7 Organic Social Media Prospecting Tips?

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7 ways to organically use social media for prospecting..

Social media has become one of the most important sales and marketing tools for today's companies.

You can draw in and convert a lot of new leads with timely, relevant social posts.

Related Article: What Other Peoples Advertising Can Teach YOU?

But your approach to creating and sharing content matters: If your posts feel overly sales-oriented and not organic or authentic, you won't get very far with potential customers.

1. Be Approachable

Social media is all about conversations. Not every company can pull off a sassy Twitter account like Wendy's or Moon Pie, but finding a way to be more casual than you would be in other channels will invite others to engage. Consistently start and maintain open conversations around relevant topics for your customer profiles; when prospects find your account, they will feel comfortable interacting. -Jonathan Yagel, Spire Labs

2. Engage With Trending Topics

Always check for trending hashtags, such as #MotivationMonday and #FridayFeeling, and incorporate them into your social messaging. Incorporating these popular hashtags can help expose your message to audiences you might not have been able to reach otherwise. Use social media to create a fun personality for your brand. If you do so successfully, it can help bring in new prospects. -Christian Valiulis, Automatic Payroll Systems

Related Article: Trends YOU Should Be Using In 2018?

3. Bring Your Products To Life

Rather than proactively targeting prospects and advertising your services on social media, consider posting content that brings the prospects to you. Write blog posts, record videos or share case studies across social media platforms to bring your offering to life. This is a more organic and less sales-oriented way of reaching a broad audience. Remember to use keywords and hashtags for even greater impact. -Rakhi Voria, Microsoft

4. Show Interest In The Content They Post

While the social content your organization (and you personally) put out is important, the target customer is always more so. We utilize prospects' social media posts/shares during the sales process as an excuse to engage with them. For instance, if a prospect is a bit cold we can share one of our colleague's thoughts on a recent post to show engagement and interest. -Jared Shaner, Trellis

Related Article: Redesigning YOUR 2018 Social Media Presence?

5. Stay Consistent And Always Drive Value

The basic problem solved by social media is one of access and voice. Without social media, one does not have access to their prospects nearly as often, nor do their prospects have access to them the same way.

So embrace an authentic voice, remain present and consistent and drive value in your posts. Remember that good things take time, and so do the results of social media activity! -Andrew J. Herkert, M.A., TruScribe

6. Respond To People

Engagement and responsiveness are crucial. People want to be heard, but more importantly, they want to know they have been heard. A simple response engages and fosters good relationships. -Wayne Elsey, Elsey Enterprises

Related Article: YOUR "Innovative" Social Media Advertising?

7. Prioritize Authenticity

Savvy customers can see past "snake oil salesmen" and are similarly adept at assessing the authenticity of a company's social media presence.

Make sure that whichever social media platforms you work to optimize are grounded on a foundation of sincerity and honesty, as the alternative approach will ultimately turn off your target audience. -Adam Mendler, Beverly Hills Chairs

Guest Authored By Forbes Business Development Council. Forbes Business Council is an invitation-only organization for senior-level sales and business development executives. Follow Forbes Business Development Council on Twitter.

Related Article: Social Media Secrets To Going Viral?

The power of advertising for your business cannot be underestimated. But remember, you don’t need to break the bank to get there.

Stick to these simple tips to be resourceful with your message and spread the word about your unique value.

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBr@nd.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, CO  where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

7 Ways To More Social Media Traffic?

7 Ways to generate more social media traffic?

Want more social media buzz for your brand or business?

Here are my seven best tips for generating more social engagement, and traffic.

Related Article: Overcoming YOUR Social Media Challenges?

1. Install a Facebook Customer Chatbot

You know those customer chat widgets that pop up on the bottom of a website? You can take them to the next level with a Facebook Messenger website widget.

You know those customer chat widgets that pop up on the bottom of a website? You can take them to the next level with a Facebook Messenger website widget.

It functions the same way as a normal website chat, but with an added bonus - every time a customer chats with you, they have to opt-in to Facebook Messenger communications.

