Business Growth Blog

These days, people have two lives: offline and online. Being visible to your social network physically and virtually opens the door to innumerable opportunities. A single person, even someone you barely know, can change the trajectory of your career or life.

Developing a strong personal and professional network takes commitment and dedication, which is tough because our lives are already busy with daily work, family, and friends (and maybe time for ourselves too!). But - a little goes a long way. The key is consistency and quality.

Many people are still unsure about how this whole online networking thing works. They don't know what to do or how to get value from it. In actuality, networking online isn't much different than the offline networking you engage in throughout your daily activities:

Having a strong social media presence is essential for sales and marketing success. Infrequently sharing a couple of memes or blog articles won’t get the job done. It requires planning and commitment. Quite often, when working with new clients, we find this is a gap in their marketing efforts. Unreasonable expectations in the speed at which new social media marketing methods show results are also typical. In this article, I will share the ingredients that guide our social media planning strategy.

Many people have doubts about whether or not social media can help drive sales. They think that “their prospects” aren’t using it, that people don’t pay attention to things being posted there, or that it’s all about “what someone had for lunch.” The truth is that the Internet is full - almost too full - of awesome information. My daughter says that if it’s not on the Internet, it must not exist! She truly believes that.

Putting together a social media strategy that gets a return on investment can be a real challenge. With never-ending ideas and strategies out there, it may seem like every ‘expert’ you talk to has a different opinion.

While it’s difficult to say exactly what strategies will work best for you without understanding your business goals and objectives, there are 4 tactics I often see companies use that may be holding them back from their full potential. If they look familiar to you, start digging deeper into your strategy: you may need a course correction.

The first step in any strategy is to define your goals and objectives: You can’t plan a trip if you don’t know where you’re going. The most common business goals for social media are to increase brand recognition, website visitors, and sales leads. All social activity should lead back to those initiatives.

Here are seven pillars of a social media strategy that drive real business results:

It’s undeniable that social media has risen in use in previous years, but is it really relevant to your business? The short answer is yes, social media is important in some way to every single business and target audience. But exactly how impactful can social media be for your business when considering your specific audience? Discover the most recent statistics across all user types before you invest time and money into your social media efforts.

Creating a website is hard enough, but the work doesn't end there. The truth is, the majority of people will probably find you on social media first.

For example, someone connected with me on LinkedIn today, and I read his company profile on LinkedIn to find out about what his company does. I got the info I was looking for and didn't even go to the website.

So, what does that mean? It means you have to treat your social profiles the same as you treat your website - not as an after thought, but as a strategic part of your marketing plan.

Your social profiles should have the same components as your website, including:

Many businesses are still foggy about how blogging can impact their revenue goals. Here is an example to help clarify:

Increase website traffic

Tactic: In your social media status update areas (like on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter) create a compelling short sentence that directs people to the blog article on your website.

Here is an example of a comment I would post on social media:

“Check out these three reasons why salespeople should start creating blog articles - https://www.ascendbusinessgrowth.com/blog/salespeople-should-start-creating-blog-articles.”

Once someone clicks the link, they are on my website. Okay, website visitors are great, but how does that affect revenue growth?

After the launch of my new website in August, 2013, I knew the next step was to start blogging and get more involved in social media. I do it for my clients all the time and consistently bring in website traffic and contacts, so I know it works.

I struggle the same as everyone else though - I get so involved in client work that my own marketing gets pushed off until later. Now, here it is, Friday morning, and I'm finally writing a blog which should have been done much earlier in the week.

These days social media is a critical marketing channel for attracting new customers. It’s the new reality. However, just having a social media account doesn’t help at all. It’s what you say on social media - and how frequently - that’s important.