Social Media 201
Posts Tagged ‘Relationship’
Social Media Marketing – Why is Social Media Marketing the Rage? Why Do So Many Get it WRONG?
Allen D Jensen asked:
Social media marketing is, without question, the rage of the day in the world of online marketing. Why? Why so much ado over social media marketing? Why do SO many fail to use it properly? To a large extent, social media marketing is driven by the growing popularity of network marketing companies. Consider the concept most are taught for building a networking business. You’re told to make a list of friends and family to introduce to your opportunity.
Why friends and family? The idea is that these are people you already have a relationship with and, as a result, hopefully, they trust you. People do business with those whom they trust. Therefore, if they trust you and they have an interest in what you have to offer they are more likely to buy from you over someone else. There are, however, some problems with marketing to your personal circle of friends and family. First, it is an extremely limited market. Just because someone is your friend or a family member does NOT mean they have an interest in what you have to offer. Those who DO have an interest may be VERY few.
Social media marketing is a way to overcome the limiting aspect of marketing to friends and family. Through it you can effectively enlarge your circle of friends to a virtually UNlimited size. Additionally, you can easily find friends who DO have mutual interests with you, thus having an interest in what you have to offer. To benefit fully from social media marketing just think about how friendships are developed. Is it not by each one sharing with the other, sharing thoughts, ideas, experiences? Over time, the relationship becomes more solid and a certain level of mutual trust develops.
But HERE is where so many get it WRONG. Social media marketing is about making friends, building relationships, developing trust. It is NOT a medium for blatantly advertising your opportunity. Use it in the proper way and you will reap the rewards, a LARGE circle of friends with mutual interests. You can learn more about using social media and building a network marketing business here.
Beer Brewing 101
Social media marketing is, without question, the rage of the day in the world of online marketing. Why? Why so much ado over social media marketing? Why do SO many fail to use it properly? To a large extent, social media marketing is driven by the growing popularity of network marketing companies. Consider the concept most are taught for building a networking business. You’re told to make a list of friends and family to introduce to your opportunity.
Why friends and family? The idea is that these are people you already have a relationship with and, as a result, hopefully, they trust you. People do business with those whom they trust. Therefore, if they trust you and they have an interest in what you have to offer they are more likely to buy from you over someone else. There are, however, some problems with marketing to your personal circle of friends and family. First, it is an extremely limited market. Just because someone is your friend or a family member does NOT mean they have an interest in what you have to offer. Those who DO have an interest may be VERY few.
Social media marketing is a way to overcome the limiting aspect of marketing to friends and family. Through it you can effectively enlarge your circle of friends to a virtually UNlimited size. Additionally, you can easily find friends who DO have mutual interests with you, thus having an interest in what you have to offer. To benefit fully from social media marketing just think about how friendships are developed. Is it not by each one sharing with the other, sharing thoughts, ideas, experiences? Over time, the relationship becomes more solid and a certain level of mutual trust develops.
But HERE is where so many get it WRONG. Social media marketing is about making friends, building relationships, developing trust. It is NOT a medium for blatantly advertising your opportunity. Use it in the proper way and you will reap the rewards, a LARGE circle of friends with mutual interests. You can learn more about using social media and building a network marketing business here.
Beer Brewing 101
Social Marketing Means Higher Sales Conversions!
In this new frontier of SOCIAL MARKETING, you can spike your traffic FAST, and if you do it right, you get LONG TERM search engine traffic too. It’s really the best of both worlds. Free traffic and higher search engine rankings!
Plus! Higher Conversions
Here’s the final key ingredient… and that’s the fact that social marketing means that the huge flood of EXTRA traffic you are going to get on your site is already PRE-SOLD. You already have a relationship with them… and they are going to convert into customers at a rate you haven’t seen since your grandmother visited your lemonade stand when you were a kid.
It’s this simple… people like to buy from people that they already know, like, and trust. And your social marketing campaign will give you the kind of presence so that people already KNOW you, LIKE you, and TRUST you before they even hit your web site. It’s not rocket science.
In a recent test performed by a well respected marketing analysis firm MarketingExperiments.com, a site that runs online tests and records the results in their newsletters. They recently concluded a 12-month test where they measured the results of social marketing versus buying paid traffic to a series of 4 sites.
