Social Media in the Business Sales Funnel

Social Media

Social media can be used a variety of ways depending upon your business, the amount of time you can dedicate to it, it’s relevance to your audience, and how creative you are. Creativity is important because social media is not a “one-size” fits all application. Nor does every social media platform benefit every business. When it comes to social media and the online environment there’s only one thing you can count on, and that’s constant change! If you’re a business who wishes to unfold the many benefits of social media and become part of the emerging trend, you must be prepared to change….and update…and monitor…and tweak….FREQUENTLY!

Social Media is Complementary

There are plenty of myths out there regarding how to use social media for business. In my opinion, social media should never replace what your website is designed to do. Social media is complementary to your website, your brand, and any other major media or ad campaign that you implement. As a matter of fact, social media can stretch out your dollar to create a much broader reach and frequency. Don’t play copycat. Put your creative hat on. Those businesses that lead the way will benefit most from new ideas on how to harness the power of social.

Social Media is New Word of Mouth

Maybe it hasn’t replaced face-to-face completely, but it is undoubtedly a BIG change from traditional networking. Friends+Customers+Vendors+Family+Community+Brand+Products+Services+Employees = a great way to communicate! You couldn’t possibly reach all these people as quickly in person as you can online. It’s that simple. In addition, social media is a great way to learn about your customers. Unveiling the information behind it will allow you to plan better, and make adjustments to keep your business aligned with what people want and need.

Social Media is on Google Radar

Today social media is on nearly everyone’s radar, most importantly… on Google’s. That ranking is dependent upon a few factors we know, and many that we don’t. Your digital competitors, keywords, content, comments, followers, friends, links, reach, and relevance are a handful of likely influencers. You can find out how your current social media strategy is working by doing a simple search for your business. Be sure to ‘clear your history’ by removing ‘cookies’ from your browser prior to each trial. Type some key search terms into a search engine and see how your business appears differently in each. If you’re not doing AdWords or display advertising, your website will most likely come first, followed by a Google+ Business Page, social media sites, review sites, directories and other PR type of contributions.

Social media in the Sales Funnel

Social media platforms and the impact each has on the path to a sale will vary greatly. (See chart.) According to this report, (Convertro used multi-touch attribution technology, reviewing 500 million clicks, 15 million conversions, and three billion impressions in 1Q14), the middle of the sales funnel is where social media has the biggest impact. It’s an excellent influencer, a great way to deliver brand messages and build awareness in the research phase. It’s also a great way to push out your competitors and prevent them from stealing your lead. (That’s a big bonus!)

鱉��’