Facebook for Sales

It’s all about racking up those likes on Facebook. From head bobbing cats to cute kids and vacation pictures, Facebook is the social network that people use to justify poking and thumbs up. With all those hand signals going on it’s easy to miss the fact that Facebook can be a fundamental tool to a successful sales campaign. However, with over 200 million members, Facebook like LinkedIn and Twitter are a part of an arsenal that will get not just your foot in the door but your burping cat and cute kids in too.

For some businesses the opportunity to connect with a customer base is not only a great way to tinker with how a product can be improved, but it’s also a real life measure as to the validity of the product idea, price testing, and securing presales. Essentially getting liked for a new or existing product means getting sales.

As sales professionals, we can immediately see what is liked, shared and commented on and can respond in real time to the comments. Facebook is a great tool to use to demonstrate a sales force’s commitment to the customer.

Audience

First and foremost, most people have Facebook. That means isolating the Facebook audience is like locking your product in a trunk and then sinking it to the bottom of the sea. So may sales professionals choose to ignore Facebook.

But, if you want people to know about your product then take it to the place that gets the most attention. Socializing on Facebook is being done a whopping 41% during the average workday alone. So why pass up on having a piece of that pie? Another great point here is the ease and convenience that a potential customer has by gaining access to you via a few short clicks. You know they’re already logged in so getting to your page is as easy as that aforementioned piece of pie. Plus, Facebook offers advertising with metrics so you can measure what messages resounded with what target audiences.

Get your Like on

Ever wonder if the “Like us on Facebook” button was a request or a demand? Regardless of what kind of statement it is, the “Like” button is a pretty big deal when it comes to getting you noticed. The “Like” button can be used to receive discounts and promotions, to get free samples of what you’re selling, to get updates on what’s to come and to get access to future sales.

Clicking “Like” is less about the thumb and more about the whole hand reaching out to potential customers and bringing them into the party. It also doesn’t hurt that more “Likes” universally gives the impression that you aren’t just some Joe Schmo with high hopes but rather the guy or gal with an awesome and relevant product with a plethora of supporters and backers interested.

Using the Like as a tool to engage the people in your network is one of the most underused tools in social media for sales and understanding its potential can greatly impact whether or not you can get additional untapped customers.

David meet Goliath

I’m going to play Captain Obvious and iterate one of the most important things to remember about Facebook’s impact on strategic planning for your sales and marketing campaigns: Facebook is bigger than you. And not just by a little or in a hard to tell way. Facebook is WAY bigger than you. The only two options here are to give it a go and hope that the biblical story wasn’t just kidding, or to embrace the beast. That is, guaranteed Facebook will show up in Google searches. If you’re in the top searches of Google then you will definitely be noticed.

There’s an Ad for that

Facebook isn’t playing any games when it comes to targeting audiences. Let’s face it; advertising a steak to a vegetarian just isn’t smart business. Facebook Ads allow geographical and social targeting of its customer base. With an integrated feature that allows you the ability to reach out to the audience you know will support and believe in your product, there is an unmistakable sense of fool proof when quantifying the potential for a killer marketing and sales campaign.

Winklevoss Who?

Because Facebook connects with viewers on a visual and emotional level, it provides the baseline for the humanizing of your campaign. Posts containing bright beautiful visuals, links, memorable videos and useful information are all part of creating a Facebook that is more like a staying page than a landing page. Posts allow you to connect with your potential customers quite unlike any of the other social networking sites on the web.

The experience is as impactful as you make it. Creating relevant content is part of what makes posting on Facebook such an essential part of your marketing strategy. There is also so much room to be spontaneous and fun by including contests and events that engage and enlist your page viewers to not click through but to experience what it is you’re bringing to the table. It can be so easy to get lost in a sea of other campaigns but understanding and appealing to your target audience will create a space of growth and functionality. Whether you’re racking up Likes or playing a city wide or web wide scavenger hunt with your FB friends, Facebook for sales and marketing can be an engaging and vigorous way of reaching out to the people you know would love the product if only they knew about it and understood it better.

Building, maintaining, entertaining and educating the community within your Facebook page is at its core what sales and marketing is all about. Community plays such an integral part in getting customers and it’s only right (for business and for morale) to treat them as such. So slowly step away from the monitor, take a deep breath, and ask yourself if Monkey Kisses Cat is the best way to keep your customers interested in your product.