That means you can get contact information from them, and follow up with them down the road. Every time someone talks with you via site chat, you'll automatically gain a new Facebook Messenger contact, and that's a huge win.

Upgrading your old customer chat to a Facebook Messenger customer chatbot is a great opportunity to pounce on.

Related Article: YOUR Augmented Reality Social Media Marketing?

2. Point to Your Social Media Accounts From Your Website

Having social icons which link out to your various social profiles is an easy way to broadcast your social media presence to your website visitors.

Ideally, you should add them prominently above the fold, so it's impossible for your visitors to miss them.

3. Make Your Content Easy to Share on Social Media

Make it simple for users to share your content on social media.

Add "Share This" buttons to any blog post, infographic, video, podcast, or any other engaging content you produce.

When you make it easy to share your content on social media, people will be far more likely to do so.

You can install a plug-in that adds share buttons on every page of your website, especially if you're using a CMS which supports it.

Related Article: YOUR 2020 And Beyond Social Media Marketing?

4. Enable Comments

Enabling comments on your content enables users to interact with you directly from your site.

The comments section of popular posts can host great discussions - just make sure your comment plug-in or widget has a way to automatically filter spam, so the comments section doesn't get overwhelmed with junk.

5. Make Sure Your Content Looks Good When Shared on Social

There's an additional step beyond just buttons which enable users to share your content - you have to also make sure the content looks inviting, once a user goes to share it.

Have you ever gone to share something on Facebook, only to find that the thumbnail or title was missing?

Chances are you probably stopped in your tracks and didn't share it - that's why, as a digital marketer, it's so key that you take the time to ensure that when someone attempts to share your content, it looks like it's supposed to.

Mark up the Open Graph tags with a super-clickable headline, and attention-grabbing image which fits the proper dimensions of each network.

Related Article: Visual Content In YOUR Social Media Marketing?

6. Add Click-to-Tweets Throughout Your Content

If you've never heard of a click-to-tweet, it's a neat little tool which enables you to handcraft tweets featuring little snippets from a piece of content, like a key line or a great quote.

When you insert click-to-tweets in your content, it makes it easy for readers to post a great tweet without even thinking about it - you've done the work for them.

The quote, image, headline, and link are all ready to go for them - they just have to click and post.

There's even a click-to-tweet WordPress plug-in which makes it super simple to craft click-to-tweets (though you can also do it without the plug-in, of course).

Related Article: The Future Of YOUR Social Media Platform?

7. Have a Social Login

If you really want your website to go full-on social, then incorporate a social login to increase membership and participation in your website.

Give people benefits for joining your website through their social media accounts - you can make it a necessary step to facilitate commenting, for example, incentivizing the action.

It's another way to gather extra visitor data, and boost awareness for your business' social presence.

Guest Authored By Larry Kim. Larry is the CEO of MobileMonkey, a chatbot building platform for marketers that enables mobile messaging between businesses and customers via Facebook Messenger. He’s also the founder of WordStream, the World’s top PPC marketing software company. Follow Larry on Twitter.

Related Article: Should YOUR Business Advertise On Instagram?

Taking the extra steps to make sure your content is social media-friendly, easily shareable, and, of course, worth sharing are key moves for any modern brand or business.

Always keep social traffic in mind, and stay up to date with the latest trends and shifts to maximize your opportunities.

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, CO. where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

Maximize YOUR Social Media Conversions?

Eight tips to maximize social media conversions..

According to Statista, there were roughly 2.7 billion social media users all around the world in 2017 and in each succeeding year this figure is expected to rise for about 7%. That's why every social media marketer should consider their growing audience as an excellent opportunity for their marketing campaigns.

However, amidst the sea of opportunities, social media can be complicated and nothing is ever static. Things quickly come and go and interests can shift from one object to the next.

Related Article: Harness YOUR Social Media And Win Clients?

Why Is A Social Media Strategy Important?

