After 4 years of using social media to build my business, you can bet that I’ve made almost every mistake in the book! I want to share some of those rookie mistakes with you here, along with specific tactics, to help you seamlessly bypass any unnecessary challenges that might get in the way. These tactics took me years to learn, but you can take the lessons you discover here and instantly apply it as you build your social media sales funnel strategy.
Mistake #1: POSTING A DIRECT LINK FROM SOCIAL MEDIA TO YOUR SALES PAGE.
This is one of the most common mistakes I see online business owners make when trying to use social media to increase sales. Not to mention the quickest way to turn off the ideal client you’re trying to attract.
It’s all about perspective and putting yourself in the shoes of your ideal client.
So here’s the deal. When your ideal client signs into Facebook, Instagram or Twitter you must remember that they aren’t looking to buy anything. They are there for entertainment, to catch up with family and friends and to feel like they are part of something bigger.
They aren’t looking for the next program or quick fix product to purchase.
Please don’t feel defeated or depressed.
You can still use social media to grow your business and make sales.
Make no mistake; your ideal client is DEFINITELY spending time on social media.
You just need to discover a way to reach them that doesn’t include selling to them as soon as you meet.
The right approach will create a natural transition.
When you really think about where your ideal client’s head is when they are perusing social media it will become much easier to get their attention.
The question you should ask yourself is, “How can I get my ideal client’s attention in a way that feels natural and interesting, but without selling?”
That’s where a really solid FREE offer, specific to an area that they need support, will grab their attention and set you apart from everyone else using that platform, (a solid free offer in the form of a cheat sheet, checklist or guide).
Once they register for your FREE offer and they are now on your email list you will be able to properly nurture that relationship and share more valuable tips and strategies through an automated sales funnel that will lead to an offer to purchase your program, product or checklist.
STRATEGY REMINDER: Your FREE offer should be a tiny nugget of the program, product or service that you offer for sale. This makes the transition from free offer to sales so easy and natural because they are completely congruent and have what I like to call, “the golden thread” that runs through it all that ties it together.
Mistake #2: YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS WILL EASILY FIND YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA AS SOON AS YOU’RE READY TO OPEN YOUR BUSINESS
This is a throw back to the old Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams. Do you remember the most famous quote?
“If you build it, they will come.”
Don’t you wish getting clients that easy were true?
Here’s the scoop! Social media is the most powerful leverage you have as a small business owner to get in front of your ideal clients without spending a single advertising dollar.
That said, you must also acknowledge that the competition is steep and you need a strategy to set you apart and help you stand out in a crowded space.
“Get your strategy in place and they will come!”
Your social media strategy must consist of two things.
1) A clear concept of how you will set yourself apart ad stand out from other business owners doing what you’re doing.
2) A clear understanding of your customer journey from first meeting you on social media all the way through purchasing your highest priced program, product or service.
Here are a few posting guidelines that should help you reach your goal of connecting with your ideal clients through social media.
1) Branded inspirational quotes, (including your website URL), always make for great social media content.
2) Post a link and image to your free offer 20-25% of the time. (You are running a business so it can’t all be fluffy stuff.)
3) Mix up your posting content by including links back to articles you’ve previously written on your website. (Your website is the hub of your business so getting your ideal client to visit you there is a homerun.)
STRATEGY REMINDER: When working through both of these strategies you must realize that marketing your business is more of an art than a science. You have to be flexible, watch for changes on the social media platforms to make sure that your content is staying current and most importantly remember that getting it right the first time is a luxury limited to about 1% of the entrepreneurial population. Test, Tweak and Test Again!
Mistake #3: POSTING ALONE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WITH NO OTHER MARKETING STRATEGY, WILL GROW YOUR BUSINESS
The first piece of this mistake comes from not acknowledging that EVERY BUSINESS MUST ENGAGE IN SOME FORM OF MARKETING.
Marketing is the key to getting paying clients.
If you believe that posting a few times a week on Facebook will bring a steady stream of clients to your door I feel obligated to tell you that it will never happen.
Social media is a perfect leg to a well thought out marketing plan.
