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Social Selling the New Recipe for Business Success

Introduction

The age-old, conventional forms of advertisements like Newspaper advertisements, Television commercials, or even the humble radio – are beyond the reach of small businesses or start-ups. Leaflet distribution  or SMS marketing, phone calls, or even email ads -may not be the ideal  choice for many. So how does one get across their business story to its  target audience without disrupting their budget?  Social selling, with  over 4.2 billion social media users around the world can be a viable solution in today’s scenario.Post COVID-19 -19, many small businesses are struggling to stay  afloat. Naturally, many are debating on whether to spend on advertising  at all or invest in employee retention. In the present situation selling with social media  is perhaps the best option as compared to the conventional methods of advertising. Unlike directly contacting prospective customers and asking  them to buy your services or products social selling; helps you-search,  connect and build your customer base by creating personal connections  with the client.

The Difference between Social Selling and Social Media Marketing

While many of you may consider Social Selling and Social Media Marketing to be the same thing, there is a difference between the two. Social Media Marketing is a form of direct marketing on the social media  platforms, from Facebook sponsored ads, creating promotional videos for  YouTube to posting product launches on LinkedIn. Social media marketing  encourages the customers to connect and buy. Social selling on the  other hand is a gradual process wherein, you make your presence felt and  gradually nurture relationships with your clients. Social selling is  showcasing your value proposition, your brand story, and your product  differentiators across the social media channels through organic  articles, links, images, videos, creating chat groups. Social selling and Social media marketing are two sides of the same coin that go hand in hand in building the foundation of a brand and assuring the delivery of the results in the long run.

Here are some Social Selling Statics you may like to know before you embark on the journey

 The sales personnel engaged in social selling are outselling their peers by 73%

 31% of B2B professionals say that social selling has allowed them to build deeper relationships with clients

 More than 10% of social sales reps have closed 5 or more deals due to being active on social media

 76% of buyers are ready to have a social media conversation with potential providers

 92% of B2B buyers are willing to engage with a sales professional who is a known industry thought leader

 53% of customer loyalty is driven by a salesperson’s ability to deliver unique insight, easily done through social media

 A full 71% of all sales professionals and 90% of top salespeople are already using social selling tools

 At least 78% of Millennials say they are using social selling tools

 On top of that, 63% of those Millennials say social selling is crucial for their business

 Social sellers are 51% more likely to achieve sales quotas

 Companies with consistent social selling processes are 40% more likely to hit revenue goals than non-social sellers

 39% of B2B professionals said social selling reduced the amount of time they had to spend researching potential leads

Source: optinmonster.com

So if you are chalking out your social selling strategy at the moment here are a few things to remember:

 Engage with your audience: As a  rule of thumb, the whole prospect of social selling stands on your  engagement with the existing and prospective client base. Layout the  information you have, innovate and try to serve something fresh every  now and then. Be eager to interact and help when necessary, build your  reputation step by step. The idea is to capture the interest of people  in general and stand out among millions. Creating a Facebook business  page, LinkedIn InMail, building Twitter lists, or joining LinkedIn  groups where similar interests are shared – are some ways by which you  can reach out, content, and interact with your target customer on a  one-on-one level. In fact, if you think the technicalities are too much  to handle yourself there are many professionals out there who can build your social selling strategy to perfection.

 Create Meaningful Content: As important as it is to  constantly post articles, links, tweets, videos on social media on a  regular basis- make sure you are not posting just for the sake of it. In  social selling parlance, authentic content is always a winner. Create  meaningful content; show what you are up to ‘work-wise’, write articles  that generate curiosity, share news that is relevant and well-researched. Refrain from airing rumors or getting into controversies. Just remember you are dealing with the intelligent, well-informed audience – a slip here or a miss-information there may tarnish your online image beyond recovery.

 Know your Product and Target Audience: If you are  selling a product or service, you should know it inside out. A little bit of research on how to proposition your product or service in the market- can go a long way in creating the desired effect. Conduct Twitter fireside chats and play on the USP of your products, if you know  your product well it will be much easier to convince and connect with  the end-user. For instance, the target audience for products on cloud  storage would be different from the ones looking for managed services on  cloud storage so keep an eye on the minuscule details; so as to  identify where the conversation and discussions are taking place and  identify your potential customer base. Post articles that provide education and information about your industry and product, to garner interest from the groups. Using LinkedIn Sales Navigator or the Facebook  business page may just be some ideal ways to connect with the target  audience.

