Creating Social Media Personas for Your Sales Executives: 5 Strategies to Boost Your Brand

May 20 , Dubai : Client’s expectations are being constantly raised by the new possibilities the internet is creating. By making your sales executives aware of social media customer relations; you will not only be one potential step ahead of your competitors, but also be creating new ways to keep repeat and potential clients aligned with your business. Social media platforms are the ideal way to get up close and personal with your intended audience. Sites like Twitter and Facebook are forcing clients increasingly nearer to the brands that they invest with. Using these tools correctly is becoming the difference between a company’s success and its failure.

The abundance of social media platforms to choose from can seem daunting. Knowing where and how start can be a confusing task for businesses starting out on their social media journey. You must decide shrewdly about the right place to invest your resources and time. Twitter and Google+ are a great place for businesses to start. Facebook also reaches a wide audience, but with the recent monetisation strategies they have employed; can be costly without reward for beginners. The previous two however, are also among the most established social networks and have a large audience for your disposal. They provide many ways for you to network and engage with both new and existing clientele. The following tips are designed to help your company include your sales staff in your marketing campaign, and ensure that your brand gets the most from these social networks.

• FaceTime

Many businesses have already joined the hordes that have seen social media marketing as the next best thing to promote their brand. Having some sort of business profile on these sites is fairly commonplace. The next step you should consider is to create a personal account for your employees. Now this does not mean a replica of their personal social media profiles as you do not want your current clients updated on their latest night out or photos from childhood, it means an individual account which is specific to work.

To implement this strategy, it is best to use Twitter. In addition to your business profile for example, @My_Business_Name, you would create additional ones for your sales staff: @James_My_Business_Name. Having multiple sales staff engaging like this enables your clients to communicate directly with their representative. The benefits include saving time on lengthy catch up emails, prevent missed phone calls whilst increasing engagement and virality of your main account.

• Like Me

Social media is a far more instant form of communication. It allows you to get a response to your clients instantly. Impatience, tight deadlines and competitors who are quicker off the mark are a common cause of lost clients. Using these platforms correctly enables your customers to directly contact sales representative for answers to problems before they arise. The social element creates a bond beyond that of a usual professional relationship and you can begin to develop a friendship. The closer you are to a client, the more likely it is that they will stay loyal to your brand.

• Let’s Hangout

Google + Hangouts allow you to video conference call anything up to nine people instantaneously. This can be incredibly beneficial to sales staff with a busy schedule. Used effectively, Hangouts will save your company both time and money. For example, instead of lengthy sample mail-outs, you can use this facility to implement product promotions. Instead of sending out individual items to clients, you can contact multiple people with a range of items in one sitting. It is a way to chat about ideas, propose pitches and even contact multiple branches of one company at the same time.

• Keep Alert

Google and Twitter have facilities to guarantee that you never miss out on relevant keywords clients are searching for. By creating both Twilerts and Google Alerts you can receive notification straight to your inbox. Choose relevant keywords to be alerted of, and you will know when a potential customer needs a specific product, service or even if they are just admiring your brand. It is a brilliant way to keep ahead of trends and can also be used to develop new products or concepts before clients even approach you about it.

• Share This Page

Developing an online persona is only useful if the people, who need to know about it, do. Promotion is the key to this, and small additions such as including your profiles in your email signature and on business cards, make a big difference. The majority of people are engaged in some form of social media; so start interacting today!

Finally, you must always remember that these platforms should be used slightly differently to traditional marketing. Social marketing is exactly that: ‘social’. Use it as a way to humanise yourself to customers. Humour and friendship should be at the forefront of your mind, as these networks have considerably more down time than other forms of communication. It is your chance to engage with people longer and more personally than ever before.