4 parts to a solid and profitable marketing plan.
Part 1: Social Media (We’ve talked a lot about this in this post so I won’t elaborate on this one.)
Part 2: Weekly Blog Content – This gives you the opportunity to connect with your tribe at least once per week.
Part 3: Automated Sales Funnel – This is a MUST HAVE in order to scale your business. To generate the kind of sales you want, to become successful you must have a specific customer journey mapped out, as well as the automation in place to execute it each time someone opts into your list.
Part 4: Paid Advertising – Once you put parts 1 through 3 in place, it’s time to really get the momentum going. There are many paid advertising options; Facebook, Google, Instagram or YouTube are the most popular for small business owners. Once the system is in place, drive as much of your ideal client traffic to your business as you can.
STRATEGY REMINDER: It takes all 4 parts of this strategy to see results. Any one of the four that is missing in your strategy must be addressed immediately. You will see bigger and faster results once you take action on this 4-part system.
Mistake #4: YOU CAN GROW A 6-FIGURE ONLINE BUSINESS WITHOUT INVESTING ONE ADVERTISING DOLLAR
Again, it would be nice if this were true, but the truth is that none of us have the number of years it would take to grow our business without paid advertising.
I don’t know what your thoughts were around advertising when you started your business but I’m telling you that IT MUST be part of your overall plan.
You can have great results on a very tight budget.
Once you decide to commit to paid advertising, (which doesn’t have to be super expensive by the way), you are well on your way to a 6-figure income.
This is why it’s so important to have your sales funnel in place and tested.
Once you do start paying for advertising you’ll know that your advertising budget will actually produce results.
You can commit to as little as $10 per day.
Imagine if spending $10 per day brought in 5 new leads.
That’s 150 new people added to your email list each month.
Typically you can expect 3-5% of the people on your list to purchase your program.
Let’s go with 4% of the 150 new people purchase your $97 product.
That’s 6 people, generating $582 in sales.
Your ad spend is $300 and you generated $582. A net profit of $282.00.
Pretty awesome, right?
I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want to repeat this automated process over and over and over again.
STRATEGY REMINDER: Remember, it’s not only about the money that you generated through those 6 original transactions that will help your business grow. You’ve also added 150 new people to your list that will be interested in purchasing from you in the future. Once you have this system in place you can just rinse and repeat over and over again.
Mistake #5: GROWING YOUR FANS, LIKES AND FOLLOWERS ON EACH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM GUARANTEES YOU’LL MAKE MORE SALES
Oh how I wish this was true!
Unfortunately, it’s NOT!
Well, not all on it’s own anyway. But with a little bit of preplanning and strategy on your side you can definitely turn your social media following into dollars in the bank.
So here’s the deal. If you’re building a business online or plan to use social media to get in front of your ideal clients you MUST take the time to plan your action steps and customer journey.
Stepping into your ideal client’s shoes is the easiest way to plan the customer journey.
For the sake of this lesson let’s say that you are consistently growing your fan and follower base on Facebook and Twitter. That’s awesome! Congratulations!!!
Here are your next steps…
1) Post your free offer at least 20-25% of the time as a way of defining your niche’ to your followers so you will steadily have those people opting into your email list.
2) Once they are on your email list you should take them through a series of pre-written, pre-scheduled emails that nurture this new relationship. Share tips, strategies, case studies, testimonials, and most importantly… introduce them to your programs, products and services.
3) Think through the logical steps they must take with you to get them from a new subscriber to a high-level client. (This works for ALL BUSINESSES!)
4) Remember to create weekly content with the most up-to-date information from your specific industry. This will continue to build the know-like-trust factor
STRATEGY REMINDER: If you aren’t selling… they aren’t buying! Owning a business of any kind requires you to sell. You can sell through an automated email series, you can sell face-to-face, you can sell on webinars and you can sell on a consultation call. The bottom line, and the mantra I want you to play over and over in your head is, “If I’m not selling, no one will be buying.”
There you go! 5 Rookie Mistakes Online Business Owners Make When Using Social Media To Grow Their Business And How You Can Avoid Them.