 Track Results of Existing Social Selling Efforts:  It is certainly a good idea to keep a track of your Social selling efforts; a consolidated data study will reveal not only how well or how  badly you are doing in the act of social selling but who is responding  to your activities and who is not. It will give you insight into your prospective customer database and enable you to engage and nurture personal relationships with the existing clients and the prospective clients. Moreover, based on your past efforts and results you may like to improvise or enhance your social selling strategy to reap desired results.

 Earn Trust by Sharing: In any type of marketing trust-building is a key factor. If you are to choose between product A and product B both of which have the same price quantity and value for money – what is the deciding factor? Trust, of course! Remember  when you buy a product or choose a service you consciously or unconsciously check out the reviews by other users, testimonials, and brand visibility among many other things. One of the key reasons for social selling is building trust.  Apart from posting across social media platforms, you can also earn trust by sharing your success stories, post case studies, client testimonials, and positive reviews. From conducting ‘webinar marketing’  through web seminars to Fireside chats on social media platforms there  are endless options to connect with the audience on a personal level and  build trust.

 Build A Strong Foundation: The whole concept of social selling is building long-term credibility and your brand value. It is not about capturing that odd customer or selling your products for  a quick profit. If you are looking at social selling to build the foundation of your brand, then you could not have made a better decision. Social selling across mediums such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook will escalate your brand value and enhance your brand performance. What is more desirable is that you can do this on a nominal  budget using an agency or leverage your internal resources to achieve  the desired results. You have a universe full of prospective customers  to reach out to. The only thing you need is patience and a good social  selling strategy in place.

(Ref: sproutsocial.com)

Conclusion

The idea and reach of social selling have become phenomenal in the present era- among small and big businesses alike. Today’s customers are  not easy to please and certainly do not take things for granted. They  know what they want and are ready to put in considerable effort to  research the product or service they wish to invest in.  Post Covid-19  the trend of online researching and validation of a brand has become more evident. Across the buying cycle, decision-makers of the buying committee evaluate brands based on their digital presence, thought leadership, and credibility. The focus of brand marketing and evaluation  has shifted from the physical medium to the virtual platform- with  brand events, product launches, and promotions taking place on the  online platform. Hence ‘social selling’ with its substantial results and  exceeding success statistics has become the new normal.

Source — https://dgsaga.com/social-selling-the-new-recipe-for-business-success/  

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Twitter: A Digital Landscape of Opportunities!

Introduction

Your idea or business needs to be seen and heard in order to grow. If you find Social media  more lucrative than the conventional form of advertising, then Twitter  is probably the best place to be. With more than 80% of Twitter users mentioning a brand in a Tweet and the average Twitter user following five businesses, Twitter marketing is a growing place for brands to engage and build an active community.

I would like to call myself a curious explorer ,  an innovator, and a digital storyteller, who likes to connect with people and that is exactly how I began my journey on Twitter. It may sound clichéd, but Twitter opened a world full of opportunities for me.  It became a virtual window through which I could learn, share ideas, and  reach out to people – not just locally, but from all over the world.  For me, Twitter is an effective digital landscape that connects like-minded people and accelerates learning and individual growth.

In fact, the world of Twitter is so vast that whichever niche of business you pursue, marketing on Twitter, or simply building your personal presence on Twitter will guarantee an audience who can eventually turn into customers!

Why Take My Word for It?

Read the below statistics and watch out for yourself how Twitter can play a pivotal role in your marketing mix.

             Data says that there are 340 million monthly active users on Twitter

     Total number of Tweets sent per day 500 million

     Twitter is used by 22% of all online US adults

     It is equally popular with men and women (24% and 21% of online Americans respectively)

 77% of Americans who earn $75,000 or more use Twitter

 27% of B2B content marketers used Twitter ads in the last 12 months

 Twitter ranked 4th globally for web traffic in October 2020

 66% of brands with over 100 employees use Twitter for marketing purposes

 Twitter’s user base is predicted to grow by at least 2.4% in 2021

 Twitter is currently valued at $36.48 billion

 Twitter is the number #1 social networking platform in Japan

 Twitter ads can reach 5.8% of the world’s population over the age of 13

(source: @omnicoreagency.com, / @similarweb / @eMarketer )

So, before you Jump on to the Twitter  Bandwagon and try Twitter for Marketing here are few tips that can help  your business gain credibility:

 Use Powerful Content: Grab  eyeballs with powerful content. Sell your business’s credibility with  interesting and powerful ideas. Do not deviate from the truth but make  things as interesting as possible. Try to avoid the beaten track and use  the information to tell a story that captures the attention. For  instance, a video about robotics and how it aids our daily lives will  surely stop you in your tracks.

