We all know that social media has transformed the ways businesses interact with customers.
The fact is that social media is very popular; it’s a global phenomenon that no business can do without.
In today’s competitive market, if you want your competitors to outperform your business, then stop all your business social media activities.
The popularity of social media has contributed immensely to how businesses reach customers nowadays.
It’s not only a platform through which people make connections and socialise, it’s also a place to market your business.
Businesses are now using social media platforms for business marketing and promotion.
There is more to social media than business marketing
Today, there is more to social media for business than marketing; it is a platform through which businesses now get new customers with ease.
But not only that, you can also use the platform to interact with existing customers, and build a relationship with potential customers.
Also, business reputation is important in today’s competitive market and the good thing is that social media can easily be used for this purpose.
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How businesses can get customers through social media
Having realised how important social media is in managing the business today, is your business also getting new customers through the platform?
As a platform through which businesses now connect and interact, it’s important to ensure that your business is not being left out.
Most people think that social media is only good for marketing and ‘engaging’ customers, rather than making direct sales. But as we explain below, you will be surprised at how the platform can also help a business to increase chances of selling.
#1]. Monitor, listen and respond on time
Most people that follow your business on social media have interest in your business.
So, when people mention your business or products on social media, it is possible that they want to know more about what you sell.
This is why you should monitor social media mentions, listen, and engage people promptly. Tell them you noticed they mentioned your products or business. However, please don’t dive straight in with a hard sell, ask whether they need help.
Responding and gently offering help is a far better approach than pushing for people to buy from you immediately.
#2]. Encourage sharing of your products
To be able to get your products to potential customers on social media, it’s important to encourage your business website visitors to share.
The simple fact is that nudging your website visitors to share your products on social media is a great way of promoting interest without any on-going time or effort.
If you haven’t already done it, add share buttons to your product pages. So the same for your emails, any blog posts about products, and make sure they are visible to your website visitors.
By doing this, you are encouraging your visitors to share contents on your website which is a good way to get people to see your business.
#3]. Do press release, involve prominent bloggers
No doubt about it, bloggers are one of the best marketing weapons that most of the top brands are using to get their products to potential customers.
Involving prominent bloggers in your products testing can open new windows of opportunity. This means you can be able to easily attract new customers to your business.
Look around and do some researches, you might be able to notice that your competitors are already using bloggers to promote their products. You too can do the same.
You can do less expensive things like asking bloggers to trial products for you or to blog about your product on their blog. Also, you can use press release distribution platforms to get the message out to the public.
#4]. Share what’s new
Encourage sharing of your products
Creating a simple social media plan around new product launches can really help in driving sales.
Informing your customers of products you are about to launch is the best way to get them prepared.
Begin mentioning products before they arrive, and you can often judge demand from the amount of response you get on social media.
Another thing is that if you are able to take pre-orders, this is even better. It will help your business to retain customers better.
#5]. Do competitions, draws and contests
Run a Twitter competition by asking followers to tweet their favourite product on your site.
Offer a prize to one of the tweeters, or a donation to charity for every mention.
You can also offer a prize draw whenever anyone purchases from you and mentions it on a social network and lets you know.
You may wish to seek legal advice before you run any prize promotion as the law in this area can be complicated.
#6]. Run notification and limited offers campaigns
One of the easiest ways to mention your products on social media is through notification campaigns. However, the results you will get may depend on how well you actually use it.
There is nothing wrong in notifying your followers and fans about new products, products of the day or products of the week, but you still have to be careful about it so that you won’t become a nuisance to your followers.
You can do your social media mentioning when you have had a big order for a product or when the stock is low on a popular line.
You can also get new customers by offering limited offers and social media only offers exclusively to your social media fans/followers.
#7]. Turn followers into subscribers
As well as selling direct via social media, it’s also useful to turn followers into subscribers.
This is why you should be encouraging your followers and fans alike to sign up to your email newsletter if you send one.
You can also ask your customers to recommend you via social media, which is perhaps the best way to encourage sales on your website.
This is particularly good for word of mouth marketing, one of the cheapest means of business marketing.
