Expand Your Customer Community with Social Media

by Andrew Rossillo
http://contentcrooner.com

The most successful marketing campaigns are those that create their own audience. Selling to an exclusive audience versus selling to the Web at large demonstrates a much higher prospect-to-customer conversion rate because you're presenting your business offer to a captive audience. Your offer is significantly more visible to a captive audience and they are much more receptive to your message because of the relationship you have established. How do you establish this money making relationship? Build up your social media marketing!

Social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, first emerged as a means of helping friends and family stay connected and conveniently update everyone on all their interests through image, video, link and content sharing. This type of online networking is what viral marketing is all about: A message originates from a single source and then spreads on its own, perpetuated by people talking about it and sharing it with others who in turn share with people they know. The original message eventually spreads to people who essentially have no tie at all to the people who initiated the message propagation. This is exactly why businesses have been increasingly interested in social media over the last couple of years, looking for ways to harness this potential for viral marketing and make it work for their business.

Among the top reasons why businesses have been able to achieve improved sales through social media is because of the inherent ability to influence purchase decisions. Consumers base a majority of their purchasing decisions on testimonials and feedback from their friends and family. As the product and service saturation of today's marketplace continues to rise, increasing numbers of consumers are looking to reviews, recommendations and experiences from the people around them in order to get the best values and avoid scams. If you succeed in getting people to talk about your business within social media circles then you've gained insider access and the people in that particular social network are more likely to trust your business and be more receptive to your products and services.

You need to be proactive with your social media to catalyze the viral process, mimicking the person who's the life of the party versus the creepy person who sits in the corner and just looks at everyone. It's important to note though that the life-of-the-party person is well loved for the way they interact with everyone else. No one wants to be constantly talked at and never listened to. Encourage interaction throughout your social media by getting your followers involved. Make it clear that you highly value their input and are nothing without their participation. Similar to how large crowds get bigger because they attract more viewers interested in getting in on the fun that everyone else is having, when people see that others are participating in your social media activities they're not going to want to miss out and they too will join the action.

Maintain a natural tone throughout your social media messages and be very consistent with your efforts. Over time, you will create a lucrative following that will supplement your business marketing.

Andrew Rossillo writes about internet marketing for Content Crooner. Content Crooner drives traffic to your website by giving you everything you need to create great content, automate its distribution, and track your impact. It's fast, easy and very affordable. Visit us at Content Crooner.

Article submitted Thursday, August 04, 2011 & read 17 times.

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