Convincing clients to go along for the digital ride

The digital age has been serving as an incubator for fast-growing businesses and social media is undoubtedly at the forefront of every market plan. These platforms have existed for over a decade, but their impact then was a mere fraction of what we see today.

Moreover, businesses were not a part of these oh-so-happening platforms, initially built to connect with friends but which are now much more than just about communicating. In fact, most of them have now been rebuilt to accommodate businesses with enterprise-friendly layouts and functionality.

What’s more, your business is not only heard of by a larger audience but can also be viewed, with the percentage of video views booming over the last year. That pretty much explains why social media has a real impact on consumer purchase decisions.

And this is also why businesses have entered the zone earlier reserved for the ‘friends’ of their target audiences. Social media now is a place to “live–work–network”, and I say so because today somebody is likely to forget his wallet but won’t leave his house without his cell (it’s pretty much an extension to your body).

With smartphones having the ability to connect you to social media anywhere-anytime, it’s bound to be an integral part of your life.

To provide you a gist of the impact, let me give you the statistics of how many people actively use some of the prime social media sites. Facebook tops the charts with over 1.44 billion active users monthly, Twitter has over 284 million monthly actives and Instagram 300 million plus. These are only three of the social media giants.

The highlight of making yourself available to this vast prospective audience is that you can reach them wherever they are thanks to the advancement of smartphones. It is the most eco-friendly and economical means of marketing and way cheaper than any ATL (above-the-line) or BTL (below-the-line) spend channels.

While social media can be a great way of tapping a large audience, the challenge is learning to use the channels the way consumers want to use them and — subsequently — how the businesses use them.

Given the extensive impact, most businesses dive into social media and hope to acquire more customers and greater sales. Motivating the audience to convert them into loyal customers is a skill. You need to change the one-way conversation and engage fully with your audience.

The content you upload needs to inspire them and advocate on your behalf. Consumers do not use social media to just look for products, they are also there to make conversations and connections.

Businesses need to use it to their advantage. As a matter of fact, an integral part of the sales process is to know your customer and establish relationships (an age-old practice).

It turns out that social media can help you achieve this quicker and more easily.

Social media could be a really smart selling tool only if your customers are using it. If they are spending their time elsewhere, you’re clearly wasting yours.

You need to do a thorough study to determine which space is best for connecting and interacting with your prospects. You don’t buy a hammer to drive a nail in a piece of wood, but to build a bench.

So how do you target the ‘ready to buy’ segment instead of people just “browsing”? The answer is you don’t.

Just make your product known through social media and your consumer’s purchasing decisions are influenced by what you render and how you portray it.

More than 50 per cent of the audience would only see your ad and save it. So, social media should be used to introduce your product to the customer.

The number of followers on your page increases your credibility. Also, people tend to believe in and support a product if they can connect with the real people behind it.

Though you may not have too many enquiries on your social media page, this is definitely leading to a greater footfall to your store.

Basically, the whole buzz can be termed true because directly or indirectly it does help you build brand awareness, thereby adding to the brand building and bottom-line.

The writer is the Managing Director of BuyDoBuy Advertising LLC and Diplomats Summit Ltd, UK.