Social Sales: From Conversation to Conversion

In the past few years the emergence of social media has changed everything about business. The very public voice of the consumer has prompted a shift from brand dictatorship to customer democracy. If anything, the customer is now king and for brands, it’s all bow to the new king.

Social Care, Social CRM, Social Intelligence and Social Sales

In recent years, brands have been grappling with this new medium learning how to use it and incorporate it into their business model. However, the next wave is already here in what is a revolution in how businesses do business. Brands are turning their attention to Social Customer Care, Social CRM, Social Intelligence and Social Sales.

The Online Buying Cycle

In this blog, I’m concentrating on Social Sales. So what is it? Social Selling is about recognising the change in the buying cycle, how it is controlled by informed and highly connected consumers who conduct their research online and source out peer reviews before committing to a purchase. By the time this savvy online user gets to the sales person, he knows quite a bit about the product he wants and the company he’s thinking of buying from.

Did you know, up to 70% of the online buying journey is completed before a customer engages with a sales person?

However, it doesn’t mean brands can sit back and wait for the phones calls to roll in. For a brand to be a part of this new customer buying journey it requires adapting how they sell. Instead of the old hard sell methods once used, it’s now about helping online consumers reach their buying decision – preferably in your favour.

Inspire Confidence

For a brand to do this means creating rich content that captures the attention of the online user when at the research stage. Rich content is blogs, video, text, and images. A professional online presence is also needed if wanting to inspire confidence in the brand. If using Facebook, there is a raft of apps available to use -off the shelf or customised. A good Facebook landing page is an excellent way to give the new visitor an introduction to your company or highlight a promotion. Equally, if selling products, you can have an online shop on another page creating a seamless buying experience for the user – all from your Facebook page.

: Lyons Facebook Landing Page

From Conversation to Conversion

If you’re already successfully attracting online visitors to your social sites, it makes it easier to move from conversations to conversions. People buy from brands they trust and trust starts when there is engaging content and a nurturing of consumer relationships. It’s not rocket science, just a different way of doing business. Social Selling works. Question is, are you ready?

If you or your team need help developing a social marketing strategy for your business or would like to hear more about Facebook Apps, contact me using details below.

To your online success!