Here is what they foundÂ…
Using social marketing, they were able to generate over 93,000 visitors to their sites, paying an employee to do the social marketing work for a total of $3600 during that time, resulting in a total cost per visitor of 4 cents.
Then they ran a one month test driving traffic from Google AdWords. Using that strategy, they obtained 2,057 visitors after investing $1,250 in click costs, resulting in a cost per visitor of 61 cents. Four 4 cents versus 61 cents – social marketing yielded a 1,427% better return on their investment. Not bad!
By now I’m sure that you’re foaming at the mouth, wanting to dive in and take advantage of the huge opportunity that Social Marketing presents.
My newest product devoted to applying the techniques of getting traffic from social networking, involves three sites that will get your social marketing off to a great start. They are MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. In my videos I show you why they work and how to set them up to get the fastest results.
There are no secrets! It’s all about creating a presence on each one, developing friends and a relationship with your friends! The rest (traffic) comes naturally when you use social networking the right way!
Social Media Marketing – 7 Tips For Providing Customer Service That Proves You Truly Care
Lauren McMullen asked:
Social Media Marketing is built on the foundation of first creating a relationship with people and then transitioning those people into clients after they learn to know like and trust you. If problems arise it is very important to remember that the relationship must always come first or the customer will feel duped.
When someone becomes upset about a product or service you provided and they call you to discuss the problem you have 2 choices. You can honor your refund policy with grace, dignity and respect and thus maintain the relationship between you and your customer or you can make the customer squirm and feel like they have done something wrong because they are dissatisfied and then honor the refund policy.
It is amazing to me that anyone would pick the second choice when they are only shooting themselves in the foot but after interviewing many people I have found out it happens all the time. Why would you try to make them feel like a failure? Everyone HATES to feel like a failure and once they do they NEVER want to put in that position again so that means they won’t ever be calling you again.
Now you might say good riddance if you feel like they were unreasonable but the fact of the matter is, you have a lot more to lose than one client. You have all their friends and family to lose as well and remember because of the Internet they have a lot more friends than they used to. Potentially thousands on Facebook and Twitter.
These are my recommendations for handling these sticky situations with grace and integrity. Maybe when it happens to you, you will be able to turn this potentially difficult situation into a positive one for your company.
Respond as quickly as humanly possible to any complaints. Sometimes that’s all that it takes to prevent the need for a refund. Even if you feel like you have provided the best possibly service maybe your systems failed for this client. Always assume they are right.
Do what you say you will do – If you promise to be available for a call BE AVAILABLE, if you make an appointment to talk KEEP THE APPOINTMENT. In other words treat the client with the same respect that you would like to receive.
Apologize for the problems and accept complete responsibility. Trust me your client will be able to tell when you are faking the concern so you must truly believe what you are saying.
Offer to make it right. Do what is necessary to alleviate the problem and ask the all important question, what can I do to make you feel good about this? Can I fix the problem?
If the answer is no, accept the fact that trust has been irreparably damaged and don’t blame the client for their feelings. Accept their decision with gracefully and quickly offer the promised refund.
If appropriate, you might ask the client to tell you what they might have done differently so that this problem would not be an issue for future clients. Again your attitude is so important here. They will feel your intention so if you can’t do this without tying to transfer blame to the client skip this step because you will do more harm than good.
Follow through immediately and process the refund ASAP If you follow all the steps outlined above there is a very good chance that the client will continue to feel good about you and your products or services and they still might refer others to you in the future. Later they might actually acknowledge that the reason this did not work out was really no one’s fault but only because the timing was off for both of you.
Social Media has given everyone an equal voice in the market and it has made our huge world small again. Word does get around at the speed of light so how you respond to complaints is more important than ever.
Totally FREE Website content
Social Media Marketing is built on the foundation of first creating a relationship with people and then transitioning those people into clients after they learn to know like and trust you. If problems arise it is very important to remember that the relationship must always come first or the customer will feel duped.
When someone becomes upset about a product or service you provided and they call you to discuss the problem you have 2 choices. You can honor your refund policy with grace, dignity and respect and thus maintain the relationship between you and your customer or you can make the customer squirm and feel like they have done something wrong because they are dissatisfied and then honor the refund policy.
