Social Media Tips for the Entrepreneur

Is it possible to attract leads and convert them into sales with social media?
The world of social media marketing may create a sense of a small fish in a big pond for an entrepreneur or business. For others it could represent being ready for a popular wave to ride on while waiting for the next opportunity. In order to fully understand the power of becoming a ‘social entrepreneur‘ it is important to learn how to understand it for better success.
So – back to the question “Is it possible to attract leads and convert them into sales with social media?” While many may believe this is impossible, With the right strategies social media can produce amazing results for your brand or business. The secret ingredients include writing content that attract an audience, then answer their needs through active communication.

Here are some ways to build your business marketing and reputation online

Publish content across major social media channels

Once you have written a unique article that provides something of value to your niche it is time to spread the word across as many social media networks as possible. Focus on the ones you are most active on and consider posting your content a few times during the week for maximum exposure. The more frequent you share information the more visibility you create for your brand as you establish yourself as an expert. Over time great content produces credibility and trust, which opens the doors for opportunities later such as guest blogging and interviews online. If your business is active on LinkedIn eventually an invitation will be offered to publish there. The benefit of this platform is building a stronger professional network as well as being able to cross promote articles from your website.

Turn your followers into paying customers

Social media is a perfect springboard to convert your followers into sales as you frequently share information, news, helpful articles, images, and video with them. In order to draw them into your products or services you will want to stay in active communication with occasional offers, asking questions of your community, and building trust through responding to customer service issues. The important point to always remember is that social media is not a platform to sell, but rather build relationships with people, which in turn ‘humanizes’ your brand. Bryan Kramer, author of “Human to Human #H2H,” says it best: “The fact is that businesses do not have emotion. Products do not have emotion. Humans do.”

Word of mouth marketing

As your brand or business develops trusted relationships on social media it won’t be long before they are sharing their experience. Word of mouth marketing is far more valuable than paid advertizing as people are always on the hunt for trusted companies in an online world where spam and security breaches are frequent occurrences. In a growing and competitive social environment it is more important than ever to encourage and foster your audience to believe in you and recommend your company or name to others. Stay on alert for any negative feedback, and always offer a positive and quick response as information can travel faster than a flame on social media, especially on networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Build SEO through social media

It is not enough to pay for PPC ads on Google any more. Today social media has become the main driver for more inbound traffic to your website, which will directly affect your search engine ranking. Incorporating relevant and trending hashtags into your content is vital, along with optimized headlines and content in the body of your articles on your blog. This is in turn will pay off in the long-run, and reduce your marketing and advertising costs. It is well worth the effort to take just an hour a day and ensure that your keywords and optimizations are effective for your brand’s niche. It doesn’t hurt to check out the latest terms through research on both Google and Twitter along with observing what your competition is successfully using.

Learn more about your target market

Social media has become a ‘social listening’ ear where your fans and followers can be studied. This tells us a lot about how your brand is being perceived online, and to whom our content is reaching including the demographics. Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest now have poweful analytics tools in place and other networks are jumping on board with this as well. As your brand monitors the conversations and feedback on its networks you will be able to focus more on what will bring the most visibility and sales. Make this an opportunity to create a personal touch with your customers as well by responding quickly to their feedback on social media.
As a social entrepreneur and business you can successfully take advantage of social media marketing by staying ahead of the competition, standing out as a more ‘personal’ company to your audience, and building relationships that will later convert into sales. Without it we as business owners can be left behind in a fast-paced race where reputation and trust are the new driving forces to retaining customers.
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