How to Turn Your Social Media Marketing into a Reliable and Consistent Lead Generator!
By
Lannie C. Wright
When it comes to Social Media Marketing, there is more information available than the average person can comprehend or absorb. Isn’t it funny that I’m adding to that? As a salesperson, I, and I’m sure you do too, have spent way too much time trying to figure out how to use social media and generating almost no real results. To me, social media should be about not only getting your name out there, but it should also be about leveraging that information into actual sales.
Here’s the difference...I use LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and I generate connections. AND... I also get leads and sales from those connections. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work the way the so-called experts would have you believe.
It’s not just about setting up your social media pages correctly. It’s not just about getting to the top of the search engines. It’s not just about branding.
It’s about all of that...and more.
When I first got into the business of sales, after a few months, I complained to my manager about how difficult it was to get qualified leads. His response has stuck with me for life. He said, “Prospecting is not a problem...it’s the job!”
He was right, of course. And, nothing has changed. Whether it be for a retail establishment or for those of us in direct sales. Prospecting is the job. For the most part, it’s the most important part of your business. Of course, you need to be knowledgeable of your products and services. But, without someone to share that information with, none of it matters. I am going to be talking about direct sales techniques for the most part. However, much of the material will also be beneficial to the retail marketplace.
The use of any social media platforms is just the beginning. It’s a crucial step. Don’t get me wrong. It’s just not the only step you need to make Social Media work for you.
So, here’s the deal. It’s my plan to share with you all the information you need to become very good at social media marketing. It won’t make you an expert. That takes a lot more work than the average salesperson wants to be. I, and I believe, the salespeople of the world, want results. We are not trying to figure out how electricity works. We merely want to know where the light switch is located. The process of lead generation takes several steps. They aren’t difficult to learn or even to implement, but you need to do them if you want the success that all of the other gurus are promoting. So please bear with me. And understand this, social media marketing, alone, does not necessarily generate sales. Creating a brand does not necessarily generate sales. However, social media is a great way to get you in front of the right people, at the right time, under the right circumstances to make those sales. Don’t discount them. But, don’t depend on them alone.
Here’s what you need to know.
To build a good, consistent source of leads, you need several things.
- You need a data base of quality people that you can communicate with.
- You need a way to communicate with them and tell them how good you are at your business and that you care about what’s important to them.
- You need to show them that they matter to you.
- Figure out when they need you to help them. (Not everyone needs you right now.)
- And finally, you need to ask them, when they are ready, if you can be there to help them when they need it.
If you can do that and you can do it systematically, you will have a great source of consistent and ready cash flow for you and your business.
“It can’t be done!”
I hear that all the time. Well, I am here to tell you that it can be done.
Think about this, regarding the first item on the list. I have over 5,500 connections on LinkedIn. I have 3,000 connections on Facebook and over 70,000 followers on Twitter. What would you do, if you had that many people that you could talk to and share your ideas with? It’s just the beginning. None of this is out of the realm of possibilities for you as well.
It’s not impossible. It’s just the beginning. You just have to know what to do. I can help you if you want. If you want to see more, click here for the next installment and see if you can’t get the same results.
Lannie
Your Financial Clutter Buster
#financialclutterbuster