subject: Are You Making the Most of Your Socialization Strategy? [print this page] Many small business entrepreneurs are very excited to have an online presence, but they're missing the mark when it comes to taking advantage of social networking sites to help brand their name and increase awareness for their products and services.
In an offline store, it's easier to cultivate a relationship with your customer as soon as they walk in the door. Assuming you've hired amicable sales staff, they'll be there to put a face to the company name, to extend a handshake and friendly smile, and offer to meet the needs of the customer personally.
The problem with online sales is that it's set up in a very impersonal way. Even with advanced media technology like audio files, a picture of you as the business owner, or a whole video spiel, the visitor knows the presentation isn't just for him or her it's for anyone and everyone who visits your sales page. And if they have questions, they have to reach out to a help desk or contact form.
You have to branch out from your website and venture into social networking sites. Take advantage of all of the social media available to you. Become a peer to your target audience, and not just some company who's looking to make a sale off of them.
Even top brand names with an establish fortune in sales and the best team of marketing executives in their pockets are utilizing social networking sites to foster a relationship with consumers.
IBM and Sun MicroSystems have blogs where they build a fan following. Starbucks polls its customers to find out what works and what doesn't. Burger King made Facebook users sacrifice (delete) 10 friends in exchange for a free whopper it was a huge hit!
Zappos dominates Twitter by posting neat facts and entering into microblogging 140-character conversations with their customers. Comcast uses Twitter as their customer service help desk of sorts letting everyone in the timeline see just how responsive and concerned they are to cultivate a good customer service reputation.
Graco invites its customers to submit pictures on the social networking photo site Flickr, which it integrates with their company blog. And Dell? Well Dell does it all from Facebook to Twitter to blogging.
As a small business owner, you want to look at what methods larger companies are using and employ the same tactics especially when you can do it without having to shell out a single penny for the same amazing return on your investment of time.
I'm going to give you ten tips that can help you interact with your online audience in a way that sends your news viral, helps you develop an interpersonal relationship with your prospects and customers, and increase your conversion rates dramatically.
Now I'm going to provide you with ten tips that can help you brand your company name, increase sales and build a loyal fan base.
1.) Find out what people most want to know.
Consumers go online to ask questions about products and services. Check out Yahoo answers, forums, and other Q&A hot spots to spy on your target audience and see what concerns or questions they have so that you can provide the answers.
2.) Blog frequently using strategic keyword text for maximum "find-ability."
Use a keyword tool to download a list of phrases your prospects are using to find products or services in your niche. Use these in your blog titles, web content, and elsewhere to ensure that when they type the phrase into Google or Bing, your site or blog has an increased chance of coming up as one of the top 10 results. Blogging frequently helps Googlebots identify you as an authority figure, and it makes customers want to check back frequently to make sure they don't miss anything.
3.) Tweet throughout the day and reply to your followers.
It only takes a few seconds to put together 140 characters and hit the Tweet button and it allows you to generate new interest in your business to millions of potential customers each time you do it.
4.) Initiate and participate in discussions on your Facebook Fan Page.
Some entrepreneurs launch a Facebook Fan Page, post their site link information, maybe their telephone number, and abandon the page from that point on. Your fans or followers want interaction! Visit the discussion page often to make sure conversations aren't awaiting your participation and if there aren't any, start some!
5.) Showcase real stories from the company or from customers.
Personalization is important when it comes to using social networking sites online. People like to hear real stories so tell them yours from the company perspective, or ask customers if you can share their stories. Why do you think so many weight loss products include "real life success stories?" Because people want to relate to the person using the product before they buy it themselves.
6.) Use a multi-pronged approach to your media.
Don't just type on your keyboard. Text socialization is fine, but there's so much more you can do to really develop an online personality for your business. Ask customers to submit questions and then create an audio file they can listen to on your site or download where you're talking. Or, interview an expert in your line of business and record it for an audio lesson they can download.
7.) If bad press gets out there, don't hide from it.
Whenever you start socializing online (and maybe even before), there will be some people you just can't please and who will talk negatively about you. Don't engage in a flame war. Instead, reach out to the customer to see how you can make it right and do this publicly wherever the bad press was so that it shows you're not hiding from a problem.
8.) Give more than you plan to take.
This is a good rule of thumb to remember. Don't sell, sell sell. Instead, give away freebies, poll your customers for their opinions, provide advice consistently. This is all fostering good will with people who may later buy what you have to offer.
9.) Ensure that your audience sees you as a cutting edge company.
Watch the news. Create a Google alert for your niche so that whenever groundbreaking news occurs, you can blog about it and capitalize on it with your customers who will come to perceive you as a company that stays on top of things.
10.) Make viral opportunities available in ample amounts to your customers.
Whenever you're using social media, you want to encourage a viral response. For a blog, for example, make sure you have a widget that has all sorts of social networking site buttons so that your reader can share your blog post with one click of a button.
Don't wait until you have everything perfect for your website. You can start socializing immediately with a free Twitter account, free Facebook Fan page, free blog, and more. It won't cost you anything but time, and the rewards that your company will reap will have an everlasting effect on your business.
Are You Making the Most of Your Socialization Strategy?
