Social Media offer a lot of different ways to help and improve your business with social analytics and monitoring being just as versatile. Our Social Monitoring for example offers at least a dozen great possibilities for companies and brands to succeed in the social web.
One of the most important things is finding new customers and leads. Especially the public conversations, which happen on Twitter, are perfect for finding new prospects the elegant way. This usually is split in two parts: listening and communicating. That might sound complicated, but it really isn’t.
Here are four easy steps to find new customers on Twitter:
Listen
Social Media lives on conversations and it’s common knowledge that typical one way communication does not lead to long term success. But in order to find suitable access points it’s crucial that you listen “right”.
1. Monitor yourself and your competition
Of course it makes perfect sense to monitor your company or product and to have an eye on your competition if possible. Even if the amount of mentions isn’t exactly huge, it’s still valuable, because these are exactly the kind of conversations which are directly related to your area of business and shouldn’t be ignored at any costs.
Especially when it comes to service oriented companies (telco, travel, multimedia) it’s extremely valuable to know what kind of questions, thoughts and critique are expressed – you don’t find more direct and honest feedback anywhere else.
2. Keep an eye on related topics
Besides your company and your competition you should definitely keep an eye on topics, which are closely related to you and your product. Not every potential customer may explicitly mention “XBOX”, but may be talking about “gaming consoles” oder “gaming” in general. Pick three synonyms for your product and see, what people are saying.
Also interesting: Companies that are not exactly competitors, but also cater to your target groups. In the case of XBOX that might be gaming equipment suppliers oder gaming magazines. That way you always know what your target groups are talking about and can dive into conversations straight away.
Speaking of…
Joining the conversation
As we mentioned above, simple “You talked about me, here is my product. BUY IT!” does not work very well in a Social Media environment. You got to accept, that users don’t want advertisments just because they talked about you.
3. Talk like a human
If the community manager for XBOX found an interesting conversation, he better communicate “openly” and be as human as possible. Pressrelease-like talk has to be avoided at any cost, instead you should join the conversation as casual as possible and exceed the expectations of your potential customer.
For example, the question “When does game XYZ be released for XBOX” can be answered in a short an efficient way. But to be really remarkable he might offer some other recommendations, point the user to special offers or just make a little chitchat. After all, nobody (no matter how professional he or she is) likes talking to a robot.
4. Offer some real value
That’s common knowledge as well, but it’s important nonetheless: At the end of the day you win over customers by providing something valuable. In order to do that, you have to know your target group.
The average gamer may be a big fan of nerdy smalltalk, but the manager, who is looking for a new accounting software, might not have the time to chat. Here it’s probably the best to redirect him to a fitting blog- or Facebook post. If you add a nice “If you have any question, just contact my directly under 1234556”, chances are good that you just found a new customer.
But remember: In case you don’t have a fitting blogpost at hand, put the benefit for the user above your “pride” and redirect her to a third party source, if necessary. It will pay off in the long term.
Conclusion: Think long term
Social Media monitoring is extremely powerful when it comes to finding new customers, especially on Twitter. But don’t get to salesman-y. Every conversation you have with potential customers can make your brand more attractive, which will get you more leads in the future – we’re speaking from our own experience.
