Social media is not just a fad, it is a very valuable tool that internet marketing specialists may use to build up their following, build up their email lists, increase links, work on brand recognition and increase conversion rates, just to mention a few perks. Monetizing social media has become a big priority for most internet marketers, and they continue to find ways to do this effectively, as well as ways to improve their online business like building up email lists and email marketing databases. Acquiring new customers through the social media channels is getting to be more and more popular.
Acquiring new customers requires that you establish and maintain a connection, and build a relationship with a prospect or potential customer. Social media is a great way to do this. If you think about it, realize how many people you connect with personally using social media. All of your contacts and connections get to see what you are up to, in real time, when you use social media. Using it for business is just as effective. You can instantly connect with all of your social contacts by posting or tweeting. Estimates suggest that there are over 3 billion Facebook interactions and about a half billion tweets that happen each day, and those numbers are only increasing. So you need to figure out a way to get your business in on that action or you are missing out on a significant number of opportunities to connect with others and build your email lists.
Traditional Marketing May be Fading
Techniques used in traditional marketing do not always translate well into the internet marketing arena. While the concepts are generally similar, you have to change the approach in order to make it work more effectively for an online marketing strategy. Acquiring customers using social methods is becoming increasing popular, mainly because it is such a widely accepted method of connecting with others that people nearly expect it and are more comfortable with this type of marketing. It feels more personal and is generally more welcome than a flyer in the mailbox.
Once you acquire the customers using social media and start to build your email lists, you must work to retain them. The process of customer retention is far more important even than the process of customer acquisition, though you cannot really have one without the other. Social media is not only good for acquiring new customers, but it is an excellent tool for customer retention, because you can connect regularly and establish a somewhat personal relationship with the customers, and learn about their habits and preferences as well, which will help you tailor your online marketing strategy.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Social media methods work for customer acquisition and customer retention, and for building up your email address database. But, just because it tends to work well does not mean that more is better. You do not necessarily have to be active on every social network that exists in order to get the best results. Often one of the social networks will work better for your company, mainly based on the social networks that your target audience is most likely to be using often. Pay attention to the demographics and make sure that you are setting your sights in the right place and working on getting customers from the best sources that you can.
Spread the Word Far and Wide
The beauty of social media is that is truly captures the essence of “word of mouth.” You can connect with not only the members of your own email address database and your own social media contacts, but you can truly connect with endless numbers of people through the contacts and connections of the people that you are already connected with. Social media tends to inspire others to check out just what it is that their friends and contacts are so interested in, and if that happens to be your online business, then you are really in luck because this is exactly how companies can spread the word quickly about their business, their goods and services, and more.
Developing great content will help you acquire more members for your email address database, because the content that you create will be more likely to be shared on the social media networks. Create not only great blog posts, but think about videos and pictures, too, because these visual pieces of content are often the ones that will get the most attention on the social networks.
Another great way to increase your customer acquisition is by offering contests on the social media networks. People love the chance to try and win something, and you will get more subscribers this way that you will by not offering anything interesting.
Customer Acquistion on the Cheap
One of the main benefits of using social media for customer acquisition and for building your email lists is the fact that it is essentially free. You do not have to buy lists or pay for any advertising, unless you still want to do that. Using social media really takes nothing but your time, unless you invest in the services of a marketing company to help you with your social media efforts. It is often a very worthwhile investment, since the numbers you get in return on your email lists and the conversions that follow because you are getting solid network marketing leads are stronger than the more generic leads that you will get from regular email marketing list campaigns.
Think of social media as the latest, greatest way to influence people and build interest in your company. Smart internet marketing specialists are definitely leaning in this direction more and more, as they see the return on their investment growing substantially.
Turn your social relationships into customers and ultimately into conversions and sales, by using the social media networks wisely. Build up your customer lists, your email marketing lists and your connections, while getting huge numbers in terms of visibility for your brand.