INTRODUCTION
Table of Contents
As we start off the new year, it is a time to look at your business practices and determine what areas you could improve on. One question I get from a lot of business owners even in this day and age is whether they need to be on social media or not.
Believe it or not there are a lot of these business owners that do not think there is any value to having a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest, etc. I try to get such owners up to speed through showing them the value such sites can have on their business.
Today I am going to show why you need to relook at your social marketiong program to increase your success and sales in 2016. This is important this year more than ever, and I am going to show you why.
You can attack this as a business owner for your own program or is you have an online marketing agency like I do, then this article will also help you out in selling the program that you have revamped for 2016 for clients. .
SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE INFOGRAPHIC
Here is the latest information on the various social media platforms and the prospects they have the potential to reach:
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE BUSINESS OWNER
I use a three pronged approach when it comes to talking this subject with business owners.
FIRST PRONG
It basically comes down to this when I speak with the business owners that are either not using the social media platforms or not using them correctly:
“If you are NOT using these platforms effectively, you are losing business and profits!”
I show them this infographic and other related material to include a video that shows the value of social platforms for their business..
SECOND PRONG
The next question I pose is this:
“What if I could show you, without any cost to you, how you could easily increase your business sales, would you be interested?”
Of course, most are interested.
Something free that has some value is a very attractive offer for the business owner.
To back up my offer, I have developed what I call a “social health survey” form that I provide to the prospects at that point.
This form is quickly filled out by the business owner so I have a good idea of what they are doing and what they would do if they had a perfect world.
Simultaniously, while they are filling this out, I use some research tools that I have to get an internet perspective of what their program looks like.
When they return the survey to me, I combine the two and show them how their customers or potential customers view their social presence.
THIRD PRONG
I also offer a set of recommendations that they can implement themselves, or if they would like our company to do this for them, I make a proposal (included as a part of my report).
This can be considered as the closing to the sales pitch, because in the report I offer three different packages they can select from, and depending on the level of service they want, they select and set up an agreement with our company.
Of course to officially close the business, I will add in some forms and etc. to get them into our system and started with the program they select.
CONCLUSION
This is a simple 3 -pronged process that I have developed over time and it works very effectively. Of course there are a number of drill down details I could go into, but for the purposes of understanding the sales process, I am keeping it simple here
If you have further questions on the process I use, please ask them in the comments below, where we can discuss and provide further clarification, suggestions, and alternatives.
Thanks!
I have to agree with you that infographics are a great way to get exposure with social media. The only reason why I use social media is to build a brand, get traffic, social signals and maybe backlinks.
I never use social media just for traffic because it can also help you a lot with SEO.
Hi Viljoen,
Yes, there is a lot of potential that business owners, to include affiliate marketers , overlook. Either they avoid it entirely, basing this on prior experiences, or they are using it for wasting time, not seriously trying to leverage what it can offer to increase traffic, leads and sales.
Infographics are useful as a part of educating the business owner. It has a lot of information in a limited space, and like pictures, says a thiusand words, although it shows only a few. It is what is generated in the mind when looking through infographics content that the magic takes place!
I hope that you also can use some of the information to increase your sales in 2016, it is a goal of mine to touch 100,000 people in 2016 to help them increase theirs! You can be one of that number!
Cheers!
Dave
Social media is definitely critical when it comes to marketing your business.
I make it part of my posting process to post my articles on as many social media platforms as I can including Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and many others.
I think you’re right that social media will continue to be a main component of all business online.
Thanks for sharing this, it was very informative. I love your infographic as well.
Hi Ian,
Yes this was just a gentle reminder for the business owners I run into and work with. Most of them are so involved in running the business that they fail to leverage the marketing potential that the social platforms offer. Even affiliate marketers I have talked to are only doing cursory social marketing, there are so many ways to really increase your business and sales using the platforms…
When they see the size and potential laid out in an inforgrpahic, and then you show them solutions they can implement either themselves or through your services, they will often jump in if the cost is reasonable. One of the things I did not mention is that I also try to put a ROI piece into my offers I want them to see clearly what the efforts are adding to their business and bottom line.
Cheers!
Dave : )
Man, the figures are staggering. Billions, millions and all I can say is these are the opportunities in front of internet marketers.And day by day, the number keeps going up.
More followers but I still think there will be a slight downfall if new social media are successfully being positioned well in the market.
I like that three pronged approach you showed. It’s awesome. Especially the second one, which the answer is clearly obvious. Who would want to spend costs?
Yes when the numbers are right in front of you like that, it boggles the mind! The main sell does itself often when I show this or a vdideo I use to potential clients. They just do not have a good idea on how to leverage these potantial clients out there waiting for what they are selling! This is where my team comes in!
The aproach seems to work well so far. It is early in the year, but I do hope that I will increase our success and sales using social media for our own business and for our clients in 2016. That is the goal! I will keep looking for new ways to get these words out for the masses, I think we all can do more!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Hi there! Social media is indeed an important and, nowadays, a must way to promote your business. Although I couldn’t realise it at the beginning, I now understand its importance. The statistics you show are the proof, I think. Thanks for sharing this knowledge with us and for reminding us to use every tool we have to make our business the most successful.
