How to approach social networking to promote market business

Now let’s take a look at how you are suppose to approach social networking and how you should be executing the social marketing business plan.

1. Communication – The most effective way to communicate with members on the social networking websites is through direct messages or emails. When you mass email or spam email, you direct your message to the masses. Most spam messages never even reach the inbox of your recipient in the first place. In my opinion, if you send an email to 1 million people you can expect 5,000 to read it and 500 to convert. If you send that spam message to 100 people you will probably get no replies.

The goal is to build a relationship with the members on the social networking websites. Here is a plan of execution.

a. Before you contact a member, review their posted information and decide if they represent a potential customer or someone who could help you reach your potential customers. Send a direct personal message inquiring about the member’s profile or the member’s interest.

b. Build trust by communicating with the member for 2-3 times through the direct message before offering them anything.

c. Friend the member and have them on your friend list.

d. Get that member to help you with your business through incentives, offer the member advice on a subject or direct the member somewhere which in return, they will be loyal to you for your help. For example, instead of asking the member to promote your food market business, you can start a group specializing in the niche market that you are in and ask the member to help you promote that group. Members will usually be more interested in promoting a free service versus a paid service.

e. In a worst case scenario, if you took the time to communicate with a member to help you with your business and they decline you are still benefiting from this communication. The member you started communicating with will now know about your food market business. In result, they might deal with you in the future or refer their friends to your market stall. In a best case scenario, the member you communicated with will actually join you and help you promote your market business.

Use Social Networking to gain friends, not customers. People prefer to deal with people they know and trust rather than impersonal companies they find on the web.

2. Groups – By being a part of a group or creating a new group and naturally waiting for people to join it due to their interest in that group will get you a good head start with establishing communications with your members.

3. Value – Understand your value proposition.

a. Why would someone listen to you?

b. Is your offering really valuable to someone who never heard of you before?

c. Are your views inspirational to your prospect?

d. Will you write about your views and actually interest your prospect?

e. What kind of opinions do you have towards a particular topic?

f. Will you write about your viewing about the particular topic and actually interest your prospect?

The bottom line is why would someone find you interesting and listen to you? For example, if you sell bread or hamburgers on a periodic basis, and they are interesting to a potential member, that member will be your friend and follow what you say.

You must give something to the community before you can expect something back.