in every month, but also how and where you can find more of them. Very often, that information is worth a lot more than a few pay-per-click ads or extra "likes" would be.

Need help building a new website, developing an Internet marketing plan, or putting your social media campaigns together? Call or e-mail us today to set up a free consultation, and let us show you how we can help.