7 Social Media Marketing Trends

Not leveraging Social Media in Digital Marketing is an opportunity missed.  Here are 7 Social Media Marketing Trends to focus on:

1. Live video will still dominate.
2. A separate strategy for ephemeral content.
3. Continued rise of messaging apps and chatbots.
4. Social listening for lead generation and social selling.
5. The need for more meaningful content experience.
6. The rise of social TV.
7. Focus on striking balance between personalization and privacy.

For more, here is a handy Infographic with tips on how to execute now:

How to Succeed in Social Selling

What is Social Selling?  I like this definition from Hubspot:

Social selling is the art of using social networks to find, connect with, understand, and nurture sales prospects. It’s the modern way to develop meaningful relationships with potential customers that keep you—and your brand—front of mind, so you’re the natural first point of contact when a prospect is ready to buy.

While Social Selling may never replace Cold Calls, it has the power to shorten sales cycles and increase revenue.  It leverages online networks such as LinkedIn to find prospects who are most likely to be interested in your product or service. As you build trust with these prospects, they begin to see how a business relationship with you will benefit them...and their customers!

Sales Techniques that actually work

Sales techniques that actually work, the holy grail for anybody with something to sell.  Sorry to disappoint.  There is no silver bullet.  Determination, perseverance, focus on solving needs...these are at the heart of sales techniques that really do work.  Two specifics:  Listen to prospects to understand their needs

The Anatomy of Online Reputation Management

'Boys behaving badly' are not the only people who have to worry about their online reputations.  Companies have an even greater risk online with their reputations because consumers make purchase decisions based on what others are saying.  78% of consumers trust peer recommendations when making decisions as noted in the Infographic below.  

 

A basic plan for managing your online reputation involves Listening, Responding, Publishing:

• Listening to the conversations that are already going on.  Wherever they are happening.  Instagram, Facebook, Twitter are the Big 3.  Google and other Review sites are also very important.
• Responding to comments, positive and negative.  More so for the negatives.  In a timely manner using plain language
• Publishing content about your company to generate positive awareness for your products or services.  Company history, new product updates, special offers are just a few of the topics for Blogs, Facebook and Twitter updates.  Sharing stories that help your customers should be your focus.

People want to know they can trust a company to deliver what they promised.  A positive online reputation goes a long way toward building that trust.