How I Secured $40k in New Business via Social Media

Last week was fantastic! The reason? I secured $40,000 in new business for my client using Facebook and Linkedin. Why am I so delighted? The new business was not for me it was for my client! There is no doubt $40,000 in new business would be a win for me, but to be honest I am just as excited for my client. You see, I had only been working with this client for one week. She had not yet applied the power of social media and really did not see how social media could help her business. So she hired my company to assist her. Wow! What a week. And this is how it was done......

The first and most important step was to learn about her business. As a social media strategist I need to know my clients business inside out. What they offer, target market, prices, visions, goals, growth strategy and budgets. There is little point designing an online marketing strategy if the response is great but the business cannot handle the increase in customers. I also feel it is my duty to become passionate about my clients business. For me, personally, it is harder to promote a business online if I have no interest in seeing them succeed.

We then look at what they client wants to achieve via social media. Is it brand recognition? Revenue? Building an online community for a local business? In this instance it was both brand recognition and new business.

Spotting new business opportunities then requires one very important component. The key to securing almost 80% of new business online. Time. I am sure others may disagree, but the moment I see a new post in the area of business I am promoting, I am on to it. Within 24 hours, 20 others would have responded. Too late. Timing is crucial, I cannot stress that enough. In the case of this client, the opportunity presented itself at 10.30pm, but I was on it. A government representative on Facebook was asking how to prevent something from happening in our state. My client provides training specifically in this area. In fact, she is a master trainer, with 20 years in the industry itself. I quickly introduced myself, and sent a link to the website. Within 4 days a contract was signed for my client to provide $30,000 worth of health related training to the education industry over the next 4 months. Obviously a fair bit of promotion was involved on my part, but it was all in the timing. 

The next $10,000 came via Linkedin. Someone in a group was asking for assistance with training in the workplace in the specific area my client delivers such a service. I was first to respond and within 2 days the workshops were scheduled.

I wish this could happen every week, I might start charging a commission! However, this is what creating new business using the power of social media is all about. What are the key criteria to securing new business via social media?

• Use tools that alert you to keywords on social networks (we like Trackur & Sprout Social)
• Know your precise target market
• Know exactly how much new business you/your client can handle
• Promote without being a salesperson (a fine line, not easy)
• Be responsive
• Do not promise what you cannot deliver
• Have immediate testimonials and examples of your achievements on the ready

I will not promise you will get new business immediately, or have a $40k sales week . What I will guarantee is that there is a clever strategy to securing new business via social media. Develop those skills and your business will flourish.

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