 Ensure Visibility: The age-old adage ‘out of sight, out of mind’ cannot be more apt while marketing your brand or business on Twitter. Twitter marketing  is all about staying alive and in action. The more you tweet and engage  with your followers, the more visibility you stand to gain. The’  tweets’ do not necessarily have to be related to your business or brand  promotion all the time. Build interest, by sharing interesting content  and when you have your audience engaged, then divulge your service or  merchandise. Research says you can post, tweet, or re-tweet up to 15 times a day.

 Building Twitter Community: As  much as broadcasting your thoughts and ideas about your brand or  business, marketing on Twitter is important. Twitter marketing is also  about establishing personal connections with an individual or  prospective customers. Earlier it may have only been about servicing or  networking in response to a particular tweet or request from a customer,  but now you can connect with anyone with your line of interest. You can literally track down tweets, post an interesting response and consequently expand your network. Building trust by delivering services,  maintaining transparency, and connecting with prospective customers can  surely take your brand credibility a few notches higher.

 Use Twitter Hashtags and Trends:  Blend in with the Twitterati!  As important it is to make your voice  heard it is equally important to be in sync with the ongoing trends and  hashtags. To comment on important topics and trends and engage with  fellow followers, trendsetters and influencers is an absolute must.  Sharing your point-of-view across, will help you gain visibility and  connect with prospective customers, influencers, who in turn can further propagate your brand’s message. Keep an eye out for the important days and events on Twitter- which garners phenomenon traffic and action, in-process giving marketing on Twitter a shot in the arm.

 Influencers can make all the difference:  Every social media has its band of influencers. In Twitter, you can  find influencers ranging from top-shot world figures to  micro-influencers specific to industries like food, fashion, travel,  technology, and so forth. Influencers with their millions of followers-  set trends, break news, endorse brands, and support causes. If you can  share your proposition with an influencer who relates to your brand or  product or is an industry thought leader, it can open a world of  opportunities for your business. Including Twitter as part of your  marketing will enable you to reach out to people who will be interested  in your product or brand.

 Ad on Twitter: Posting paid  advertisements on Twitter may be a good Twitter marketing strategy for  newcomers to promote brands or businesses. Your profile is promoted by  Twitter and can even be seen and found by people who do not follow your  brand, business, or hashtags. This is a great way to create visibility  with people who show interest in some type of products or services. For a monthly fee, you can get a lot of exposure that organic Twitter marketing may not reap!

All set to start your Twitter Journey? Here is how you can build a noticeable business account on Twitter:

Once you have signed up for a Twitter for Business account, you need to organize it and put your best foot or in case of personnel branding like @curieuxexplorer, don the best image forward to establish your brand.

 Profile image: The profile image should ideally be  your brand logo, make sure it is clear and fits well into the small circular space designated for the profile image. Remember this will feature as an icon every time you post a tweet!

 Profile Picture/ Banner: The banner image is the best visual representation of your company. You can put up your most recent activity here, a product launch or show you have hosted or the image of any up-coming product- anything that you think deserves to be known as part of your brand promotion. Make sure you upload photos that  are clear and high quality.

 Your Display Name and Account @ Name: Your account  name is what comes after the @. The Twitter world will recognize you by  this name. Everything you do on Twitter, your tweets, re-tweets,  follows- will be linked to this name. This name also appears in your  profile URL. It may contain up to 15 characters and should be directly  associated with the name of your business. The display name appears  right above the account name and can be changed at any time, unlike the  account name. Ideally, this name should contain your brand or business  name.

 Your Twitter BIO: This is your introduction to the  world. In about 160 characters you will have to put forward your pitch  and ideally pack in a punch about your brand or business. Your business  ideals, values, and what you have on offer are ideally the things that  should feature in the bio. Additionally, you should put in your website URL, location, and the business hours if you have a shop or a store.

