SELLING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA: CHARMING PROSPECTS WITH CONTEXT & CONFIDENCE LOREE O’SULLIVAN 2 LOREE O’SULLIVAN DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIST AT FABRICUT INC. Digital Marketer dig·i·tal /ˈdijidl/ mar·ket·er /ˈmärkədər/ A marketer who does all the things on all the devices for all of the platforms to accomplish all the goals for all of the teams - and still somehow manages to achieve greatness (with the help of coffee). SELLING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA CHARMING PROSPECTS WITH CONTEXT & CONFIDENCE Social media is everywhere. It’s everything! Whether consumers are researching reviews of a product, looking for customer support for an issue, sharing their satisfaction or disappointment from a purchase, or asking WHY ARE WE questions around best practices - social media has become LOOKING AT the place where consumers can engage in a way that is fast, SOCIAL MEDIA? reactive, and fits into their established dialogue. JUST HOW OBSESSED WITH SOCIAL MEDIA ARE WE? DOWN TO THE NUMBERS 54 74 78 22 60 BUSINESSES GENERATED USE FACEBOOK USAGE ACROSS WORLD POPULATION USE INSTAGRAM DAILY LEADS FROM SOCIAL DAILY AGE GROUPS 30-49 ON FACEBOOK 54% of B2B businesses 74% of Facebook users Use any form of social media: 22% of the world’s total 60% users indicate that they visit and marketers said say they visit the site daily 88% of 18 to 29 population uses these platforms on a daily basis. they’ve generated leads 78% of 30 to 49 Facebook. from social media 64% of 50 to 64 SOURCE http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/ A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM LAUNCH DATES 2008 SPOTIFY LAUNCH 2012 TINDER LAUNCH NOW 2002 PING LAUNCH FRIENDSTER LAUNCH 2010 2006 ASK.FM LAUNCH TWITTER LAUNCH QUORA LAUNCH 1996 INSTAGRAM LAUNCH BOLT.COM LAUNCH GOOGLE BUZZ LAUNCH ICQ LAUNCH 2000 2004 PINTEREST LAUNCH LUNARSTORM LAUNCH FACEBOOK LAUNCH LIVEJOURNAL LAUNCH FOURSQUARE LAUNCH YOUTUBE LAUNCH PERISCOPE LAUNCH YAHOO! MESSENGER LAUNCH REDDIT LAUNCH DISCORD LAUNCH MSN MESSENGER LAUNCH 2009 2005 GOOGLE+ LAUNCH 2015 1999 SNAPCHAT LAUNCH SKYPE LAUNCH TWITCH.TV LAUNCH MYSPACE LAUNCH TUMBLR LAUNCH LIVEJOURNAL LAUNCH PHOTOBUCKET LAUNCH FRIENDFEED LAUNCH YAHOO! MESSENGER LAUNCH 2011 WORDPRESS LAUNCH MSN MESSENGER LAUNCH FLIKR LAUNCH 2007 VINE LAUNCH SIX DEGREES LAUNCH GOOGLE HANGOUTS LAUNCH LINKEDIN LAUNCH 1997 2003 2013 SOURCE: https://interestingengineering.com/chronological-history-of-social-media A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY THE BIG PLAYERS 2008 SPOTIFY LAUNCH 2012 TINDER LAUNCH NOW 2002 PING LAUNCH FRIENDSTER LAUNCH 2010 2006 ASK.FM LAUNCH TWITTER LAUNCH QUORA LAUNCH 1996 INSTAGRAM LAUNCH BOLT.COM LAUNCH GOOGLE BUZZ LAUNCH ICQ LAUNCH 2000 2004 PINTEREST LAUNCH LUNARSTORM LAUNCH FACEBOOK LAUNCH LIVEJOURNAL LAUNCH FOURSQUARE LAUNCH YOUTUBE LAUNCH PERISCOPE LAUNCH YAHOO! MESSENGER LAUNCH REDDIT LAUNCH DISCORD LAUNCH MSN MESSENGER LAUNCH 2009 2005 GOOGLE+ LAUNCH 2015 1999 SNAPCHAT LAUNCH SKYPE LAUNCH TWITCH.TV LAUNCH MYSPACE LAUNCH TUMBLR LAUNCH LIVEJOURNAL LAUNCH PHOTOBUCKET LAUNCH FRIENDFEED LAUNCH YAHOO! MESSENGER LAUNCH 2011 WORDPRESS LAUNCH MSN MESSENGER LAUNCH FLIKR LAUNCH 2007 VINE LAUNCH SIX DEGREES LAUNCH GOOGLE HANGOUTS LAUNCH LINKEDIN LAUNCH 1997 2003 2013 SOURCE: https://interestingengineering.com/chronological-history-of-social-media DOES SOCIAL Social Media is important to your prospects, your customers, your colleagues, your Great Aunt Mildred, and more. MEDIA MATTER People put their interests, hobbies, successes, losses, fears, opinions, IN SALES? milestones, and more out there for their network - why not use this information to help improve your sales efforts? STEP ONE: STEP TWO: STEP THREE: OPTIMIZE FIND YOUR TAKE CONTEXT YOUR ACCOUNTS PROSPECTS AND AND TURN IT ENGAGE INTO ACTION OPTIMIZE YOUR ACCOUNTS SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION Social media is a great tool, but it doesn’t mean that every platform is a perfect fit for your business. It’s important to do your research and find out which platform is going to resonate most with your audience. BENEFITS OF EACH PLATFORM SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION Great for starting conversations with current users of your product (set up social monitoring!), research on prospects (political affiliation, hobbies, etc.), thought-leadership, gaining industry knowledge, and company pulse-checks. Great for sharing events and updates, posting job opportunities, networking to gain referrals, allowing organic business- related conversations to blossom, building rapport, and research on prospects. Great for visually-based industries (fashion, food, lifestyle, home, travel, marketing, etc.), building thought-leadership, building rapport, gaining industry knowledge, and research on prospects. Great for starting conversations with