4 Tips on How to turn Social Media Likes into Sales

4 Tips on How to turn Social Media Likes into Sales

by | Oct 25, 2017 | Communications, Marketing

We often hear organizations say something along these lines, “we are getting so many social media likes, shares and comments but we are not seeing an increase in qualified leads or sales”. The problem here is that organizations are only doing half the job, i.e. they have the first part completed by setting up social media accounts and providing great content. The problem is that when many organizations reach this stage they just sit back and wait for the sales to roll in.
Unfortunately, this is not how it works in real life, social media accounts need to be constantly worked and require a lot of time and effort to reap the rewards. Here are 4 quick tips that will help turn your social media likes into sales:

1. Engage with your social media likes audience

Thank people for liking your posts, ask them what aspects they liked and is there anything else they would like to see. Offer to setup a call or start an email conversation off the social media platform to further discuss the prospects needs and wants and how you can provide a solution for same.

2. Capture prospects details now for later conversion

According to Socialmediaexaminer.com the social media ‘liker’ may not be ready to purchase just yet, however, your organization now has an opportunity to capture their details and encourage them to sign up for your company newsletter, future promotions, case studies, etc.. As some social media leads enter the sales funnel at a very early stage you will need to develop targeted campaigns with further content that will help drive the decision making process.

3. Make buying easy

It’s most important to make buying super easy for your social media audience. Make sure that website links on your social media accounts bring the prospect directly to the purchasing page and not just your generic home page where they will have to further search for themselves. Some social media platforms will allow you to create a purchasing tab from within the platform.

4. Customer service

It is critical that you are highly responsive in a timely manner to questions and comments posted to your social media accounts. Ask satisfied customers to provide a 5 star review and be courteous and polite at all times as one bad interaction may have lasting effects.

If you would like to know more about how RML Marketing and Business Development Solutions can help your organization turn social media likes into sales contact us today.

How to Create an Inbound Marketing Strategy to Capture More Leads and Ultimately Sales.

How to Create an Inbound Marketing Strategy to Capture More Leads and Ultimately Sales.

by | Sep 29, 2017 | Business Development, Communications, Marketing

inbound marketing strategy

Hubspot defines an Inbound Marketing Strategy as an approach focused on attracting customers through content that is relevant and helpful — not interruptive. With inbound marketing, potential customers find you through online channels like blogs, search engines, and social media.

Unlike outbound marketing, inbound marketing does not need to fight for potential customers attention. By creating content designed to address the problems and needs of your ideal customers, you attract qualified prospects and build trust and credibility for your business.

To establish a successful inbound marketing strategy Marketo recommends the following steps be taken:

  • Identify your target audience and learn all you can about them. Your content must be specifically targeted at their needs.

Your audience will be the prospects that will benefit most from your solution or product. Try to put yourself in their shoes and think why would your solution be a good fit (or not as the case may be) for your targeted audience. Will it solve a problem, reduce time and resources currently required by your target base?

  • Determine your unique, compelling story. Why should your audience listen to you?

This is where your content marketing should shine. Content marketing has been defined by the Content Marketing Institute as a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract a clearly defined audience.

  • Choose your delivery platforms. Will you Blog? Tweet? Use Facebook? LinkedIn or a combination?

Social media platforms are a wonderful way to deliver your content and create a loyal community following. Like most things in life, social media platforms differ greatly and play to different market audiences. For example, if you are a B2B marketer and wish to get a serious, somewhat technical message across you may find Blogs and LinkedIn Articles and User Groups work best. If you are B2C marketer with a young targeted audience you may find Pinterest and Snap Chat work best, whereas Twitter can be great for new announcements and highlights of specific events or shows.

  • Create and execute your Inbound Marketing Strategy calendar.

It is important to create a schedule that will consistently turn out fresh and relevant content that continues to engage your audience. Remember that all content should be targeted at solving a particular need of your customer and not a hard sell of your product or solution.

Having a well-oiled inbound marketing strategy should see audience participation and leads grow significantly over time (a recent Hubspot survey found that organizations who adopted an inbound marketing strategy reported an increase in leads of almost 84% within the first 7 months). Once these leads are harvested and qualified they can be forwarded to the sales team for conversion to new paying customers.

If you would like help with creating an Inbound Marketing Strategy for your organization contact RML Marketing & Business Development Solutions today.