Regards, Effie.
Hi Effie,
Yes I agree…It seems like beating a dead horse maybe, but you would be surprised at the number of businesses(eben online affiliate marketers) who do not leverage the potential that is out there. My goal is to help 1000 busineses this year to increase their success and sales for their business using social media sources. Tall order, but I will take a run at it!
Cheers!
Dave : )
You have a very resourceful web site. I noticed that you mention Facebook advertising. It is amazing that there are 1.4 billion users and still growing. I am just now starting to use this social media to promote my site. I also like that it can laser-target a market. What success did you have with this promotional media? Thanks.
Hi Rodney,
Thanks for your positive comment, and I appreciate that you have stopped by today!
Facebook PPC advertising is something I am playing with at the moment, yes. We are trying out different marketing banners and such, also seeing which of the targeting set ups are most effective, and etc.
So far we are getting better with our A/B tests and changing one thing at a time…The better one of teh changed item is then selected and tested again…
We are doing this one by one for each of the areas of focus, and at the end we should have a product that will convert as well as we are looking for.
When that point is reached, we will scale up the campaign and let ‘er rip so to speak lol. The cost for this testing is minimal, one of the things I like with PPC. Generally you can start small…
Cheers!
Dave : )
Two places I always share my posts are Google+ and Pinterest.
I love using Pinterest for my website. While I’m editing pictures for my articles, I edit one specifically for Pinterest as well. I have it set up so my pins are rich pins, meaning the name of the article and my business name shows under the photo. Sometimes I promote my pins too and then there are hundreds of thousands impressions a day.
Hi Gina,
Thanks for popping through and also adding your insight to the post. This is always helpful to me and to others that stop by. I have not shared too many with Google + but I do on Pinterest.
I will start sharing more there, though because it is tied to my other business google my business and etc. sites, and doing so will help build my presence there. It just makes sense.
Pinterest really fascinates me, and most people do not think it is much, but it most assuredly can help your online marketing program.
Using the technique you mention you can increase your organic traffic and also build up a good brand presence on that platform. If you look at the statistics, there are many action takers on Pinterest…A good social platform indeed!
It sounds like you have the Pinterest platform aced, I will have to have a look for myself on your page!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Hi Dave. Really informative article, thanks for that. I understand the huge importance of social media. It is source of promotion that should never be overlooked.
I have started using Google+ to share my website posts 4 months ago. However, 1 month ago, Google stated deleting every new post with my links. This means that I cannot publish my contents any longer. I was really discouraged by someone who told that this happened to him as well, even after creating a second account.
I have no idea how to contact Google + To ask for explanation and I am not confident they will solve this issue.do you have any idea what might have happened? I am planning to give Facebook and tweeter a try now. Do you think it is a good idea to create another Facebook account or I should keep my personal one?
Thanks Dave!
Hi Stefen,
Without knowing all the details, I would say you may have linked dorectly to a sales page for whatever the post subject was?
I would do the following: There is a FAQ for Google +, just, you guessed it, Google it! From there have a look at the terms and conditions for posting.
If you see that you inadvertently violated one of them, maybe then look for the support link, likely it will be in the same FAQ….
Then you could write a support ticket and explain what has happened and what your corrective actions have been and will be…Ask for reinstatement…
Thanks for your positive comment and please stop by anytime! Best of luck with Google, they are normally good to work with the few times I have dealt with them…
Cheers!
Dave : )
This post is worth everyone’s attention. How can I find out more?
Hi Mitch! Please be specific on what kind of questions you have and I will answer them here. This post is a good starting point and you will find some links within it, but if there is other insight you would like just let me know! Cheers! Dave : )
Keep on working, great job!This was a timely and informative post – I have learned something I will add to my program thanks to this article. Thanks
Social media is not the easist thing to keep up with. I agree with your points on the article but am wondering how we can keep up with the many requirements to be have a successful program. What do you suggest – are there any tools that you use to help?
Thanks for providing updated info on social marketing for the new year. It seems that social marketing is going to be bigger than ever. It also tells me I need to shift focus a bit for my own online marketing to take advantage of the trend. Super stuff…
Hello Dave,
Great article on emphasizing the importance of social media. I’m sure most people already uses most of the available social medias. Why not maximize traffic and promote on them?
I use mainly Google Plus with my promotions, do you think I should start joining groups that are relevant to my niche? I don’t want to look like a spammer.
Thanks,
Eric
Hi, Eric…
Thanks for stopping by and providing feedback on the article. Definitely social media and platforms are becoming ever more important today for online marketing.
I use Google Plus as well, just to have another means to get news out, not as much as facebook or Twitter. If you get one or the other down on how best to use, that is good. Adding more then as you have time makes sense…
Definitely I would start looking for related groups to join on Facebook. This can help give you a good perspective on what the target audience may need or is looking for. You can build a following from that by helping out and being a part of the community…
Best of luck and have fun with this, it is work but that does not mean you cannot enjoy!
Cheers!
Dave : )