 Your Pinned Tweet: The pinned tweet is the first thing a visitor will when they visit your tweet stream. This should be the focal point, the biggest piece of news you wish to display on the Twitter platform. This could be an upcoming product launch, a seminar you are going to conduct or even a charity you are raising money for- your pinned tweet should reflect your pivotal business interest.  You can post interesting images or videos in your tweets, even post important links- also make sure your pinned tweet does not stay stagnant  for a long time- schedule your posts accordingly to capture maximum  interest.

Conclusion

To sum it all up- if you are a small business or a start-up struggling to find your footing in the world of business or an established brand impacted by the COVID -19 situation re-thinking your business strategy – Twitter is the place to be. Twitter marketing is one  of the most authentic ways to build your business presence and connect  with a world full of customers. It may not be easy or a one of a task,  but it is hardly rocket science. Moreover, Twitter marketing is inexpensive and mostly organic. A little bit of patience, consistency, and well-thought-out Twitter marketing strategy can translate into phenomenal business success in the long run. Twitter is perhaps the only  place that allows you to go from Micro to Macro. Connect with your  customers or followers on an individual level, deliver appropriate solutions and grow your follower base to move on to the next level!

Source — https://dgsaga.com/blog-twitter-a-digital-landscape-of-opportunities/

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How to Lead the Herd by Becoming an Instagram Influencer

Introduction

If social media has emerged as the most sort-after platform around the world for reaching out to people in the 21st century, social influencers  have become pivotal characters in taking social marketing and social selling from micro to macro level. Social media influencers are the ones  who are hugely popular on a particular channel or across platforms with  a high engagement rate and follower base which can be from 1000 to over  a few millions. From styling inspiration to travel ideas, from realizing fitness goals to product reviews- the common social media users look up to the influencers for recommendations and inspirations.  Social influencers may be classified into different segments based on their number of followers- for instance, a Nano influencer may have followers in the range of 1000-5000, while a Macro influencer has followers over 100,000 mark.

How Brands are connecting with the Instagram Influencers

Brands are identifying prospective Instagram influencers  from their specific niche and connecting with them to endorse their products or services either directly or indirectly. As per the current trends, brands are inclined towards connecting with micro-influencers with their niche audience rather than celebrity influencers. While celebrity influencers have a higher number of followers, not every follower or fan connects or relates with them on a personal level. The idea is to partner with an Instagram Influencer or a band of them who can relate with the brand or the specific product. So, when followers see the influencer using, recommending, or reviewing the product or service it will be much more acceptable. Data says 78% of marketers chose Instagram posts as the chosen medium for influencer marketing while 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations before buying a product.

Source: bigcommerce.com

Here are some statics about social media influencers if are aspiring to be one of them:

 In the last five years, brands have collaborated with social media  influencers across channels to generate awareness, and influencer marketing grew from an ancillary marketing tactic to a $5-10 billion dollar industry.

 19% of marketers have spent $1,000 – $10,000 per year on influencer marketing in 2020, while 18% are spending between $100,000 – $500,000 per year.

 89% say ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels

 With over 1 billion users and a fast-growing network of influencers churning out millions of sponsored posts each year Instagram ranks #1 for the most important and impactful channel.

 Micro-influencers with around 100,000 followers or less may expect to earn $100-$500 per Instagram post

 Macro-influencers are people who the general public  is more likely to know of like national players, film personalities or  rock stars, they tend to have more than 100,000 followers, but this  figure can be far higher. They can command $5,000–$10,000 per Instagram  post

 Social media mega influencers tend to be global, household names. They can command an astronomical 10,000+ per Instagram post

(upgrad.com, bigcommerce.com, digitalmarketing.org)

Here are a few tips and trips that you should follow in order to become an Instagram Influencer

 Discover and Play your specific Niche

Becoming an Instagram influencer is not an overnight phenomenon. You must build your presence gradually, capturing the interest of followers  by sharing meaningful videos, encouraging followers to like and re-share  your posts. Reflect on what sets you apart from others; ask yourself  why people should be interested in your content- and work towards  displaying your skills effectively. If you have a talent or passion-  display it effectively with each of your posts. If you are an actor show  your acting chops in short reels. If you are a foodie or a food  enthusiast display food pictures with interesting insights on your  capture. You can be a fashion designer or a travel blogger- bring what  you are good at the forefront so that others are hooked on what you have  to say or show. You can be a fitness coach or an artist, a fashion  designer, or a travel blogger- whatever is your vocation or talent bring  it to the front and build your Instagram community that in turn increases your authority.

