Increasing sales is a big challenge that every business faces. Engaging on social media is necessary to reach potentials clients and buyers looking for your products and services. Without a good marketing strategy to support your sales efforts, it is difficult to achieve revenue growth. In this fourth blog of a 5-part series, we will explore cost-effective, easy to apply tips that small and medium size business and solopreneurs can use to generate leads, build visibility, and grow sales revenue. For all five key strategies, visit JMK MarComm Blogs.
Here, we address a critical marketing strategy that will help you effectively generate leads and increase sales. To generate leads and increase sales, buyers need to know that you exist and what you offer. Finding new clients is much more difficult today and very much like trying to find that needle in a haystack. They need to find you when they are searching based on keywords (from their computer or phone) when they have a need to fill. You must make it easy for them to find you. Let’s get started!
Social media presence matters, but you don’t have to be on every site. Consider which sites are best for promoting your services or products. Each one has strengths and weaknesses, so it is important to match the social site to what you want to achieve for your business.
TIP: This is where it is critical to define your ideal client or customer. If you don’t already have one, write a profile that describes in detail who they are, ages, where they are, what their interests are, and what needs your product or service fulfills. Now, you can move on to determining where to put your message to reach them.
LinkedIn is the biggest (business to business) B2B site and is pretty much unmatched by any other site out there. This is where you will build your subject matter expertise and business persona and the visibility and reputation of your company facing the business community. This is where you can do a lot of networking and expand your connections. This is really helpful, especially during COVID-19 where face to face networking opportunities are limited. Consider these statistics about LinkedIn.
- LinkedIn currently has over 610 million members.
- The network has 303 million active monthly users, 40% of which visit the site daily.
- 90 million senior-level influencers and 63 million decision makers use LinkedIn.
- LinkedIn is responsible for 80% of B2B leads from social media.
[Source: https://99firms.com/blog/linkedin-statistics/#gref]
Facebook is great for providing a look at the inside of your company’s personality and the environment. This is an excellent place to portray your company for purposes of recruiting. Very different from LinkedIn, Facebook has a different audience. Consider these statistics to determine if this represents your ideal client:
- 250 Billion active monthly users
- Facebook users are 54% female and 46% male.
- Around seven-in-ten U.S. adults (69%) use Facebook.
- 62% of online Seniors aged 65+ are on Facebook and 72% are between age 50-64.
- 88% of online users of age 18-29 are on Facebook, 84% of those 30-49.
- 82% of college graduates are on Facebook.
- 75% of online users of income more than $75K are on Facebook.
- 96% of Facebook users accessed via mobile devices.
[Source: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/facebook-statistics/]
Instagram is a very popular social site that reaches a younger audience. It is a great place for you to promote your products if photos and visuals help to sell them. For example, a florist or a photo studio or an interior design business would do well on Instagram, whereas a bookkeeping service may not. Consider these statistics:
- 56.3% of Instagram users are Females and 43.7% are male.
- 120.7 million Instagram users are from the US.
- 200 million+ Instagrammers visit at least one business profile daily.
- 70% of shopping enthusiasts turn to Instagram for product discovery.
- 89% of users are outside the US.
- 65% of global Instagram audiences ages are 18-34 years.
- 72% of teens use Instagram; 35% of US teenagers say it is their preferred social media platform.
- 73% of U.S. teens say it is the best way for brands to reach them about new products or promotions.
[Source: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/instagram-statistics/]
Twitter can be helpful to for sharing news about your company. Most high-level executives are not on Twitter, so use it depending on your audience. Here is a snapshot of Twitter:
- 38% of Twitter users are between the ages of 18 and 29, 26% users are 30-49 years old.
- 34% of Twitter users are females and 66% are males.
- 56% of Twitter users $50,000 and more in a year.
- 80% of Twitter users are affluent millennials.
- Twitter is the preferred social network for news consumption.
[Source: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/twitter-statistics/]
TIP: If you are not currently on social media, select one social site to focus on to promote your message. Pick the one most closely aligned with the profile description of your ideal client. The most important thing to remember is to be consistent. Posting one to two times per week consistently is good. Post content that is helpful to your audience.
Understanding your businesses position in the marketplace and defining your ideal client is your starting point. Assessing and maximizing your internet visibility with SEO, messaging appropriately for your target audiences across social media, gathering testimonials and reviews from clients, and using video to inform and sell to all come together in a good marketing plan.
Implementing any of the tips provided in this document is a good step on the path to marketing and growing your business. This is a challenging time, but there are buyers with evolving needs, and new opportunities arising in the most interesting ways. Position your business to meet those needs and discover those new opportunities with solid marketing strategies.
For help and guidance on applying any or all of these marketing strategies in your business, reach out to Jill Kovalich at JMK MarComm LLC. We offer marketing support with monthly fixed plans or project-based fees to fit your needs. Our prices and plans are scalable and flexible.
Jill Kovalich, Owner, JMK MarComm LLC
T: (833) 633-3565
E: info@jmkmarcomm.com
www.jmkmarcomm.com