Developing a social media strategy is like creating a roadmap that guides you in all your planning and activities in various social media platforms. It lets you stay on track with your original intentions.

According to a Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey, approximately 56% of business owners don't have a social media strategy. But marketers who set goals and milestones are 466% more likely to experience success.

Three essential traits define the most successful brands on social media:

--They know their audience well.

--They know how to thrive on competition.

--The reach prospects in various social media platforms.

Moving forward, we've come up with different strategies to grow in your niche and increase your conversion rate through social media marketing.

Related Article: How To Get Millennials To Buy From YOU?

Schedule Your Social Interaction Right

One of the most significant benefits of social media is that you can have many followers from all over the world.

But with that, it's not always easy. Trying to interact with people is a challenge especially if you live in different time zones.

That's why you need to schedule your interactions with your social media followers during peak times of the day ‒ these are usually the hours that most of your audience is online.

So be consistent. Regularly interact with your audience whether through automated tools or in person. Over time, this can help build your brand loyalty and boost your conversions.

Related Article: How Social Media Changed YOUR Public Relations?

Create Attractive Yet Informative Content

Ideally, you need to create and develop a type of social media content that is useful to your audience, something that offers a solution and is considered valuable to them.

While trends and all sorts of gimmicks may generate a certain degree of buzz and curiosity for some time, it isn't sustainable.

The bottom line is that people will always want solutions.</p><p>They want to experience relief from their particular pain points; they want answers from a particularly complicated question that helps them achieve a goal or overcome a hurdle.

Your post doesn't have to be long and drawn out to be considered informative, either. Short and sweet is the key.

But some businesses tend to struggle with this because they struggle to find their expertise in a particular field. That's why it's crucial to become an expert and know what you are talking about. That way, it's easier for you to find legitimate solutions in your niche.

Related Article: YOUR Video Content Is King?

Reshare Your Content

If you come up with a material that's worth sharing, then schedule it for future shares.

To ensure maximum efficiency, the type of content that you need to share should be compelling and unique to your audience. For example, if you come up with a product video that's worth sharing again in the future then why not consider taking on a different question, snippet, or quote from the same material?

Again, the type of content that you create all points to the same source. You're just reshaping the material that's already existing and turning it into something unique.

Whenever you're sharing a piece of content for the second or third time, try to tweak your message. Ask your readers a question or get a quote from the post. That way, you don't come off as if you're spamming.

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Content Is The Next BIG Thing?

Optimize Your Posts For Each Social Channel

You have to be aware that each social media platform handles various texts and images quite differently.

Therefore, you need to know the various strengths and weaknesses of a particular social media network, so that you can learn from it by adding variety into your content.

For instance, Facebook posts that have pictures generate 53% more likes than the average post. Meanwhile, posts that have images in LinkedIn get 98% more comments.

There's no denying it ‒ people respond well to visuals. So try to produce almost every single piece of sharable content with high-quality images.

Related Article: YOUR Crucial Social Media Video Advertising?

Don't Forget Social Sharing

Social sharing is a vital aspect if you want to create a robust online community. It builds traffic on your site and helps you achieve your marketing performance goals.

Here are the additional benefits of social sharing:

--Builds your brand as an industry expert by providing users with useful content, resources, news, and ideas.

--Enhances your social visibility within the community, helping you get into the radar of prospects, users, and potential partners.

--Excellent, sharable content generates the best conversations.

--Makes it easier to find your target audience.

--Builds great customers relationships and loyalty.

Related Article: 8 Branding Questions For YOUR Social Media Strategy?

Use Social Media To Build Trust

If you want to attract a large following and boost your conversions, you need to build trust for your brand. The highest conversion killers are a lack of trust and credibility.

The good news is, social media can be a powerful trust device, assuring potential customers that it's okay to buy from you. Prospects perceive a brand that has a high social media engagement as a measure of integrity and authority.

Maintaining an active social media presence will always be a crowd puller that shows your followers interested in your brand, attracting new and old buyers alike.

