Business Coaching

Thanks to social media, the rules of marketing have changed. Every celebrity, athlete, political figure, and business is using social media to their advantage (and sometimes to their disadvantage). Yes, used incorrectly, it can burn you, but it is a potential goldmine, so if your business isn’t using it, what are you waiting for?

You may have a profile setup for your business on Facebook, but are you using real time social media like Twitter? Twitter can be a powerful ally for your business, so here are some rules you can use to get the most out of your Twitter account.

1.    Determine your goals
You can’t start without the end in mind, so you need to figure out what you want to get out of using Twitter. Some companies are using it to sell products or as a customer service tool. Some use it as a lead generator. Like anything else you do in your business, you need to make a plan with benchmarks so you can test and measure your success. Your goals should be based on what type of business you have and what type of customers you want to attract.

2.    Do you research
Research is one key to finding out what the trends are in the world of Twitter. Research what the major brands and your compactors are doing and then mimic with a twist by adding your own personal touch to your tweets.

Also, research to find what your specific customer wants to see. If you work in a retail shop ask customers directly what they want to see from your brand. Don’t assume you already know, go straight to the point-of-contact and get the real information.

3.    Personalize your profile
Each business is unique and so the face of your Twitter should be as well. You should have a specific look to fit your brand that will leave an impression on your customers. If the look and feel matches your tweets it gives your customer a more personal touch, creating a connection between your business and them.

This means that the point of your profile shouldn’t be to simply push promotional material. If your customer feels like you are a robot then they will reject you and the brand, so keep it fun and informative.

4.    Follow your followers
Twitter is different than other social media in that, to get followers you must follow. Follow the people you would want to follow your brand. Then and only then can your brand go viral.

So are you using Twitter in your business and what are you doing with it?

What comes first, building your brand or generating leads?

Many businesses believe that if you build your brand well enough, leads will inevitably follow, but in reality the opposite is true. If you can generate enough leads and convert those leads into customers, your business will grow.

This situation is a trap that many business owners are in. They advertise in hopes of building their brand, when in reality, they should be advertising with the goal of generating as many leads as possible.

Advertising is a necessity for any small business today although some still don’t or won’t advertise because they don’t know how to get the proper return on investment with their advertising.

Throwing good money after bad won’t create a strong advertising campaign, but studying the needs of your customers and speaking to those needs while testing and measuring the results will.

The problem with advertising is that most businesses don’t know where their resources go or what the return on investment is.

You can try virtually any kind of campaign, as long as you’re speaking to the needs of your target market and testing and measuring along the way. When you test and measure you can cut your losses when certain strategies aren’t working or continue to ride the wave when they are.

Simply take 10% of what you expect your total ad spend to be and run some test ads to see what kind of response you get.

If you get a response, continue with and run the campaign.

If you don’t, kill it now before you waste any more money, then go back and develop a new ad or campaign to test.

That way you know if your campaign is working based on the number of leads it generates.

To test and measure your advertising, a system has to be put in place.  Over the course of a campaign you should measure the number of enquiries made, the number of sales made as well as your conversion rate, or the difference between the number of people who bought from you and those who just visited your store but didn’t buy.

From the figures collected during this testing period, you can tell whether to change, adjust or re-run your advertising to get the best result.

This way will save you and your business a lot more money in the long run putting a different slant on the old adage, “It pays to advertise”.

Just remember that your goal isn’t some random idea of building your brand, but the actual end results of lead generation.