 Create Interesting Captions

Users want more out of the influencers they follow than a pretty photo and a short caption.  Pictures may say a thousand words but your opinion on the picture or a video is what sets you apart from the others. Use your perspective. If you have the gift for words, you can spice up the most mundane of pictures to become trendsetting posts. There are a few things to keep in mind when writing your captions. The first is, that when scrolling on Instagram, you are not supposed to see  an entire caption without pressing “more.”

So ideally the partial caption should lead to more incredibly important content. That first line needs to be eye-catching enough to scroll-stop and to encourage users to click and read. Some examples of this might be:

The ultimate guide to…

5 things you need to know about…

The best restaurants in…

The best Instagram spots in…

Source: later.com

 Be Consistent

If you are aiming to be an Instagram Influencer you will need to be consistent on the network. Ideally, you should plan a schedule and stick  to it. If you are planning to post on alternate days of the week or  five days at a stretch – follow that schedule so that your followers  know what to expect. Plan and work on the content beforehand so that your posts are not rushed and display meaningful and interesting content. An ideal way to connect with the audience is to show up on Instagram Stories as often as possible; this will definitely generate interest in what you are doing on a day-to-day basis and enhance your fan base. Another way to engage with the audience and maintain regularity is content repurposing. If you already have popular  videos on YouTube and Tiktok or a Facebook post that has done exceptionally well – you can repost on Instagram for superior content and follower engagement.

 Connect with your Audience

Becoming an Instagram influencer is an uphill journey. Apart from posting on the social platform, you should also be interacting with your  audience as much as possible. Posting on Instagram reels is a great  idea to connect with your audience as is hosting a fun contest on the  platform with interesting giveaways. Start a conversation and engage  with your followers, comment on other’s posts, reply to comments. Make  statements and share opinions, the more you engage, communicate and  connect with your audience on a regular basis the more they will relate  with you. Remember a band of loyal followers on Instagram will multiply  your popularity and grow your influence

 Follow Trends

The whole concept of following trends in Instagram is to connect with  people and be discovered by a wider audience. Look out for trending hashtags and try to associate them with your niche. You can follow, comment and engage with trending hashtags and create posts relevant to them. The idea is to reach out to the bigger forum at the same time staying connected to your niche audience. Using niche hashtags will bring a highly targeted audience – they will drive quality engagement on  your profile. The more you trend the chances of featuring on the explore page will get higher. The explore page is a recommendation engine that shows trending content on Instagram for your specific niche.  It’s an algorithm based on your Instagram history, the type of content  you follow and watch there.

Later.com

Why Should Brands want to associate with An Instagram Influencer?

Once you have established yourself as an Instagram Influencer of any level with a well-defined audience, brands will want to reach out to you  for association or endorsements.  However, if you are a Nano or Micro  Influencer you will have to look out and pitch to brands for partnership  based on your specific niche or fan following.  Based on the nature of  the Influencer you are, brands may want to associate with you to fulfill  various targets- Brand Awareness, Education, SEO Authority, Social  Following, Damage Control, User-Generated Content (UGC), Trust  Development, and Sales Increase.

medium.com

Conclusion:

In the recent past, social Influencers have been able to make a significant impact in brand campaigns across platforms and especially over Instagram. More and more companies are opting for Influencer marketing as the tribe of social influencers grows by leaps and bounds with over 1 billion monthly  active users (MAU’s) globally on Instagram alone. If you enjoy connecting with people, like what you do, and have an unapologetic approach towards life then you can aim to be a social influencer. From celebrity actors to stand-up comedians, from brand reviewers to fashion  bloggers to the occasional social rebel- whatever be the niche an influencer can expect love, fame, and adulation on the social media platform for doing the things that they love to do. The key to Instagram  influencer success is to network yourself among the infinitely vast  audience and connect with the right band of audience. Once you become an  influencer the kind of popularity you can garner and the type of  remuneration you can earn is limitless. All you need to have is patience  and the will to be aggressively consistent. Source — https://dgsaga.com/blog-how-to-lead-the-herd-by-becoming-an-instagram-influencer/