I'm here to say it. Social media leads are the very best type of lead there is, yes, even better than referrals. If you understand the core principals for generating leads through social media, the leads you garner from your efforts are way BETTER than any other type of lead on the planet--including leads from search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click, word of mouth, print advertising leads, and yes, even REFERRALS. Heck, I'd be as bold to say that leads you get through your social media network are better even than those within your OWN FAMILY.
I'm a lead generation expert. I love generating leads. I could generate leads for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've garnered thousands of leads for myself and for my clients on the web and otherwise. I've made cold calls. I've knocked on doors. I've made elaborate sales presentations. Never before have I ever had a better, more mutually satisfying relationships with my clients than today, through social media. Here's why...
People in Your Network Can be Like Family!
What is family? Family is a subset of people who "do life" together. They are related. Social media sites such as Facebook, give us the opportunity to do life with a vast quantity of people, thus creating familial-type bonds with everyone involved. If you're following my 7 Steps to Social Media Sales Success, you have sound techniques for building a community of people in your niche market who are bonded together and committed to helping one another succeed.
Deeper Bonds are Created Through Social Media Than Face-to-Face
The bond you create is deeper through social media sites such as Facebook, because the prospect is able to see the whole person that you are (if you are following my 25% Rule). This creates a better bond with the prospect, and allows them to see you as a real person. When people can see the real you, they can better relate with you and are more interested in working with you.
Social Media Engagement Builds Trust
Trust is built between you and those in your network as they see who you are and what you do through your posts on a day-to-day basis. Trust is the foundation of healthy relationships.
Social Media is Sticky and Causes People to Stay and Return to Your Content
Social media is sticky, and if you know what you're doing, you can keep people in your circle longer and cause them to be addicted to your content. When people are addicted to your content, you've got them right where you want them because you are meeting their needs.
People Can Get to Know You Before They Contact You
Proper use of social media allows prospects within your network to watch you and get to know you BEFORE contacting you, which leads to a better relationship long term. It's better to have a prospect who knows you well, and can finish your sentences than it is to start from scratch by working with a stranger.
You Can Share More About Your Product & Services Via Social Media
Someone who is visiting your website usually stays for a very short period of time. More interested people may stay on your site for up-to-six minutes, but most people will be on and off your site in a flash and you will soon be forgotten. When you market through
Social Media Gives You Control of the Sales Presentation Process
The skilled use of social media is akin to giving a live sales presentation to your target audience on a daily basis. You control the content that you post, and in so doing, you can artfully persuade people to do business with you, without appearing like a cheesy sales person.
You Can Sell Yourself in Real Time
Unlike leads that come through your website without knowing who you are by pay-per-click or SEO, social media leads are warm leads. These people know what you ate for dinner last night, and if you're doing your job right, they will love you and be interested in your life. There is a huge advantage to working with prospects who "get you," and believe in what you say and do.
Social Media Allows You to Share Your Values With Your Prospects
This point has to do with trust. Social media gives you a platform for sharing who you really are, which happens to be fabulous. If you know what you're doing, you can share your values and vision with those in your network, which is highly attractive to others. This must be done in a very natural and authentic way in order to be effective. There are things you believe in that need to be shared through your network so as to build strong ties with those in your network.
Social Media Builds Rapport
One of the first goals of any sales presentation is to establish rapport with your prospect. If there is no rapport, there is no sale, period. Social media helps to establish rapport by fostering communication and the exchange of ideas, beliefs and experiences. Using social media helps to connect you to others through small talk, and helps people to relate to you not as a pushy sales person, but as a REAL human being.
Social Media Allows for Social Proof
When you have throngs of people commenting and engaging with you on your social media profiles, it makes you look good. When people see that others like you, they like you even more. Social media provides your prospects with "social proof," that you're a respectable person, who has valuable things to say.
Social Media Helps to Nurture Leads Until They're Ready to Buy
Some people are not in the position to make purchasing decisions today, but may be in the future. Using social media, you can "nurture" your prospects, providing them with valuable information along the way, so as to one day be the service provider of choice, when they are ready to make a decision.
Social Media Keeps Prospects Engaged While Your Working With Other Clients
If you have more business than you can handle, social media can help you to keep people interested in what you do, without having to turn them away. This means that your social media efforts gain momentum over time, keeping you from experiencing the ups-and-downs typical of most small businesses. Just keep up your social media profiles using my 7 Steps to Social Media Sales Success, and then when you are free to bring on more business, simply "pluck" a few prospects out of your already interested lead pool network.
Studies show that people bond faster and more deeply on Facebook than they do in person. I'm not going into all the details of these studies, but you can learn more about it in my article, "Social Disclosure Leads to Social Attraction." The point I'm making is that people bond with you better on Facebook and through social media than they do in person. It is the BOND that we create with others that builds trust, and gives us a fondness for others. This bond is essential to successful sales process. People go out of their way to do business with people they know and like. Social media helps more people know and like you before they meet you. The difference is night and day.
Social Media Leads Think You're the Schnizzle
It's very interesting how these social media leads work, using my 7 Steps to Social Media Sales Success. The prospects who contact you act as if they already know you, even if you have no idea who they are. It's very similar to Hollywood fame, I would imagine. You know, when you think you know a star because you've seen him in your living room every week for years? It's the same way with social media. This gives a star quality to your interaction, building an even firmer foundation for selling and building long-term client relationships.
What better base from which to form relationships with prospects, and foster relationships with existing clients? I can think of no other!
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