Social Media as a Sales Tool … Yes, It’s Possible!

As a partner in a business that manages social media accounts for companies across the country, I hear this phrase almost every single day from potential clients: “Yes, we like your approach, but it MUST produce a return on our investment.” And that’s understandable. As we all emerge from the recession, our dollars must be spent wisely and be tracked to sales. So we have fine-tuned our company’s approach to this ever-changing medium and would like to report that Yes, Virginia, you can make money via social media.

In its beginnings, social media was touted as a brand awareness tool and a “soft” way to reach your audience and it remains a valuable tool for that. With the right approach, however, you can take Facebook, Twitter, blogs and more beyond PR and marketing and into the realm of sales. Dell proved this when they announced that their Twitter accounts brought in some $6.5  million in sales. And so have we. In fact, we tracked more than $14,000 in direct bookings in January from Twitter and Facebook for a hotel group client. It can be done, folks, but how?

Here’s what you need to have in place to make social media profitable for your business:

1) A way to purchase your product or service online.

Sure, people can call to buy your product or come to your store, but social media is not going to be very successful at driving these types of sales. It means people have to go get their phone (assuming they’re not surfing the web on their smartphone) or remember to visit your store. Any extra work required by the user greatly diminishes the chances they’ll complete the transaction. We have learned people online are lazy. You want them to be able to click directly from the social media outlet to your site where the transaction occurs.

2) A way to track their path from social media through your website.

You need to have trackable URLs set up (we use Google’s URL Builder tool) and a good Analytics system, like the free Google Analytics, that will allow you to see how many people come from Facebook or Twitter to your website and how much they spend, what pages they visit, how long they stay, etc.

3) A consistent, conversational approach to social media.

This can be one of the toughest parts to master, and it requires being on social media every day, multiple times a day and understanding the right mix of conversation, information, entertainment and sales. You simply cannot come across as too sales driven on social media or you’ll lose your audience. Instead, focus 80% of your content on helpful, funny, engaging posts, while working in information about your products, services, packages, etc. in a very conversational manner. This requires studying which posts, at what times and on what days, result in the most interaction, views and sales and replicating that over time.

We’ve mastered the art of making money on social media for our clients, and with dedication and the right information, you can too.

Lyn Mettler is the founder and co-owner of Step Ahead, Inc., a company specializing in social media management, Internet marketing and public relations with offices in both Indianapolis and Charleston, S.C. She has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur magazine, SmartMoney.com and MSNBC.com for her advice on using social media successfully for business.

Social Media Synergy

Quality vs. Quantity in Social Media

So you want to be the Starbucks of Facebook do you? 20 million plus fans? Sound awesome?!

It may be “new” media but the “old” adage holds true: quality beats quantity every time! Read my new Social Moms blog post to see why I’ll take 10,000 fans over 100,000 any day of the week.

Social Media News of the Week: March 21, 2011

This week started off with a list of the Top 100 Socially Networked Cities in the United States provided by Mashable and MensHealth. I was surprised that New York City was not in the top 10 and it actually was in the #53 spot after Columbia, S.C., and right before Greensboro, N.C. My hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C., surprisingly made the list at #78. They looked at the number of users on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter in these cities, as well as social bookmarking sites like Stumble Upon and Reddit.

The rest of the week was about Color, a new social network for photo sharing. Color is now available on the iPhone and Android devices and is a social network worth trying out! You don’t friend people like you would on Twitter or Facebook. Instead, Color chooses the images you see based on your location. One important thing to remember is that all images are public not only to your friends but to any stranger who’s in your proximity.

I haven’t seen the new network in the Android App Store on my phone yet but I can’t wait to try it out! If you’ve already tried it, tell me what you think. And if you haven’t yet, you might want to wait a little bit because there are already talks about some upgrades.

March Social Media Star: Tanya Brown

Tanya Brown, an on air personality for WSSX (Charleston locals will know her from the 2 Girls and a Guy show), understands the importance of social media and has been using many different tools to reach out to her listeners.

Not only is Tanya able to communicate quickly with large numbers of people, she’s also able to build one-on-one relationships with the use of social media. Read Tanya’s social media tips and find out how you can use social media to build individual relationships and get information out to the masses quickly.

Here’s what Tanya had to say about social media:

What is your job/company/profession/title?
On Air Personality/Citadel Broadcasting/Co-Host WSSX 2 Girls and A Guy

What was the first social media technology you used?
I would say the first social media technology I used was AIM. Gosh that seems like it was a millions years ago.

What is your favorite social media tool?
I have to say Twitter is my favorite. I am a Tweetaholic (made up word). 140 characters is all I need to get my point across, anymore than 140 I being to ramble and that could last for days.

How have you used social media for your business/company and how has it benefited?
Absolutely used for business! Social media is the best networking tool to get the word out to a large number of people at one time. I can’t tell you how many times I am at a live broadcast and mention what I am doing or my location on Twitter or Facebook and people stop by just to say hello. AMAZING!!!!

How much time would you say you spend a day engaging social media?
I hate to admit it but 24/7 social media is at my finger tips.

How do you incorporate it into your day so it’s not a time waster?
My Droid X goes everywhere with me. I cook, clean, help with homework and shop. You never know when an opportunity may come up and you just have to tweet or FB a good deal, good/bad customer service, just to say something to make everyone smile. I do it all.

Is there a social media tool/technique that you think is underutilized that you would like people to know about?
SKYPE and I am not sure why I have not taken the time to do so. @ItsBrookeRyan asks me all the time to Skype. I can never figure it out and I thought I was tech savvy, maybe not. I promise that will be my next task. I am on it. Promise.

