If there’s one invention that’s divided business owners, it’s the internet. Data-driven entrepreneurs have embraced the internet with open arms, enjoying its mathematical nature and obsessing over its ability to turn math-driven businesses to the top of the heap. ‘Organic’ entrepreneurs, however, have often felt isolated by the internet’s mathematical nature and its inability to produce ‘natural’ sales.
Enter social media, and exit the ambiguity of social enterprises. Companies that were once almost completely organic in their sales strategy now have a way to calculate their customers’ worth – by using the hundreds of analytics packages available online. These two sales tips were designed to help you do the same – increase and optimize your bottom line though social media analytics.
1) Consider Sales as Your Most Important Metric
Some social marketers users obsess over their follower counts, their ‘influence’, and their ability to chat with other people. They’re somewhat important statistics, particularly if your business model is one that involves display advertising. For sales-driven businesses, however, they’re utterly worthless as measures of progress, value, and advertising income.
Focus on your sales, and how you’re driving those sales. It’s entirely possible that a Twitter account with just fifty followers has the potential to drive more sales than a five-hundred follower user. Take a look at your bottom line, and ignore numbers that are often superfluous to its development.
2) Micro-Test Pages, Accounts, and Promotions Using Google Website Optimizer
Testing isn’t just for pay-per-click advertisers. With Google Website Optimizer now completely free and built for marketers, monitoring the conversion data of your social media accounts is easier than it’s ever been before. When you link out to a promotional page, use a Website Optimizer link to split the traffic down the middle – 50 percent directed towards one page, and 50 percent towards another.
Then, compare the difference in sales across several pages. A brief period of micro-testing can often lead to years of proven sales techniques, all of which remain tailored to your industry. Regardless of the size and demographic makeup of your audience, micro-testing is likely to give you a significant increase in per-reader sales rates and social media income.
Jeannine Grich, CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, provides marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. For information about finding a VA, download her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or to learn why Social Media should be an important part of your marketing plan check out her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: https://accbizsvc.com/, or contact her at [email protected]
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