Nowadays literally anyone can talk to anyone! Most social media platforms now give you access to groups of people or organisations that have identified interests, needs or expertise. Rather than broadcasting messages out into the world through various means you can now start a simple conversation without having to appear as someone conducting market research on the edge of a high street.
In the past Relationship Marketing was purely for existing customers focusing on customer retention and loyalty through long term customer engagement. It was pretty much a one-way street and didn’t mean that customers were welcomed into an active discussion with the company or indeed an individual!
We can talk now to anyone on a personal one-to-one level so there is no reason why Relationship Marketing shouldn’t apply to all. As an individual, company or organisation we can directly identify our target audiences and post content either to individuals that stimulates one-to-one conversation or to groups to engage on a more general level.
Some tips on how being more active on social media could get you more sales:
Build Solid Relationships
The softly softly approach works so much better than ‘This is what I have to sell so buy from me now… then I can move onto the next person’. Share successes of your customers, be positive about your followers’ activities and continue to actively engage with people who may want to buy from you in the future. Try not to binge on social media by being over active and then nothing at all, be consistent and look to the long term. Friendships don’t generally happen overnight. If your customers are your friends they are much more likely to stand the test of time with you.
What Do People Want To Know?
Run some polls to ask direct questions via groups or individually. Ask people personally for feedback whether through DM’s or posts. Find out what’s important to your target audience when making buying decisions. Look at the statistics on the posts that generate the most engagement and do more of the same.
Engage Now, Buy Later Ethos
We all want to be noticed and have someone taking an interest in us. The approach of ‘I saw this and thought of you…’ is much more personal and more likely to get individuals thinking ‘I’m not just one of millions, they do truly care about little ole me!’ We all recognise that direct mail shots have been churned out by a computer with a letter and a database. With social media there’s no reason why everyone you talk to shouldn’t feel special. Be current, be personal and if you get a sale now that’s just a bonus.
Customer Referrals & Testimonials
Social media allows you to have open conversations with your customers about their recent buys. Openly interact with your customers in a way that encourages them to provide positive feedback on you. It may also lead to recommendations and questions in the future on other areas you may be able to help them with.
Don’t Be Scared To Have A Little Personality
Relationships are generally best when you have shared values, outlooks or opinions. Don’t be scared to express a little personality. Personally sense of humour is very important to me as I want to work with people who share a similar outlook so I express that in my social media posts and engagement. Who you are or your company personality should also shine through.
It’s Not Just What You Know It’s Who You Know
When we receive a letter or read an advert we don’t generally go and show that to everyone we know. It’s worth remembering that on social media we can get access to all those other people connected to the person we’re talking to. Someone may only have 28 followers themselves but if 2 of those have over 2 million following them a share of your post could be worth its weight in gold.
Once a company gets beyond treating social media as just another marketing method and sees the truly wonderful opportunity to engage directly with existing and potential customers the world is your oyster. As a marketer I have never known anything as powerful as social media to market companies. It gets the quickest results and the highest level or interaction than anything else I’ve used. In the right hands it’s the sales success most companies are looking for!
Denise runs intense two hour one-to-one social media training sessions that help unlock some of the secrets to using social media to generate sales and for building long term relationships. To find out more contact her directly denise@themylanfocus.com or call her on 07814 853587.