Just this month, TAB released a Small Business Pulse Survey which revealed how business owners view social media, and how they’re using it to forward their business goals. Surprisingly, the stats revealed that most business owners (59%) are not prioritizing social media, despite its enormous influence on customers and today’s digital society.
Why aren’t business owners investing more time and money into social media? According to our latest poll, they’re having trouble measuring results. “Six percent of small business owners are still using vanity metrics (shares, likes, views) as a way to measure ROI for social media,” says TAB Chief Marketing Officer Jodie Shaw, “and 43% are not measuring ROI at all.”
AT TAB, we believe so strongly in the power of social media, we interviewed 10 entrepreneurs to see how social media directly impacts their sales. Here’s what they said:
Yelp helps jumpstart our business
With good reviews comes more business. We encourage customers to leave us positive reviews by surprising them with small gifts. For example, we send dog bones to our homeowners with pets along with a Thank You card. Not only is this very affordable, but it lets our customers know we care. Each gift is followed up with an email asking if they received the gift along with a link to our Yelp page.
We used Instagram to reach our first client
Rachel Coley, The Brandiful Group
By using relevant hashtags, constantly engaging with potential clients, and posting valuable information on our page, our first client found us! She left a comment under our post, and we followed up with her with a reply. Soon after, she sent us an email, and the rest is history!
Reddit resulted in a sale for us
Reddit helped establish our business as an authority in our industry. We began by offering free advice to fellow users via relevant subreddits. A few weeks ago, we had a customer read one of our many comments on a thread and approach us for work. It proved to us the value of using social media for business and the value of providing as much free information and advice as you can afford. We now have a member of staff who monitors our Reddit profile regularly to pick up on any leads that we might've missed. We currently generate a few leads per month on average through the platform.
We build customer trust by responding to their comments
A relevant social following led to five figures worth of sales
Want additional insight? Download Harness the Power of Social Media to learn more
I was managing a client's social media and fielded an initial question from a tweet. The interaction went on for about 10 minutes, and the person ended up making a purchase over $50 from the client's website. With social, it pays to be on top of customer interaction and provide timely and helpful responses that can turn into a sale.
We track social ROI by using promo codes
I post coupons on my social media sites with a specific code that isn’t offered anywhere else. Customers enter the code during checkout, which makes it really easy to measure ROI on each social promotion.
We sync email campaigns with social ads to generate sales
We find customers via hashtags
Snapchat closed a deal for us
If you don’t believe social media is beneficial for your business, there’s a good chance you don’t really know how to maximize it. Try some of the above tips to boost your sales via social media, or contact a local TAB board. A board of fellow entrepreneurs can help you better navigate social media, as well as your long term digital marketing strategy. Get in touch!