Allow Social Logins

More and more businesses let people sign up in their social accounts, making accounts more manageable and paving future visits to a site.

Because social media channels is a demonstration of new social interaction, you need to facilitate this kind of communication in many ways as possible.

Related Article: Finding YOUR Target Audience On Social Media?

Utilize Data Analytics

Maintaining an active social media presence isn't enough as it won't generate ROI for you. If you want to improve your conversions on social media, you have to know first what's working and what is falling short in your expectations. That's why you need to track your performance for social media content, shares and likes using data analytics.

Utilizing tools like Google Analytics helps you monitor real-time results on your social media campaign. It removes the unnecessary guesswork from data analysis and gives you results that are real and relevant.

When you regularly analyze and monitor data, you'll know which posts are working from the ones that don't. You can make necessary changes, helping you find the right kind of audience, the right message to send out and the right time of the day to post. As a result, you're creating better conversions.

Guest Authored By Suzy Viola. Suzy is a social media marketing specialist and a photographer. She loves sharing her knowledge and interest to everyone that led her to become a freelance writer. The topics that she writes about are social media strategies and eCommerce marketing that helps a business grow. Follow Suzy on Twitter.

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Business Insights?

"Maintaining an active and robust social media presence is a fantastic way to improve your conversions over time. Note, however, that getting the results you want does take time, so you need to be patient and develop a more systematic approach.

Aside from that, you need to continuously analyze your data and improve your social media efforts to stay on top of your game.." -SuzyViola

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, CO. where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

Harness YOUR Social Media And Win Clients?

4 Tips for harnessing social media to win clients and grow revenue..

Social networks have, to a large extent, defined the way we work and live. Not only do these conversational tools ignite debate and broaden networks, but in a very real sense they nourish a collective consciousness, an understanding of what it means to be alive in the world right here, right now.

Related Article: How To Get Millennials To Buy From YOU?

From a business standpoint, there’s never been a better time to harness the power of this 21st-century medium to gain clients and generate leads.

We’re not talking about showy brand waving: we’re talking about using social media to get clients on the phone and through the door. To leverage apps used by billions to acquire new business and make meaningful connections.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But the truth is, while the rewards are great, getting social media marketing right can be a challenge. There are a myriad of powerful management tools and services available, an array of techniques and stratagems which promise to put your brand in front of prospective clients and capture their interest. Social media platforms, lest we forget, are crowded spaces. How can you make yourself heard above the noise? How will you differentiate your brand? And is landing your dream client actually realistic?

Here are 4 actionable tips to ensure your social media strategy gets the results you crave.

Related Article: Mastering YOUR Live Social Media Marketing?

1. Build Your Following

It may sound obvious, but growing your audience online is fundamental if you wish to attract real world clients. And not just on one platform either, but across all key channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn etc). Do market research, find out where your audience is, and tailor your online strategy accordingly.

Nurturing organic reach is certainly possible but requires time, effort, creativity and consistency. Mainly it demands an appreciation for what constitutes valuable content (Analytics is your friend), as well as an intrinsic knowledge of your audience’s expectations. Few businesses do organic search well, and social media is increasingly becoming a pay-to-play platform, necessitating investment if you want to appear in the feeds of those out of your network. According to a recent study carried out by marketing firm HubSpot, Facebook users now see just 2% of followed organic pages in their feeds, with the rest coming from paid advertising. If your goal is to make introductions, kickstart conversations, generate leads and get referrals, social advertising is a must. Which brings us nicely to Tip #2.

Related Article: 30 Days To A Million Social Media Followers?

2. Use Ads

Promoting your business via social media can seem overwhelming, but if done correctly you’ll quickly realize the net gains to be made.

By carrying out highly targeted campaigns, you can reach the people you want when they’re most active, and garner a steady stream of likes, comments, shares and sales.

How? By serving them highly relevant advertisements influenced by data, of course. When you throw money into paid promotions and advertisements, you’re essentially purchasing prime digital real estate, an opportunity to impress or otherwise engage with a potential client on their chosen medium.

