The customer is always right – even when they’re not visiting your website. You’ve got to meet them where they’re at.
Millions of potential customers are on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and more conversations about companies and products are taking place online than ever before. Yet many companies don’t have the strategy – or the stomach – to engage people on these online channels.
But smart companies are reaping the benefits of social media interactions – strengthening their brands and increasing their sales as they create lasting trust and goodwill.
Where are they?
So how do you increase your sales conversions using social media? The process starts with figuring out where your customers are already engaged.
They’re more than likely talking about your company on Facebook and Twitter; other interactions might be taking place on Groupon or Yelp. Tools like Google Insights can help you discover what online platforms your customers are already using.
What They’re Saying
Another way to gain some insight into your customers’ social media usage is to ask them in an email survey or a poll on your website. What are your current customers’ position in social media? Where do they hang out?
You can also use sites like Social Mention or BlogPulse to gain a better understanding of how people are talking about your company on social media sites. By using these tools, you can gain plenty of insight about your particular industry, whether it be eCommerce, healthcare or legal.
Here Social Mention shows all kinds of social data about Slingshot SEO, including recent tweets, social sentiment, brand reach and top keywords.
You can use Google Alerts to set up specialized notifications that alert you when people mention your company in places like blogs, video and discussions. Just provide your email and you can choose between daily, weekly or real-time alerts.
If you’re already involved with social media platforms, determine which one already sends the most traffic to your website. Focus on platforms that actually make you money; if you can’t make money by displaying photos, then don’t focus on Flickr.
Now that you’ve researched the appropriate social media channels for your company, it’s time to roll up your shirt sleeves and dive deeper into your social media strategy. Feel free to read our best practices guide for Increasing Conversions with Social Media and leave your comments below!