Social Selling
The fourth and final stage of the social success cycle is social selling.
This is where social media marketing gets interesting. Finally, after listening
to your prospects, building authority in your space, and establishing a strong
network, you can start putting your offers in front of people—and converting
them.
What does good social selling look like?
Good social selling integrates with your funnels.
The short answer is funnels. But you’ll use multiple channels for getting people
into those funnels, from blogging to retargeting to pay-per-click advertising.
So, for instance, you’ll lead with blog content that’s perfectly targeted to
your audience, and in that content, you’ll embed an opt-in offer. Then you’ll
promote the content in social media (leveraging Stages 2 and 3 of this cycle).
Your social promotion will direct traffic to your content, where they’ll see your
offer. If they respond, you’ll immediately make an upsell offer—a low-priced
product designed to convert your new lead quickly into a customer. We call
that entry-level product a tripwire.
But what if a visitor doesn’t respond to your offer?
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You’ll retarget them with a relevant ad, so they receive multiple touches that
could lead to a conversion after they leave your site. The ad takes them to a
funnel, where they’re offered the same (or a related) lead magnet—and then
an entry-level product.
Of course, you should also try to upsell and cross-sell to existing customers.
Upsell and cross-sell to existing customers.
For example, if they buy a patio cover, they’re probably in the market for patio
furniture. Retarget them with the next logical offer.
The point is this: Don’t simply create one offer. Create a buying path that
boosts the lifetime value of every customer.
Goals for Social Selling
• Your goals at this stage are to:
• Generate leads to grow your email list.
• Acquire new customers and upsell/cross-sell existing customers.
• Increase buyer frequency, turning one-time customers into raving fans.
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Metrics to Watch
To track your success at social selling, watch these metrics:
• Number of leads. Over time, your email list show grow.
• Offer conversion rate. Are your offers converting? Maybe your offer isn’t
relevant or isn’t close enough to your prospects’ bottom-line desire.
• Buyer recency / frequency. You want customers to buy repeatedly and
often.
We’ve covered the metrics you should watch for each stage of the social cycle,
but maybe you’d like more information. For a deep dive into metrics and
social ROI, read 7 Ways to Actually Track Social Media ROI.
Relevant Roles in Social Media Marketing
Once you understand the basics of social media marketing, you need to
identify the people who will be responsible for managing your success.
There’s no right answer. It will depend on your organization and goals. But in
most cases, you’ll find your best solution in one of three departments.
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Marketing
Marketing and social media integrate so closely, it’s hard to tell where one
ends and the other begins. And most marketers are already involved in social
media since it gives them the 3 things they need to do their job well:
• Customer insights.
• Understanding of the trends and conversations influencing their prospects.
• A powerful channel for disrupting the status quo.
Because they’re already actively participating in social media, marketing
professionals could be a good fit for managing/directing your social media
efforts.
Sales
Like marketing, successful sales depends on being relevant and current.
Salespeople often use social media to engage with prospects, identify talking
points, and figure out what matters most to people evaluating their products.
That being the case, someone on your sales team may be a good fit for
managing/directing your social media program.
Public Relations
Public relations is another good option for taking responsibility of your social
media. PR is all about creating a positive brand perception, and it’s already
customer centric, which makes it social by default.
Community Manager
One last source to consider is your community manager, if you have one.
Social media is about being present and truly engaging with your fans and
followers. That’s pretty much the definition of a community manager.
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If you already have an active social community, your community manager
could be a good fit for taking on your social media efforts. They already
create, maintain, and encourage member-to-member relationships. As your
social media manager/director, they’ll simply scale those efforts.
The Lingo You’ll Use in Your Social Cycle
Knowing the lingo will help you communicate what you’re doing with other
professionals. Here are 5 terms you need to know.
“Value First” Offer
Social media marketing is really just another channel for your marketing, which
means you’re creating an environment where you can make successful offers.
Offers that are appropriate for social channels include:
• Valuable content. Link to content that has embedded offers and CTAs.
• Lead magnets, or opt-in offers. These are designed to get cold traffic
into your funnels.
• Tripwires, or deep-discount offers. Use these to upsell and cross-sell new
and existing customers.
Feedback Loop
You need a system where complaints, praise, and other useful comments
“heard” during social listening are routed to the correct person in your
organization.
This makes it easy to apply the 3-step social customer service plan:
1. Acknowledge the concerns.
2. Forward the issue to the right person.
3. Take the issue off public channels and resolve it in a timely manner.