Social Selling: The Right Way to Sell Through Social Media
Some companies are still hesitant to join social media sites because they don’t see how it can help their business. Not only does social media help you promote your business and reach your audience, but it can also help you land a sale.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to sell through social media. Constantly sending hundreds of status updates and tweets about how wonderful your business is and why everyone should buy your products and services is not going to work. If you want to sell successfully through social media, you need to do the following.
Get your sales people on social media.
Make sure that your sales team is on social media, not just your company as a whole. When your company has real people as an extension of your brand, it allows your current and prospective customers to have a real person to contact when they’re in need of information. This is more engaging and more personable than using your company’s account to do all of your customer service.
Listen to what your customers want.
Social media isn’t just about talking—it’s also about listening. It’s very important that you listen to what your customers are saying to gain insight into what they want. You will be surprised at how much you can learn by reading through your news feed and the comments left on your own wall.
You may also want to get off of your own social networks and visit some popular online communities that your customers enjoy. Some people are more willing to talk openly on these sites about things that interest them more so than on Facebook and Twitter.
Engage.
Social media should be about the soft sell, and the more engaging you can be with your customers, the more likely they’ll be to choose your company. For example, if you’re a restaurant using Twitter and notice that a customer complains about one of your competitors, simply say something like “So sorry to hear that you’re having a bad time.” You’re not telling them to come to your restaurant instead, and you’re not saying anything negative about the other restaurant. But this simple gesture of paying attention to what is being said will make your company stand out, and these patrons will be more inclined to choose your restaurant next time they dine out.
Brand your social pages.
Sometimes a customer will come across your social channels by accident. For this reason, you want to make sure that all of your social networks are branded appropriately. When your social channels complement your company’s branding, your customers will know who you are and associate your company pages with your actual company.
When you try and self promote through social networks, you’re going to turn your customers away. But when you use these tips, you will know the best way to stealthily sell your products and services through social media in the most effective and successful way.
This article was written by the marketing team at SEOMap. Visit SEOMap go check out their social media fails series on their blog.
When in Doubt Turn to SEO Consulting
When you don’t know the answer to a question what do you do? Do you stand stagnant in the wake of bewilderment? No, acute businesspeople don’t do that. They move forward toward progression. What about online traction? How can your brand make the most of online properties and engagement? Do you have immediate answers? Is adopting a search engine optimization campaign worth your time and investment? When a business is unsure about proceeding, it’s a good time to seek SEO consulting rather than full-fledged services.
Here’s why.
Not Regulated
The SEO industry is not regulated. What does that mean? You are feeling sick, possibly hosting the flu. Will you go to anyone who calls themselves a ‘doctor’ for treatment? Of course not- such sentiments are silly to entertain. However, such a dynamic exists in the SEO vertical. Anyone could practice. Not all providers are good at it.
If your business has limited understanding of SEO, then it is much better to slow the pace and approach SEO consulting first rather than adopt services. It could save your business a lot of time, money, and grief. A consultation will provide a better understanding of how to proceed.
Many Options
What exactly is search engine optimization? More pointed, what types of elements does it imply? Do you really know all your options? What if you think you need a lot of link building, but what you really need is content? How can you make a distinction regarding immediate and long-term needs? SEO consulting helps prioritize and realize. Experienced professionals elucidate high-priority needs while counseling upon proper implementation.
In-House or Outsource
What types of SEO elements could be addressed in-house? What elements warrant years of experience and expertise? SEO consulting helps clients differentiate between tasks, which could be addressed in-house and those needed to be outsourced. Moreover, consultants can help prioritize, as referenced above. For instance, content production could be handled in-house for a limited time until more online traction is garnered; at that point it may be best to have an agency address content needs. Of course, varying brands will have different needs.
Conclusion
The sales cycle of SEO warrants time and thought. Be patient. Learn more about the industry and afforded options. Hasty decisions usually wind up costing businesses additional money in the future. Understand your needs. Use SEO consulting to help devise a strategy, then commence from a position of better understanding.
Stephen Craig is a part of an elite team of SEO consultants and enjoys writing about the latest trends in search engine optimization. Follow him @SCraigSEO.
