Can Social Media Really Net You Clients?

One of the most common questions we receive from clients is whether or not social media marketing can result in new clients. In short, the answer to this question is YES, but it needs to be clarified.

Social media can net you new clients, but only if it’s properly utilized. That is, social media should be used to help foster relationships with both past and potential clients, and should positively promote a company and its services. Indirectly, this positive portrayal can (and probably will) lead to new clients, but it must be allowed to do so naturally. Specifically, you shouldn’t push your services on fans, followers, or connections. Simply show that you’re an authority in your respective field, take every opportunity to interact with your audience, and be as interesting as possible.

Social media is where word-of-mouth travels these days. People use social sites to praise products, criticize companies, and help their friends make decisions about purchases. If a company has a social media presence, it is then able to interact with those individuals (both supporters and opponents) who choose to talk about the company while online. Criticisms should carefully be taken into consideration and publically addressed whenever possible. Remember, just because someone negatively reviews your company, it doesn’t mean that your company is or should be viewed in a negative light. Take every opportunity you can to defend your company’s reputation, interact with others, and your company will build a foundation that is respected and paid attention to by potential customers.

Think of it like this: the odds of someone stumbling across your Facebook fan page and retaining your services is very slim. However, if you regularly update your Facebook page with information interesting enough to create discussion amongst your fans, and you engage in conversation with your fans, people are going to view your page as a place where discussion takes place. Knowing this, people may turn to your Facebook fan page for answers, will associate your company as an authority in its respective field, and will begin to place more stake in what you say than they do in what your less social media savvy competitors are talking about. This in turn can lead to positive word-of-mouth, and ultimately may lead to new clients.

Remember, unlike your website, which is a basically a screen shot of who you are as a company and what you are capable of, your social media profiles allow you to thoroughly depict your thoughts, ideas, and feelings about industry-related matters. For lack of a better description, social media allows companies to be more social, and social is what people want to experience these days before entering into a business relationship with a company.