How to Use Social Media the Right Way in Building More Leads and Sales

The one direction marketing of yesterday no longer applies to today. Your fans, followers and customers want to connect with you, have a relationship with you and then determine if you are someone they can trust. Welcome to the new online world of reviews and public customer feedback.

The new marketing model for today is called, ARC, which stands for Awareness, Relationships, Conversion. Let’s take a look at each component to learn what this means for your social networks.

In order to start this process your business first needs to identify the main goals of your marketing campaign for each product or service then hone in on exactly who your target market is. With this information you can generate specific hashtags that can be identified and shared by your community. With great content on the major social platforms you can start to generate a buzz for your brand. Here’s a breakdown of each ARC:

Do you have a story to share? Perhaps an event that is taking place or an important announcement? You don’t want to make the mistake of confusing this with the old style of advertisements. The goal here is to draw people to something that interests them and bringing it to their attention. Here is a great example on Twitter of a brand creating awareness from Internet pet star, Doug The Pug. Not only does it take advantage of the Star Wars trend, but has generated quite a few retweets, likes, and responses:

The message is inviting and asks people what they would like to see. During the process you will want to be aware of any comments or questions, which will reveal a need that can be met.

After you have built trust, provided valuable information, answers, and are meeting the needs of your social community you may become frustrated if you do not see an immediate return, often referred to as ROI (Return on Investment). Don’t panic! This is a normal part of the process.

I recommend creating contests, running a giveaway promotion, asking people for their opinion, or creating a fun or informative video that is tied to your brand. The worst thing to do is to start selling to your new community after establishing trust and start hammering away at social media posts. Time, patience, and word of mouth will eventually lead to sales.

Apart from your social media fans and followers you might want to consider things like Facebook’s Sponsored posts as part of your operating budget. These will still go out to your niche, but do not intrude upon your connections.

How does your company or brand interaction with fans and followers?

Share below what has worked for you and which social media tools you use!

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