A Social Media Success Story
For business owners who are new to marketing through social media, or who may be thinking about making the leap, one of the most popular questions that gets tossed around is, “How does all this Tweeting and blogging and Facebooking and podcasting translate to sales?”
It’s a question that’s not always easily answered, at least not right away. It’s akin to the similar question that’s often asked of conventional (or old-school) media: “How do I know it’s the radio spots [or the TV spots, or the print ads, etc.] that are driving business?” Much of the time, you don’t know, specifically. As I wrote in an earlier post, if your sales are up, and you’re advertising, then your advertising was effective as a whole.
Well, this just in: Last week, I obtained from one of my clients irrefutable evidence of a sales lead directly sparked by their social media campaign.
The Latimer Group works with executives, organizations, and teams on a global level to teach and improve strategic communication skills. We’ve been working with them since early 2008 to make social media and content marketing a large part of their overall marketing effort. Blogging, podcasts, and video are all part of the campaign, supported by a presence on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
On Friday, I got this note from Dean Brenner, The Latimer Group’s founder and President:
“Hey Brett:
Wanted to share another quick success story on the social media front… Got an email last night from a guy I have known from the world of sailboat racing, known each other for many years, but are not close. He works for a major investment firm with a global presence.
He emailed me and asked me to call him, and got straight to the point. He said ‘We are connected on LinkedIn, and I get all your stuff. I don’t read everything you put out there, but I read a lot of it, and your post last week on ‘the executive voice’ caught my attention.’
We talked for a while about our capabilities, and he’s now requested a major proposal for a significant amount of work…”
Conversion through social media isn’t always so transparent. Usually, it works very much like advertising through conventional media: You provide a steady, frequent, and salient message to your target customers through those channels where most of those customers are, which eventually will prompt a sales inquiry when one of those customers needs your service.
The key in any marketing effort – including social media — is to assemble a campaign that makes YOU the one they think of first.
If you’ve thought about it, but haven’t yet made the leap to social media with your business, it would be our pleasure to talk with you about what such a strategy might entail.
At Slater’s Garage Ads & Audio, we help small businesses put a unique voice to their marketing through a combination of audio, video and social media. To find out how we can help you bring your marketing to life, contact us today.