Related Article: Growing YOUR Business On Social Media?

Russ Ruffino, founder of ClientsOnDemand, sees Facebook ads in particular as an invaluable client acquisition tool.

"The whole idea that you need to spend 6 months or even a year building an audience, creating trust and inspiring loyalty, is somewhat outdated – you don’t need to do any of that stuff if your social media marketing is proper. You can take someone from click to client in less than 48 hours. It’s become the backbone of our business and we’ll do 15 million dollars or more this year using that strategy. It’s the best and most powerful one out there."

Ruffino isn’t the only one crushing social selling. Cohesive, visually appealing ads are a mainstay for both Fortune 500 companies and small growing businesses. Social advertising has gone from strength to strength in recent years, with increased conversions and reduced cost of acquisition. According to a report by Zenith Media, global social media ad spending rose 21% to $58 billion in 2018 while video ad spending shot 19% to $32 billion.

Related Article: Top CEO Social Media Strategy?

3. Interact And Engage

While ads are obviously your best bet for sales and leads, overlooking the nuts and bolts of daily social media management would be a huge mistake. Sending content out into the ether, then expecting to relax while the requests or sales roll in, is similarly fanciful. Communication, after all, is a two-way street and particularly on social media, followers expect to partake in a dialogue. This doesn’t mean you observe impeccable etiquette and respond favorably to every single comment you receive, but it does mean cultivating your audience by taking a more active role and driving positive interactions.

Keep the likability factor in the forefront of your mind, and make a concerted effort to stimulate engagement by adding value to conversation. Post consistently, including at weekends, and capitalize on the enthusiasm that greeted previous updates. Avoid simply spamming by showcasing a diverse catalogue of educational or informative content, paying particular attention to tone of voice, and make use of imagery and videos which bolster click-through rate. Follow a schedule that fits into your workflow and doesn’t overwhelm your followers. Lastly, streamline your various endeavours with a comprehensive social media management dashboard such as Agorapulse, Hootsuite or Buffer.

Your responsiveness, friendly manner and suite of interesting, humorous or otherwise share worthy content will ensure that followers remain engaged with what you are doing and will, over time, build both brand loyalty and your own credibility.

Related Article: Building An Engaging Social Media Presence?

4. Become An Industry Expert

Whatever your business, you probably want to be the best. If not the best in the world, the best in your area, the best in your sector, the best among your closest competitors. Conveying that on social media channels is essential if you hope to compel prospective clients to sit up, take notice and buy.

Content, therefore, should exhibit what you can do, explain why you’re different and relate why your experience lends you a distinct advantage over others in the field. This is particularly important in a highly competitive industry.

You can gradually establish yourself as an expert by posting useful, on-topic content such as blogs, webinars, podcasts, e-books, graphics, quotes and YouTube presentations. Content that offers genuine value to potential customers and is crafted in such a way as to reinforce your brand messaging and underline your USP.

Related Article: Branding And Social Media Marketing Weapons?

Selling a product is one thing, but the old adage about “buying a story” is relevant on social media, which is essentially one long, sustained story unspooling across the vast digital landscape.

Make yours worth hearing..

Guest Authored By Lilach Bullock. Lilach is an entrepreneur and passionate blogger for over a decade, during which time She has written thousands of articles on her blog and many other publications. Her Forbes column is all about helping businesses market themselves, whether entrepreneurs or start-ups, enterprises, and everything in between. If she's not blogging, she loves speaking at events all over the world, spending time with her daughter, and when time permits, she's also a big fan of Zumba. Follow Lilach on Twitter.

Related Article: Social Media Marketing Steps To Success?

"Investing your ad money in social media is a no-brainer. Getting it right requires more thought, both in terms of intelligent targeting and compelling content creation.

The great thing about social selling is that there’s no barrier or limit to impede progress, providing you go about growing your audience the right way. Find your niche and exploit the right platforms: your dream clients are just a click away.." -LilachBullock

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, CO. where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)