Social media is delivering thousands of customers to businesses every day. Since 93 percent of U.S. adults currently have a Facebook page, the company is by far the largest player in the social media universe.
For this reason, Facebook offers every marketer a fertile prospecting arena that represents every demographic. The beauty of acquiring customers through Facebook is that it is so inexpensive when compared to typical advertising costs: the main expense is the time it takes employees to create and manage the company Facebook page.
Build the Fan Base
Before you can attract customers, you have to establish a fan base. This base will become the sales funnel that will deliver leads, and thus, customers. Starting with a fresh page, it is important to gather a large number of fans as soon as possible to get the ball rolling in your favor. Invitations should be sent to current customers, vendors, and suppliers. This group of automatic fans can give your business a quick start.
Continue adding to this base regularly. Set and maintain a schedule for sending out invitations. Try to add new customers and vendors to the list on a regular basis to keep expanding company outreach. The larger the base, the more people a company can use to leverage additional prospects. Giveaways are a dependable tactic for boosting the fan base and developing prospects. The way to keep the costs down for this type of promotion is to give away something the company offers anyway, since you pay for it at cost.
When handed out this way, company products and services also reinforce your brand. E-books are a popular giveaway in exchange for contact information and a “like” on the corporate page. Publishing an e-book full of helpful information targeted to customer interests can foster trust and establish the company as an expert in the field.
Build Relationships and Garner Customers
By hosting offline events that appeal to prospective customers, company representatives have a great opportunity to create more personal relationships. Take as many photos or videos as you can and post them on the company Facebook page, making sure to tag everyone involved.
This type of engagement has the potential to go viral, which is the best public relations any company can earn. Partnering with complementary businesses is a smart way to build attendance at the event and create buzz. Everybody wins.
Post content of interest once or twice a day. Information such as hard news, entertainment tidbits, and industry-related updates tend to be the most effective. Don’t ever forget that Facebook fans do not like a sales pitch. Reaching out to fans for the purpose of helping them or entertaining them has proved to be the best way to build relationships that will convert leads to customers.
A critical part of building relationships is fostering trust. It is vitally important that a two-way dialogue be managed between fans, prospects, and the company. What this means is that every comment needs to acknowledged, and every question answered, in a timely manner.
When presenting content on Facebook, aim the information at your target audience. Forging a relationship and establishing yourself as a trusted industry expert will generate leads. These leads will eventually contact the company for information. It is crucial that the company manage these leads and nurture them, to boost the odds that they will become paying customers.
Business marketing professionals have to learn to leverage the substantial power of Facebook if they expect to reap the benefits of online marketing. As with any promotional tool, some trial and error is probably necessary to determine which Facebook strategies work best for your business. With commitment and patience, any marketing department should succeed in converting Facebook fans to paying customers.
