93% of customers expect companies to have a presence on social media (Cone Communications). At this point in the social media frenzy, most companies have at least some sort of social platform or presence in place. This may be a Facebook page to share content, a LinkedIn group to network with prospects, or perhaps a Pinterest page to showcase products.
According to research by the Social Media Examiner, Facebook continues to reign as the most used platform, used by 97% of B2C and 89% of B2B marketers. LinkedIn is also a popular choice for B2B, with 88% of B2B marketers regularly using LinkedIn for marketing.
Many marketers are hyper-focused on measuring the number of followers, retweets or shares their pages and content are getting. While this is certainly important to measure, there are huge opportunities within social media data that you may not even know exist – opportunities that can lead to even bigger revenue wins.
More and more marketers are shifting their focus and utilizing new ways to convert social followers into customers. Research from Webmarketing123 found that one in five B2B and one in three B2C marketers have generated revenue from social media.
Here are 4 ways you can increase revenue with social media:
1. Engage with Your Social Followers
So we hear quite a bit more personalizing experiences for today’s consumers. Social media provides the perfect channel to do this. Interact with consumers on your social sites, ask them questions, and just as importantly, be sure you are promptly responding to theirs. Give special promotions or discounts to your social followers that you don’t advertise anywhere else. Make them feel appreciated and that their loyalty to your brand is paying off. And in return, your social fans will become your biggest brand advocates.
As an example, major clothing retailer J.Crew Group reported that customers who engaged with their brand on social media were likely to spend up to twice as much as non-socially engaged consumers.
2. Provide Customer Service Through Your Social Channels
Did you know that 42% of consumers complaining in social media expect a 60 minute or less response time? (Edison Research) An increasing number of consumers today are choosing social media for customer service and they expect a fast response in return. When complaints aren’t quickly rectified, they can be very costly for your company.
Imagine in the past when an angry customer called your customer service department. The situation was handled privately – not over social media for the whole world to see. Now when a customer complains on social media, your current and potential customers are privy to the entire conversation. And while outrageous complaints about your company can be difficult to handle, responding in a positive and helpful manner makes a positive impression.
3. Steer Social Followers to Your Website
According to research by MobStac, 78% of consumers rely on social media to guide their purchases. An important component of connecting social media to revenue is by using strategies to guide your followers to your website.
Beyond engaging with consumers and responding to their customer service inquiries, your social platforms can be used to generate excitement, interest, and ultimately guide consumers to your e-commerce site.
A great example of a company who increased website traffic and revenue is JustFab.com, an ecommerce company. JustFab asked their followers to browse their collections and tweet their wish list with the tag #JustFabWish for a chance to win everything on their list.
When compared to their previous month, website traffic increased 140% and revenue increased 240% from Twitter.
4. Use Data-as-a-Service to Find In-Market Consumers
Your customers and prospects are having all sorts of conversations on social media about products and services you offer, your competitor’s name, or other discussions that may indicate readiness to purchase.
Each of these conversations would be impossible to monitor on an individual basis. However, using Data-as-a-Service, a company can find “just the right” social conversations to target new prospects or engage with current customers.
Take the example of a furniture retailer. Through Data-as-a-Service, web scraping technology can be utilized to find prospects who are looking to buy furniture. Any number of key words can be used to find ideal prospects. These prospects can then be delivered on a daily basis, in real-time, to a company’s channel systems, ad agency, or marketing automation systems.
For marketers that embrace social media as another sales channel, fans and followers will convert to more revenue. However, social media is just that – being social with your customers and prospects. The whole point of your social media efforts is about your customers – and through those efforts, the revenue will soon follow.
To learn more about how to generate leads from social media and big data, download our free guide.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: 4 Ways to Increase Revenue with Social Media
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- Monday Tips: Do You Know About These Latest Social Media Tools?
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