Part 2: Building Influence, Leads, and Sales Through Social Media
Social media has exploded within the past five years – nearly every single person has a Facebook account, every company has a blog and Twitter account, and a large percentage of professionals have a LinkedIn. The trick as a salesperson is to be able to tap into this resource and use it to build influence, leads, and sales. In a previous blog entry, the first two steps of Ken Krogue’s 10 essential social media tips were introduced – below are three additional ideas for creating a strategic presence on social media.
The third essential in terms of social media is to find your audience keywords. Try using the Google Keyword Tool – it will tell you exactly how many people are searching on that keyword per month and if the competition for that keyword is low, medium, or high. The point is, go where the traffic is going. It’s too difficult to start your own traffic – that takes unnecessary money and time. Remember, work smarter not harder!
If you go through all the steps to create your accounts on social media – you would be foolish to leave them dormant. To get the most bang for your buck – create a core strategy of how you want to use social media. Just by setting aside 10 to 20 minutes a day, you gain plenty of time to carry it out and give it priority. Connect with key professionals on LinkedIn that you want to get to know, nurture existing relationships, write a blog post regularly (at least weekly), share your blog content on Facebook, Twitter, and other outlets.
The last tip for this entry is to follow the Golden and Platinum Rule! The Golden Rule says, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” The Platinum Rule says, “Do unto others as they would have done unto them!” This is so easy in a social media environment – mention people in your blog, retweet them, ‘like’ them, ‘share’ them. If all you’re doing is trying to sell your product, they won’t listen. Be sincere and build relationships!
Free eBook: 42 LinkedIn Tips for Inside Sales
Gain access to 42 tips from industry experts Ken Krogue and Jamie Shanks on how to grow your business through LinkedIn.
