Does your social media strategy convert customers?

Drilling in on Social Conversion Strategies - The Conversion Scientist

A great blog post by Brian Massey who really gets how to think about and use social media tools to help drive your business.  This is about thinking through your social media strategy as part of the entire marketing funnel from awareness to referral.  Check it out:

Drilling in on Social Conversion Strategies

Is Social Networking Right for Your Business? - NYTimes.com

Is Social Networking Right for Your Business? - NYTimes.com

Q. You are considering whether to start a social networking effort on behalf of your company. Can that kind of exposure be beneficial?

A. In many cases, it can be. As an employee, you are an extension of your company and can enhance its brand by connecting with current and potential customers on sites likeFacebook and Twitter, as well as through blogs. Social media can be a powerful tool for listening to customers and building a reputation for responsive service, says David Nour, chief executive of the Nour Group, a business development consultancy in Atlanta, and author of “Relationship Economics.” “You get real-time feedback and can engage with customers quickly to answer questions or help them solve problems.”

If your company is about to release a new product or service, for example, social media can spread the word and increase your reach exponentially, he says.

Read The Article in the NYTimes Here.

Free E-Book on Real Time Marketing & PR

Check out David Meerman Scott's newest free e-book on real time marketing.

From the book:

"As financial market players know, advantage comes from reacting to news first. The same thing is true for all companies. When you start the conversation, you are recognized as someone who is plugged into the marketplace of ideas. If you talk about an idea early, you naturally get more exposure because the threads of conversation stem from what you have said. If you’re in late you get lost in the cacophony.

With a new product, if you get first to market in a hot category, your initial momentum may give you an
advantage for many years. If you’re an early adopter on a social media platform, you build a larger following
than those who join later. If you’re first to engage the market, people notice and your offering gains valuable
attention. If you react early and connect with customers as their concerns arise, they see you as thoughtful
and caring."

The New Faces of Social Media | Fast Company

Interesting article in Fast Company for marketers grappling with how to make the most of their social media marketing initiatives.


Key insights:
Identifying and engaging the influencers in your space, that matter to your target audience, can have dramatic impact on growing your brand awareness in a genuine way. This means someone your customer trusts is sticking up for you, spreading your ideas. 


As this article highlights, it is critical you take an authentic approach and partner with the influencers to bring interesting & relevant ideas to your customer, not just a promo for your product. Think longer-term about building relationships, not making a quick sale. Social media presents a unique opportunity to do that. Are you part of it? If not, get going!


The New Faces of Social Media | Fast Company

Gobbledygook

Great (and free) ebook from marketing veteran, David Meerman Scott, on writing messages tailored for your audience that focus on how your business, product or service solves their problem, versus blathering on about features.......worth the read!

Serendipitous Discovery

Many of your marketing strategies and tactics probably focus on ways to "reach out to" your target audience.  That makes sense. After all, you know who they are and why they value your product or service, so of course you should be seeking them out to engage them.

But, what tactics are you employing to let your target consumer and other consumers discover you?

A few weeks ago I attended an interesting session hosted by Social Media Breakfast Seattle with Holly Brown, 20 year marketing veteran, speaking about brands as publishers in the age of peer to peer communication.

She shed light on how to select and start conversations in communities that already exist and are of value to your target audience. Instead of relying on consumers to actively seek you out, you can leverage communities where they exist to engage with them with content that is relevant to them.

Letting consumers find you in this way is called "serendipitous discovery."