Webmarketing 123 did a study that found some awesome statistics regarding social media marketing, direct leads and actual sales generated. Since 2008 I have known this to be true I watched it save tremendous time and effort and increase new business I would have never found otherwise. They found that B2B and B2C companies are generating qualified leads:
47% lead generation on Facebook
35% lead generation on LinkedIn
34% lead generation on Twitter
This is why I created the SoMe Funnel, (I taught it in my presentation for the US Small Business Conference, you can get the content here) to help people see how to generate more leads though their social media. It’s critical to create systems that capture those leads, so you can follow through. (smartly and legally of course!)
In addition, the study found that 55% of B2C businesses have closed deals in social media (all three sites above) and 41% ofB2B businesses have closed deals on Facebook! That is impressive! Sixty percent of companies intend to ramp up their social media marketing efforts in 2012. Do you have a plan? How will you engage your potential customers online? Remember customers are smarter than ever before! They want:
smart timely relevant content
engaged businesses that are responsive to their needs
the ability to have a voice as a consumer and be heard
Combine your system with content that speaks to your market and WATCH what happens!
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
I had an interesting experience when it comes to practicing “givers grow” as a small business owner. I am at a place in my career with the development of things to achieve where I need a coach. This has been something I have thought about doing many times in the past; I just wasn’t ready!
For years, one particular coach has been recommended to me by clients and friends. This woman is obviously smart and savvy and gets results for her customers. Every time I see her at events she tells me I need to achieve this goal for my career, and she’s the one to help me. I look at her website, and I can see that she does EXACTLY what I need. I have talked to her about my struggles and limiting beliefs around this goal at parties and networking events and she always looks at me wide-eyed and says she can’t wait to help me. And I have walked away, not ready.
Recently, I was at a conference and another woman who does the exact same type of work was there. I walked up to this woman’s booth, and we started talking. I shared with her my desire and goal and that I felt like I needed some help. She immediately asked me about five questions and then offered me a “givers grow” idea. She suggested a powerful next step that actually excited me and motivated me and made it easy for me to keep moving forward before I ever considered hiring her.
About an hour later the other woman, whom I’ve known for years, appeared and we started to talk. She knows now that I am trying to achieve this goal in my business. And again, wide eyed, she looked at me and said, “I can’t wait to work with you.”
I have to tell you right now I am more motivated and more excited to give my money to this woman I just met who offered me help without payment over the woman I’ve known for years who I know gets tremendous results. Do you know why?
Do you practice the “givers grow” model in your business? Do you look for ways to offer help to people before they ever pay you? Do you realize that you remain on the hearts and minds of potential customers when you do?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Whether you are on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ or not, you have to look at how you manage WHAT is said about you, and how it affects your business. I recently heard a participant in a seminar tell the people at her table that she LOVES her Facebook Business page over Yelp because if someone says something negative she has the power to REMOVE it and “make it go away” and she can’t do that on Yelp! Social Media is about MANAGING the conversations, not MAKING THEM GO AWAY.
If you delete that post, trust me they will post it elsewhere. And it will probably be even more negative.
The IBM CIO recently said: “We have entered the age of the smarter consumer.” Deleting their complaint isn’t smart. (We talk more about this in our reputation management session in the So Me Insights tele-series and you can get the recordings if you missed the call series).
Here is the other thing: NOT having an account on one of these sites doesn’t mean they are not talking about you or your brand. It just means YOU are not a part of the conversation!
Here is the most interesting part: most of it will be positive and you STILL won’t be a part! You WANT to be a part of managing the positive things said about your business online. Those people help you achieve the goal of the SNCC way:
1-visibility
2-raving fans
3-referral sources
4-press…. (oh you know what we teach!)
Your accounts matter. It localizes what is said on different sites. And you want to monitor and manage because how you respond is what makes the difference!
Set up Google Alerts for your business, brand and your name (or key players in your company)
These are just a few tips to get you started in managing the positive (and rarely negative) comments! Do you have a reputation management strategy you love?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
I recently was the opening keynote at BLP Connect in Los Angeles. One hundred and twenty five entrepreneurial woman gathered for a day of learning about “connection.” Over the years I have realized that my work with my clients is more about their voice, and how they energetically connect online to grow and profit (and feel good about it at the same time)! My psychology degree really makes what I do powerful! Speaking that day I wanted these women to see the power of letting go of their fears about connecting online, and truly allowing their power and energy to shine through what they sell, product or service. For the first time I would release what I have developed as The Influence Factor.
Does your brand energetically resonate with your fans, referrals sources, partners and press opportunities online? Over the years working with countless women to transfer their Brand online, I observe so many where there is a disconnect with their Influence Factor. So many people shift their energy when they get online to do their marketing. They become what I shared as the “Marketing Robot” at the BP Event! (Yes I did the robot from the 80’s on stage!). See a bit here:
Don’t become what you are not! Being the best YOU you can be is what creates The Influence Factor. Don’t forget it, don’t leave it behind. I have recently developed a series of over 40 questions that help me to assess the power of your voice, the five core areas you might disconnect, and how to channel them to your Influence factor. They will be a part of my book!
The Influence Factor is first about who you are. It’s your values, your belief systems, the way you view the world, it’s your energy. It’s how you think and feel. I often meet clients who say, “I want to be able to sell my business. I want to be able to have an exit strategy and if I put my energy into the business. It won’t be sell-able.” that is so far from the truth! Every SELL-ABLE, VIABLE, THRIVING business has this. Your energy will make your business come alive, your energy will make your business grow, your energy will make your business have values that another company would want to buy. And it will create customer connection.
When you find your voice, and dynamically connect it to what you do, everything changes. See, social media is a dynamic energetic space. Watch connection happen when you do!
Want a SNEAK PEEK of some of the questions from Ann’s upcoming book? Get the passcode today!
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
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Ann Evanston, MA, has been named by About.com as one of the Top Six Marketing Consultants, Feb 2011. She is an international speaker, consultant and coach specializing in the Influence Factor.