prospects, connecting with key decision-makers, networking, thought-leadership, building rapport, research on prospects, company pulse-checks, and building your online resume pitch. WHICH PLATFORM SHOULD I USE? SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION - Fully personal (privacy dependent on preference) - 50/50 mix of personal or business (privacy dependent on preference) - Two accounts: personal (private) & business (public) Should generally be for personal use, not business. Keep everything clean and professional if you plan to use for business. When a business relationship ventures into personal, with caution it may be appropriate to add friends. Personal decision on whether or not to accept friend requests from business connections. - Fully personal (privacy dependent on preference) - 50/50 mix of personal or business (privacy dependent on preference) - Two accounts: personal (private) & business (public) Should exclusively be used for professional reasons. Feel free to connect with anyone in your industry. This is your online resume and company calling card and not a place to overshare. WHICH PLATFORM SHOULD I USE? SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION SOURCE: https://www.forrester.com/report/The+Social+Behaviors+Of+Your+B2B+Customers/-/E-RES99721 BUSINESS VS. PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION Using Social Media for business is tough because there is a thin line between what’s appropriate to share with your friends and family but what is NOT appropriate to share with your colleagues and customers. WHAT IS APPROPRIATE TO SHARE? SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION YES NO Company news, event photos, press releases Political Affiliation / opinions Vacation photo update Personal information Awards / Achievements Questionable photos Networking requests Personal struggles & rants Featured presentations, podcasts, webinars, etc. Negative or disrespectful comments Articles that promote thought-leadership Vulgar language or derogatory remarks Customer success stories Poor grammar and typos ACCOUNT SETUP: BEST PRACTICES SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION For any social media account that you are planning on using for business, here are some best practices to follow: USE YOUR REAL NAME INCLUDE YOUR BUSINESS INFORMATION KEEP YOUR PROFILE / BIO SIMPLE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD KEEP UP A CONSISTENT POSTING FREQUENCY USE A PROFESSIONAL PHOTO AS YOUR PROFILE PICTURE PRIVACY SETTINGS SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION Part of using social media for business is deciding who should see what, and which platforms are best for which types of updates. If using any social media platform for business, keep your profile as public as you feel comfortable with. You want your prospects and customers to be able to find you. If you’re only using a social media platform for personal use, or you have two accounts (one personal and one business) - keep the profiles private. It’s also important to respect your prospects’ privacy. If they don’t want to use their social media accounts for business, that’s okay (more on that later). KNOW WHEN TO QUIT SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION Sometimes, social media is just not a good fit for certain companies, industries, or regions. How will you know? Research your competitors to find out what platforms they are using, their strategies, their response rates, the types of content that resonates in your industry, etc. See if your prospects and customers are active on social media for their businesses. See if thought-leaders are engaged and active online, and have a community of followers. Even if you aren’t using social media for yourself to do business, it’s so important to be plugged into your industry online through social media - even as a passive recipient. STEP ONE: STEP TWO: STEP THREE: OPTIMIZING FINDING YOUR TAKING CONTEXT YOUR ACCOUNT PROSPECTS AND AND TURNING IT ENGAGING INTO ACTION ENGAGEMENT FINDING YOUR PROSPECTS AND ENGAGING Whether using a current account or a brand new account, the name of the game in social media is ENGAGEMENT. Engagement means that you are thoughtfully interacting with accounts you follow on a consistent basis. HOW TO ENGAGE FINDING YOUR PROSPECTS AND ENGAGING Engagement is based on a few things: LIKING POSTS COMMENTING ON POSTS / PHOTOS SHARING POSTS / RETWEETING FOLLOWING NEW ACCOUNTS / PROFILES ENGAGEMENT IS A TWO-WAY STREET FINDING YOUR PROSPECTS AND ENGAGING When using any social media account for business, engagement is a two-way street. It’s not just how much you’re interacting with accounts online - it’s also how much you are publishing on your own account and how much your followers are engaging with your content. Not only do social media platforms prioritize engaged accounts over non-engaged accounts - in