Is Social Media Any Good For Your Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel is an ongoing process where you move a prospect through a series of communications that build interest in your products and services, resulting in a best case scenario with a purchase.

Sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are called social media because people like to socialize there. They are generally hanging out to have a good time and are not usually looking to buy products and services. Even on LinkedIn, populated by serious business minded professionals, people are not usually looking to buy your products and services. They are there, however, and on the other social network sites, for engagement.

So does social media have a part to play in your sales funnel? It can be a great way to build a pool of prospects or leads if you do it right. But if you do it wrong, you can get ignored or even worse, have your accounts marked as spam.

Connect With Your Target Audience

Your audience want to chat, interact and hang out with people a lot like themselves on social media. Present yourself as a "real person" rather than someone doing business. Put out a lot of great content that answers big problems and solves real questions for your audience.

Offer Something Of Value For Free

From time to time you can use social media to build your email list and prospect pool. This is the first stage of your sales funnel and where these networks works best. Offer a free product or service in return for the email address of a prospect. This is the "meet and greet" stage of the sales funnel, where you let people know about you and your business. Keep the conversation casual on these sites during this process.

Once you have their email address you can communicate with them away from the crowded world of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, and bring them to the more personal, one-on-one, intimate interaction that email provides.

Use Social Media Wisely In Your Sales Funnel

Don't expect instant sales miracles from social media. Over the years it has been found that social media is a great place to keep in contact with your customer, and it does work effectively to collect prospects at the top of your sales funnel.

It is, however, not usually a place that is efficient for directly selling your goods and services. Contact, engage, inform and build interest, answer questions, offer quizzes and contests, but don't try to sell on social media.

An effective sales funnel puts your business on autopilot and consistently turns prospects into paying customers if you structure it the right way.



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