E-commerce arrived on the scene completely disrupting the traditional sales cycle, and still continues to evolve and grow at a rapid pace. Now it merges with social media to create a new category of social selling and social commerce. No longer is social media purely a marketing tool, a business networking arena, or a personal hub, it has morphed into a sales tool that can generate leads and creates sales, if used to its full potential.
Do all businesses need a social media presence?
82% of the world’s online population can be reached by social networking sites (Comscore), this gives businesses a big pool of prospects and customers ready to share their buys, feedback and recommendations. Social selling is a multidimensional platform that encompasses business growth, brand loyalty, targeted marketing and a wealth of customer insights.
Many of Actinic’s clients, such as Commencal an international bike manufacturer, have seen the benefits of social selling “We release our new catalogue items and current offers on our Facebook page in real-time. This acts as a space for sharing, getting to know our customer base and valuable recommendations,” says Max Commencal, CEO of Commencal. The amount being invested into social media is a sign in itself that big companies are taking this seriously. Forrester research predicts a compound annual growth rate of 10.5% for social media marketing spend, £2.1bn this year, with a predicted figure of £3.4bn by 2019.
How can a business get started?
In order to correctly target the right audience, it is important to first take a look at what is being said on social media, which will give you a better idea of what content to post on each respective channel. The principal idea of social media platforms are all relatively similar, where the aim is to be always able to share relevant content to a target audience and in-turn convert them into sales, without the hard-sell of targeted calls, mailings and face-to-face meetings. Facebook enables conversations, you can incentivise, share and use the ad platform to drive traffic, “Facebook represents an important promotional tool and allows the Commencal community to connect. Users are constantly posting videos and sharing experiences, which in turn emphasises the quality of our products. Over 77,000 fans share a passion for bikes, and they have immediate access to our latest products,” added Max Commencal.
The buying and sales process is changing and customers are increasingly dictating buying trends. Sirius Decisions, a leading global B2B research and advisory firm, identified that 70% of the buyer’s decision is already made before they talk to a sales person, which means businesses need to ensure that information is readily available to potential customers. Social media experts, Bazaarvoice say that 84% of Millennial consumers (those born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s) say customer-written content on brand sites influences what they buy. “Our customers are digital savvy and very present on social networks: in one click we posted our shop on Facebook and made our products available to a few extra thousand potential buyers. We now have more than 2,700 active followers, who comment regularly and share our news, products and special offers,” says Emilie Desportes, CEO of The Candle Store, Scotland’s Oldest Candle Manufacturer.
How much does a business need to invest in social media to see a real ROI?
It can seem like a black hole in terms of the cost and time it takes but this doesn't need to be the case. According to a report by Smart Insights, 33% of marketers say that organic use of social media drives ‘significant volumes of leads and sales at an acceptable cost per acquisition.’ When consumers have already followed you on social media, liked a page or followed a feed, half the marketing is already done before they even walk into a physical store. “Nearly 80% of customers who come to our high street store heard about us online!” adds Desportes. After spending just 6 hours a week on social media marketing, 75% of marketers and small businesses reported an increase in their site traffic, while more than 64% generated an increase in leads, reports social media agency We Are Social.
Businesses can no longer afford not to embrace social media. With a social media presence businesses increase confidence in their brand, foster brand loyalty and create engagement. It builds more profitable business relationships, gives pertinent insight into a business’s audience and a wealth of key data about them that enables you to accurately target the right audience at the right time.
By Marc Schillaci, CEO and Founder of Actinic (Part of the Oxatis Group)
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