10 Steps to Help Kill your Trade Show ROI

10 Steps to Help Kill your Trade Show ROI

by | Sep 21, 2017 | Business Development, Marketing

The humble Trade Show offers organizations a wonderful opportunity to promote products and/or services, gather leads, develop fruitful partnerships, entertain clients and increase branding/exposure. All this sounds wonderful, however, Trade Shows usually come at a high cost (booth rental, staff, travel, accommodation, materials, giveaways, entertainment….) and must be planned and executed properly to maximize ROI.
To get the most out of your next trade show, here are ten steps that will help your organization achieve maximum results:

10 Trade Show Steps to  Help Kill ROI

 

Trade Show Booth Selection & Design

Try to pick a booth that will have maximum exposure – close to entrance, main stage, beside coffee dock, lunch area etc. Make sure you get a copy of and study the booth floor plan carefully, avoiding large pillars and obstacles that may hinder your visibility where possible.

At a busy show you have about 5 to 10 seconds to grab the attention of passing traffic. Make sure your booth walls have your logo, main keywords and products listed. Also, some visual aids and video demonstrations can be very effective in attracting the attention of potential prospects and partners.

Accommodation

If the Trade Show is taking place in a hotel try to book accommodation in that same hotel. They may have preferential room rates for show attendees and you will be able to network afterhours in the hotel’s bars and restaurants. If the Trade Show takes place in a stand alone convention centre, try to book the closest possible hotel, this will likely become an after show focal point. It also allows staff time to return to their rooms to take calls in private if necessary.

Staff Selection

Make sure that the staff you send to represent your organization are not alone highly versed in your solutions, but are also highly personable and approachable by the public. There is nothing worse than seeing a booth person constantly looking down at their shoes or trying not to engage with potential customers. Make sure that staff wear branded clothing at all times showing off your organization’s logo and key message.

Preshow Plan

Meet with your show staff and marketing team 6-8 weeks prior to the show start date. Make sure show staff are aware of the exhibition hours and logistics. Agree on promotional materials, swag and giveaways to bring. Study other exhibitors attending and try to arrange meetings with organizations that may be of benefit to your product or solution. If you have a speaking or presentation slot make sure that your slide deck is prepared according to the rules and regulations of the show organizers. Devise a promotional campaign announcing your organizations attendance through press release, email, blogs and social media, making sure that you use the show’s hashtag where possible.

Trade Show Start & Exhibition Hours

Try to arrive the day before the show officially opens to make sure your booth is well presented and all power points, lead capture and audio-visual equipment works. Make sure to have staff present for all exhibition floor opening hours. There is nothing worse than seeing an empty booth during a show, not to mention the wasted opportunity and cost to the organization.

Lead Capture

Use or hire lead capture scanners if offered by show organizers. This scanning equipment is very effective for a busy show and it is usually very easy to import the lead capture data into your backend system at the end of show. If you do not have a lead scanner always give a prospect your business card and ask for theirs in return. If the prospect states that they do not have any cards with them, ask them to write their contact details on the back of one of your cards. Attract prospects to your booth with swag or giveaway raffles that they must submit their business cards or details to enter the draw.

Walk Floor

Walk the floor during slow times (key note presentations, early mornings, class times….) to meet other exhibitors and see what the competition is offering. However, never leave your booth fully unattended and always have at least one staff member present.

Keynote Address

Make sure some staff attend the keynote address to learn what is new in your industry and what future opportunities your organization may be able to benefit from.

After show hours

Once the exhibition hall is closed for the evening make sure to attend the after show party or the hotel bar. These represent wonderful opportunities for networking and expanding your prospect and contact base, you can also use after show hours to bring important clients, prospects and partners to dinner.

Follow Up

Follow up, follow up, follow up……….and then follow up. When the show is over and you are back in the office make sure that you contact each and every lead that was captured during the event. Allow attendees a couple of days to get back and caught up on their own pressing needs, then make sure to reach out with emails and calls to further on the conversation from the show. You can also schedule a webinar, inviting all leads to a demonstration of your product or solution. Make sure all leads are entered into your database or CRM system and tag them to the show for future reference and ability to measure ROI.

For help on how to get the most return on your Trade Show investment contact RML Marketing and Business Development Solutions today.

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