Considering using Guest Bloggers
I’ve seriously been considering using guest bloggers on a few of my sites lately. I’ve been considering it for a number of reasons. Here’s just a few of my thoughts on the subject:
- 1. I have a number of sites and I can’t keep up.
- 2. I’ve been off work on medical leave for a while (which is why I have so many websites) but I’m going back to work soon and I’d like to keep my sites going
- 3. I injured one of my hands almost three months ago and it’s still not quite healed so it makes typing quite difficult.
- 4. I’m being approached almost daily lately with requests to guest blog on my sites
I think having some dependable Guest Bloggers for some of my blogs would be a great idea. Certainly I’m not the only one who’s thought of this. Some blogs have a number of regular guest bloggers and do quite well.
Of course it’s generally the more successful blogs that have a lot of Guest bloggers. There are many reasons why large busy blogs might also need guest bloggers such as the owner being away for a vacation, and not wanting to leave the blog without regular updates.
I’m still working out whether I will go forward with using guest bloggers on some of my sites, but I can tell you right now that emailing me or just filling out a contact form and asking without telling me what kind of topic you might be interested in writing or giving me an example of your work such as your current blog is not a way to gain my interest. If you’re serious tell the blog owner about yourself or what and why you want to write for them.
Here are some thoughts about using guest bloggers and how to go about selecting, advertising for and perhaps even compensating guest bloggers.
Advertising for Guest Bloggers
There are quite a number of ways to go about attracting guest bloggers to your site. You can create an ad and list it on Job boards for freelance writers and bloggers. Some of these sites are free and some are not. If you are planning on paying your guest blogger definitely advertising on a job board is a good way to go as these job boards are often checked regularly by professional and experienced writers and bloggers who are looking for new writing jobs. You’ll find writers and bloggers at these sites that are adept at writing about particular subjects or topics or who can be creative and write about topics that you suggest on the fly.
A good thing to do when you post your ad is to request writing samples from those applying for you guest blogging position. Be sure to list whether your guest blogging position is temporary, trial or permanent as well. Also specify the type of work required, the type of articles and subjects you expect your writers to write and so on. That way you won’t be disappointed with the applications you receive.
You can also post in forums or message boards requesting guest bloggers for your site. It could be hit and miss as to the experience of the people who respond but if you do as above, post a detailed description of what you are looking for and what’s expected and ask for writing samples you’ll hopefully meet some interesting bloggers that might be suitable for guest blogging.
Selecting Guest Bloggers
Selecting a guess blogger might be the difficult part. This is where those writing samples that you asked for in your initial request and perhaps viewing the prospects past guest posts on other sites or their own blog will come in handy so you can get an idea of their writing style and even their work ethic. You want to pick a guest blogger that will be reliable, and capable of writing articulate, interesting and informative articles for your blog.
You should also request that any articles that an individual writes for your site will be exclusive to your site so that there are no other copies floating around on the internet. You can get into trouble with search engines if your writer posts the same article on 25 sites and you’re not checking!
If the potential guest blogger has guest blogged in the past or written articles else where it wouldn’t hurt to ask for reference. If the person does give you reference – check them! It’s in your own interest to do so. This person will be representing your website, your brand. Plus, you might also be paying them!
Compensating Guest Bloggers
So, now that you’ve chosen one or two guest bloggers have you decided how you are going to compensate them? Well there are a couple of ways you can do this. The most important thing is that the two of you mutually agree on this before any work is done for your site. A written contract which states the explicit terms of the agreement and compensation would be a good idea in order to avoid any future disputes.
You can financially compensate the blogger, paying them either per character, per word or per article or some other way.
Another form of compensation that is often used considering that many guest bloggers often have their own sites is to allow a link or two to the bloggers website within the guest post or in the author bio at the end of the article. This way the guest blogger gets links back to their site with every post and this will eventually help their website become more popular. Of course they are also gaining readership from the site they are writing on.
Do you guest blog or do you use guest bloggers? I’d love to hear your experiences no matter which side you are on.
The World Of Blogging
September 1, 2012 By Tricia Leave a Comment
If writing is an art, then, blogging is one way of using words to come up with an art. This is because people who are blogging are the ones who are artists in their own sense, carefully choosing words that would best describe their feelings, sentiments, wishes, desires and mold their writing into something creative. [...]