5 Steps to Social Media ROI

Just about everybody knows you can use social media networks to make new friends and reconnect with classmates from the past. But did you know you can use social media to bring you targeted leads and close sales?

There are 5 basic keys you need to know in order to see a return for the time you spend on social media. These 5 steps allow you to use social media as your lead magnet.

You want your prospective customer to:

1. Meet and engage with you on social media networks

2. Go to your company’s website for good useful information that you’re providing

3. Sign up on your email opt-in list

4. Receive and read emails and offers from you

5. When ready, buy your products or services

Using some simple methods, you can entice your prospects to walk down this 5-step path until they make a purchase.

1. Meet and engage with you on social media

This is the first step our path. Your goal, when spending time on social media, is to meet and engage people who might turn into prospects or referral sources. On Facebook and Twitter, you want to start conversations that get people talking to you. Making comments on other fan pages will bring you some “likes”. When someone comments on your posts, be sure to return a comment to keep the conversation going. The longer you can engage a prospect, the further down the path they will walk.

When on LinkedIn, participating in groups is a great way to spend your time. Join groups where your target prospects would likely spend time. Be an active member of the group. Start conversations frequently. Comment on other discussions. Remember, for every one person responding in the discussion there are many more who read only and never contribute to discussions. They will see you are an engaged participant. They will begin to recognize your photo when you are in the group and start getting to know you.

2. Go to Your Website for More Information

This step is all about bringing traffic to your website. You’ve had conversation with a friend or fan or follower on social media. Now you want them to visit your website, the place where you sell your services or products. One of the best ways to bring traffic to your website is by writing a blog post, and talking about the new blog posts on social media. The title of a blog post with a link to your site is often all you need to draw people in your direction.

Other ways to accomplish this are to talk about articles you’ve written, interesting product information, or FAQs you might have already on your site. Include a link so people can easily move to your website.

3. Sign Up on Your Email Opt-in List

You must have this opt-in form on your website in order to turn visitors into customers. Services like AWeber or Constant Contact will allow you to easily create a form and install it on your website.

With this form, your acquaintances can sign up for your free incentive, such as a free report, or white paper, or video. Once they have given you their email address, readers can manage their own subscription so that everyone on your list is a warm lead, interested in hearing from you.

4. Receive Emails and Offers From You

Now that a reader is on your email list, you will want to send them good useful content on a regular basis. I send good free information to my list every week. These are not sales offers. They are good information that my readers can act on immediately to pump up their profits with social media.

Use the autoresponder feature of your email list manager to create the messages that will automatically arrive in your list members email box on a regularly scheduled frequency. This allows you to automate the process.

Then, every fourth message, include an offer of your services or products to your list. This mix of 3 free content to 1 offer is a good pace for your readers. It allows you to build trust and make occasional offers that people will actually open.

5. When Ready, They Will Buy From You

Not only are you building a relationship by communicating with your warm leads through emails, you are also allowing enough time to pass for your prospect to decide they want to buy from you. Maybe the need wasn’t immediate when they signed up for your list, but eventually down the road you will make an offer and they will be ready to purchase.

The advantage of marketing with social media is that you will have results you can measure. By following these simple steps, you will be able to measure your return on the investment of time you spend marketing your business with social media.

Are you using an opt-in list with your website yet?

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