Where can people find you online and via social media?
Twitter: @95sxbrown2gg, @2girlsandaguy, @95SXCharleston

Facebook: Tanya Brown, 2 Girls and a Guy, 95SX Hit Music Now

Website: 95SX.COM

Anything else?
If you’re looking for a good time from 6-10 a.m., check out 2 Girls and A Guy Mon-Fri. I hear Tanya, Kelly and Mike the Guy are pretty darn funny. Also really quick before you give me the “Wrap It Up Button,” I would like to say thanks to everyone who has ever shown us love and support.It never goes unappreciated.

Social Media News of the Week: Week of March 14, 2011

Last week when I predicted that this week’s blog would be all about SXSW, I was totally wrong. One week from today there was a horrific tsunami in Japan that shook the whole world. We here at Step Ahead continue to pray for everyone in Japan and we are so impressed with the way social media has stepped in to help the victims.

Mashable released a quick and easy “Hello Bar” Saturday that anyone could add to their website or blog. This bar included a message about the earthquake and a link to donate to the Red Cross. The Red Cross, Global Giving and International Medical Corps all set up a text-to-donate option for people to use.

Later this week LivingSocial released a deal that was $5 for a $10 donation to the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Fund. Last I heard this campaign raised more than $1 million for relief efforts! I love this idea from LivingSocial and commend them for stepping up. Raising money isn’t the only great thing social media has done for the people in the Pacific.

On The Today Show Friday morning they talked to an American traveler who was only able to get updates about the earthquake via Twitter. When there was the explosion at the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant, many flooded the feeds of Facebook and Twitter with their concern and options. With the Internet still available after the quake, the US Embassy encouraged Americans to try and get in touch with loved ones via texts, tweets and Facebook posts. Let’s just say I’m very happy with the role social media played in helping to connect love ones and raise money for a truly great cause!

I can’t completely neglect SXSW because it’s just a vital conference for social media lovers everywhere. The usual suspects were all the buzz — Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare and Mashable — but there were also a few that surprised me like GroupMe. Everyone’s blogs, tweets and articles I’ve read so far have been about group messaging and its power to be the next big thing! I can’t wait to do some more reading and research on the allure of group messaging (blog to come on that!).

Social Media News of the Week – Week of March 7, 2011

This week has been full of updates, especially in the location realm of the social universe.  South by Southwest begins today and if you don’t know what SXSW is then you probably aren’t too interested in social media, film or music. Social media wise this Texas festival is where Twitter, Foursquare and Foodspotting all made their debut.

This year Mashable is partnering with Gowalla to reward those who checkin at the Mashable SXSWi House. There’s a chance to win a Sony Bloggie camera and there are three unique pins you can collect by attending different Mashable events. I feel like this will be great exposure for Gowalla to compete with other location big dogs like Foursquare.

Speaking of Foursquare, last week founder Dennis Crowley sat down to talk with TechCrunch about the future of location and Foursquare. The interview is quite interesting and makes even more sense now that Foursquare 3.0 has arrived! The 3.0 upgrades are phenomenal and give more incentives for customers to check-in.

Besides being able to earn rewards for checking in with friends or in a swarm check-in, there’s now a loyalty and flash deal aspect to the app. What’s even more exciting to me is that it will recommend places and things to do, and there’s also a partnership with American Express in the works. These were all needed updates and came at the perfect time for the big SXSW show.

Another location based app, SCVNGR, has followed in Foursquare’s footsteps by upgrading their application. They added LevelUp, a local deal, to their check-in repertoire and are heading to SXSW with 1,000,000 users! What a week for location!

***On a side note if you’re looking for an internship, Charlie Sheen is hiring one. Just send a link to your resume using #TigerBloodIntern and you might just have a chance to watch him go up in flames live and in person!

Social Media News of the Week: February 28, 2011

The Oscars

The social media universe was all about the Oscars at the beginning of the week. Was “The Social Network” robbed? Did Anne Hathaway knock it out of the park as co-host? Was James Franco high the whole show? I’m not sure if Mashable genuinely felt like “The Social Network” was the best movie of the year or if they just loved the fact that it was a movie about technology, creativity and the start of a social media phenomenon.  Either way it was apparent that they were shocked by the decision because of their blogs on the topic.

I enjoyed “The Social Network” immensely but after seeing all the films that were nominated, the decision was clear: “The King’s Speech” was overall a superior film. I know there are plenty of people who disagree but they are the same people who would rather have given Lady GaGa Album of the year over Arcade Fire. And let’s be honest. I will never trust those people’s taste.

More Facebook Changes

Supposedly, Tuesdays are the worst day for an announcement via social media but that was the day that most of us heard about the Facebook “like” upgrades. Later in the week Facebook made even more changes to its comments plug-in as well!

iPad2

Apple CEO Steve Jobs took a time out from his medical leave to announce the iPad2 and it’s amazing. Two cameras, thinner device, FaceTime and the magnetic cover, I mean really what could be better? I’m hoping this will be my birthday present. If not from my family maybe a present to myself?!

Charlie Sheen

What could be bigger than the release of the iPad2? None other than Two and Half Men’s, Charlie Sheen. He’s appeared on several radio shows, TV spots and interviewed with Today three mornings in a row. Twitter has been crazy with hashtags derived from Sheen’s decent into madness such as #WINNING, #tigerblood and #teamsheen. If you aren’t already following Charlie (@charliesheen) on Twitter it’s a must do for your weekend entertainment!

The Latest in Social Media: Groupon & Foursquare

Lyn spoke for a second time with Mike Switzer, host of the daily South Carolina Business Review radio show on South Carolina public radio, about the latest trends in social media and reassured businesses they can be profitable with the right approach to social media. Listen to the 10- minute interview.