It is amazing to me that anyone would pick the second choice when they are only shooting themselves in the foot but after interviewing many people I have found out it happens all the time. Why would you try to make them feel like a failure? Everyone HATES to feel like a failure and once they do they NEVER want to put in that position again so that means they won’t ever be calling you again.
Now you might say good riddance if you feel like they were unreasonable but the fact of the matter is, you have a lot more to lose than one client. You have all their friends and family to lose as well and remember because of the Internet they have a lot more friends than they used to. Potentially thousands on Facebook and Twitter.
These are my recommendations for handling these sticky situations with grace and integrity. Maybe when it happens to you, you will be able to turn this potentially difficult situation into a positive one for your company.
Respond as quickly as humanly possible to any complaints. Sometimes that’s all that it takes to prevent the need for a refund. Even if you feel like you have provided the best possibly service maybe your systems failed for this client. Always assume they are right.
Do what you say you will do – If you promise to be available for a call BE AVAILABLE, if you make an appointment to talk KEEP THE APPOINTMENT. In other words treat the client with the same respect that you would like to receive.
Apologize for the problems and accept complete responsibility. Trust me your client will be able to tell when you are faking the concern so you must truly believe what you are saying.
Offer to make it right. Do what is necessary to alleviate the problem and ask the all important question, what can I do to make you feel good about this? Can I fix the problem?
If the answer is no, accept the fact that trust has been irreparably damaged and don’t blame the client for their feelings. Accept their decision with gracefully and quickly offer the promised refund.
If appropriate, you might ask the client to tell you what they might have done differently so that this problem would not be an issue for future clients. Again your attitude is so important here. They will feel your intention so if you can’t do this without tying to transfer blame to the client skip this step because you will do more harm than good.
Follow through immediately and process the refund ASAP If you follow all the steps outlined above there is a very good chance that the client will continue to feel good about you and your products or services and they still might refer others to you in the future. Later they might actually acknowledge that the reason this did not work out was really no one’s fault but only because the timing was off for both of you.
Social Media has given everyone an equal voice in the market and it has made our huge world small again. Word does get around at the speed of light so how you respond to complaints is more important than ever.
Totally FREE Website content
Social Media Marketing – Learn the 6 Critical Steps For a Successful Social Media Marketing Plan
Lauren McMullen asked:
Social Media is any online platform where people connect with each other, have conversations and develop relationships. Social Media Marketing is when you leverage those connections by educating people about your products or services in hopes that they learn to know, like and trust you so they feel comfortable doing business with you online.
To be successful with Social Media Marketing your first goal is not the sale. That must come later after the relationship is built. While traditional forms of marketing focus more on persuading or convincing your prospects to buy, the focus of social media marketing is different. The relationship must always come first.
Social Media works more on the principles of word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth marketing is when one person tells another person about a product or service they like. Studies have shown it is 3-4 times more effective than any other kind of marketing. When you combine the Internet with word of mouth marketing you reach millions rather than just one or two people! Social Media Marketing becomes Word of Mouth Marketing on steroids.
This is a difficult concept for traditional marketers to grasp in the beginning. The more valuable, relevant information about your products and services you offer for free, the more people begin to talk about you and the more people look to you as the expert in your niche. This will ultimately lead to sales but you must be patient.
There is a very important 6 step process or progression people go through before they become a client. If you want your Social Media Marketing plan to be successful it is important to understand each step and make sure you provide the correct kinds valuable and useful information at each stage.
Step 1 Connection: To make a connection with people in your target market you need to stand out and get noticed. You do this by giving out useful, relevant and valuable information on as many social networks as possible. You Tweet it out, post it on Facebook, offer free reports or e-courses and make You Tube videos. Then people in your target audience make a mental connection with you online.
Step 2 Conversation: Conversation is the whole point of social media so if someone comments on your updates it’s very important for you to comment back. They might comment on your blog or re-Tweet one of your updates on Twitter or they might comment on your wall on Facebook but the important point here is that they have noticed you they now they have a connection with you and they have started a conversation. Don’t ever let a post on your wall go unanswered or a re-Tweet on Twitter go un-thanked.
Step 3 Conversion: Conversion is when the person actually starts to engage mentally with what you have to say. They begin to actually seek out your updates. They begin to see you as an expert in your field. They will make a point of reading your Blog posts and sign up for your RSS feed. They follow you on Twitter and visit your Facebook fan page. This is good news but you can ruin it all by asking them to buy too soon.
Step 4 Consumer: This is when your prospect begins to consume your free content. If you have a freebie on your blog that you use to build your list they will sign up for that. If you do free teleseminars or webinars they will attend. If you are on Blog talk radio they might listen. This is the time to provide the most valuable and relevant content so they learn to know, like and trust you. Eventually this is how they decide if they will purchase some of your products or services. Studies show it takes between 7-10 actual interactions before a person is ready to buy from you online. You are almost there!
Step 5 Commerce: This is when the first real buyer/seller transaction takes place. It is important to make the process as simple and seamless as possible so your clients will feel comfortable doing business with you in the future. The payment transaction should be easy to complete. If there are any problems keep in touch. If they are not satisfied do whatever is necessary to make it right.
Step 6 Client: Congratulations! You have reached the final stage in your relationship. Your prospect is finally a client! They now have a history of excellence with you. They know, like and trust you and respect what you do based on the free content you have offered them and the products or services they have purchased. If they see another product of yours they like, it will be a much easier decision for them to spend money. If you have made a really good impression they will now begin to tell their friends and associates about you and the process begins with the next person.
Beer Crafting
Social Media is any online platform where people connect with each other, have conversations and develop relationships. Social Media Marketing is when you leverage those connections by educating people about your products or services in hopes that they learn to know, like and trust you so they feel comfortable doing business with you online.
To be successful with Social Media Marketing your first goal is not the sale. That must come later after the relationship is built. While traditional forms of marketing focus more on persuading or convincing your prospects to buy, the focus of social media marketing is different. The relationship must always come first.
Social Media works more on the principles of word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth marketing is when one person tells another person about a product or service they like. Studies have shown it is 3-4 times more effective than any other kind of marketing. When you combine the Internet with word of mouth marketing you reach millions rather than just one or two people! Social Media Marketing becomes Word of Mouth Marketing on steroids.
This is a difficult concept for traditional marketers to grasp in the beginning. The more valuable, relevant information about your products and services you offer for free, the more people begin to talk about you and the more people look to you as the expert in your niche. This will ultimately lead to sales but you must be patient.
There is a very important 6 step process or progression people go through before they become a client. If you want your Social Media Marketing plan to be successful it is important to understand each step and make sure you provide the correct kinds valuable and useful information at each stage.
Step 1 Connection: To make a connection with people in your target market you need to stand out and get noticed. You do this by giving out useful, relevant and valuable information on as many social networks as possible. You Tweet it out, post it on Facebook, offer free reports or e-courses and make You Tube videos. Then people in your target audience make a mental connection with you online.
Step 2 Conversation: Conversation is the whole point of social media so if someone comments on your updates it’s very important for you to comment back. They might comment on your blog or re-Tweet one of your updates on Twitter or they might comment on your wall on Facebook but the important point here is that they have noticed you they now they have a connection with you and they have started a conversation. Don’t ever let a post on your wall go unanswered or a re-Tweet on Twitter go un-thanked.
Step 3 Conversion: Conversion is when the person actually starts to engage mentally with what you have to say. They begin to actually seek out your updates. They begin to see you as an expert in your field. They will make a point of reading your Blog posts and sign up for your RSS feed. They follow you on Twitter and visit your Facebook fan page. This is good news but you can ruin it all by asking them to buy too soon.
Step 4 Consumer: This is when your prospect begins to consume your free content. If you have a freebie on your blog that you use to build your list they will sign up for that. If you do free teleseminars or webinars they will attend. If you are on Blog talk radio they might listen. This is the time to provide the most valuable and relevant content so they learn to know, like and trust you. Eventually this is how they decide if they will purchase some of your products or services. Studies show it takes between 7-10 actual interactions before a person is ready to buy from you online. You are almost there!
Step 5 Commerce: This is when the first real buyer/seller transaction takes place. It is important to make the process as simple and seamless as possible so your clients will feel comfortable doing business with you in the future. The payment transaction should be easy to complete. If there are any problems keep in touch. If they are not satisfied do whatever is necessary to make it right.
Step 6 Client: Congratulations! You have reached the final stage in your relationship. Your prospect is finally a client! They now have a history of excellence with you. They know, like and trust you and respect what you do based on the free content you have offered them and the products or services they have purchased. If they see another product of yours they like, it will be a much easier decision for them to spend money. If you have made a really good impression they will now begin to tell their friends and associates about you and the process begins with the next person.
Beer Crafting
Do You Advertise Your MLM Opportunity on Social Media?
Dale Reynolds asked:
If you are advertising your MLM company on social media sites with a website that mentions the company, or you list that website on your profile, I have two words for you:
STOP IT!
If you are looking for prospects on social media sites, you are probably targeting people in MLM or network marketing groups. This makes sense, because you don’t have to convince them that the business model is valid, legal, and ethical. These people fall into two categories:
Currently in a company Looking for a company
If someone is already in a company and they are happy with it, they will not engage in a conversation with you if you are actively promoting another company unless they are trying to reverse-pitch you. You might think that’s fine. Why would you want to build a relationship with someone who is “married” to another opportunity anyway?
I’ll tell you why! MLM companies go under every day, especially those that have been around for less than two years. Companies that are past momentum are difficult to build in, and anyone who joins will struggle. And many companies just don’t price their products to sell retail, which also makes it difficult to be successful. So if you build a relationship with people and they decide to leave their company, they might ask about your opportunity!
People who are looking for a company are being bombarded with opportunities and every one claims to be “the best.” How do they know who to believe? They need to know YOU and like you first, before they would believe you.
The absolute WORST way to market your MLM on social media is to plaster your affiliate link on people’s wall, or send messages with the link, when they didn’t ask you for it. This is spam, plain and simple, and you will alienate tons of people by doing this. And if you keep posting messages about how great your product or company is, you are just doing the same thing as everyone else and you are NOT building relationships.
When you first connect with people, start by being a friend. Compliment them, find some common ground, or comment on something they posted. Be visible without selling or presenting.
Once you have a connection, the best way to market to an MLM enthusiast is to offer free generic help. Help people succeed in ANY business that is viable. Help them spot the ones that are shady. Help them communicate better with others. Teach them technical skills. Add value to their life!
It may seem to take more time, but this is the best way to make connections that will last a lifetime.
Homemade Spirits – Learning To Make Alcohol
If you are advertising your MLM company on social media sites with a website that mentions the company, or you list that website on your profile, I have two words for you:
STOP IT!
If you are looking for prospects on social media sites, you are probably targeting people in MLM or network marketing groups. This makes sense, because you don’t have to convince them that the business model is valid, legal, and ethical. These people fall into two categories:
Currently in a company Looking for a company
If someone is already in a company and they are happy with it, they will not engage in a conversation with you if you are actively promoting another company unless they are trying to reverse-pitch you. You might think that’s fine. Why would you want to build a relationship with someone who is “married” to another opportunity anyway?
I’ll tell you why! MLM companies go under every day, especially those that have been around for less than two years. Companies that are past momentum are difficult to build in, and anyone who joins will struggle. And many companies just don’t price their products to sell retail, which also makes it difficult to be successful. So if you build a relationship with people and they decide to leave their company, they might ask about your opportunity!
People who are looking for a company are being bombarded with opportunities and every one claims to be “the best.” How do they know who to believe? They need to know YOU and like you first, before they would believe you.
The absolute WORST way to market your MLM on social media is to plaster your affiliate link on people’s wall, or send messages with the link, when they didn’t ask you for it. This is spam, plain and simple, and you will alienate tons of people by doing this. And if you keep posting messages about how great your product or company is, you are just doing the same thing as everyone else and you are NOT building relationships.
When you first connect with people, start by being a friend. Compliment them, find some common ground, or comment on something they posted. Be visible without selling or presenting.
Once you have a connection, the best way to market to an MLM enthusiast is to offer free generic help. Help people succeed in ANY business that is viable. Help them spot the ones that are shady. Help them communicate better with others. Teach them technical skills. Add value to their life!
It may seem to take more time, but this is the best way to make connections that will last a lifetime.
Homemade Spirits – Learning To Make Alcohol