This episode is all about Stories, Instagram Stories and Facebook Stories, and how you can use them for growing and nurturing leads for your business.
In this Halftime Mike Podcast I’ll share key tactics and tips on how and why to use Instagram and Facebook Stories.
Subscribe: Halftime Mike on iTunes | Android users via RSS | Listen on Stitcher.
Social media is an excellent source for being discovered, reaching the right audience, getting new traffic and finding actionable leads. Facebook and Instagram Stories, new features that have taken off in the past year, offer the chance to create a great connection to your followers and would-be customers. Facebook and Instagram Stories can be a great source of lead generation for marketers as it provides a way to really allow your community to know, like, and ultimately trust you. Customizing content is straightforward with Stories, and you can use them to nurture new connections into leads and leads into happy customers.
Facebook and Instagram stories can help marketers convert leads to sales. But, you need to engage your followers and viewers over a longer period. It is not a quick lead to sale, or a one-to-one "post it and they will buy" scenario for the most part. You should be posting relevant content regularly. Most potential customers will start by viewing your social media Stories, if the content is interesting, and these would-be potential buyers will keep checking your Stories for more. Therefore, a key for you as a marketer is to ensure that your Facebook and Instagram Stories are engaging, refreshing, and entertaining to capture the interest of potential customers.
Stories are not about selling the majority of the time, they are about allowing a community who has interest to see you and get to know you over time. This is your opportunity to showcase who you are, who your brand is, and what makes you unique.
Hashtags are an excellent opportunity to ensure your Instagram and Facebook Stories appear to your relevant audience. Marketers can use Instagram hashtag searches and online hashtag tools to identify key hashtags that can be important and relevant hashtags to get you in front of the right audience.
Facebook and Instagram both offer options for creating polls for viewers to vote within Stories. Quick surveys are essential for giving you insights into what your viewers like and dislike, as well as to engage them and keep them coming back for more. You can also use poll results and compare them with the data you collect from your social media pages.
Customers want to know what their companies are like one way to show that is to allow them to go behind the scenes. How does your team go about their day-to-day work? What quirks and unique things do your team members have and do? What goes into making those fantastic products? These are just some of the things your fans are interested in knowing. Revealing some of these “secrets” via behind-the-scenes videos is a great way to quench this thirst and earn their trust in return.
One of the newest and growing ways to get the word out on social media is to partner with social media influencers. Influencers often have a large number of followers and if your product/service connects with the influencer, it will connect with their community and the word-of-mouth can really go viral. Marketers should find social media influencers who are relevant to the product and brand, that have an engaged audience, and whose brand flows with and is congruent with your company.
This is a simple way to be discovered by more users locally, particularly on Instagram. Using Stories and adding your location when posting or during live events can help you reach more people and ultimately lead to higher conversion rates. First they have to discover you, then they have to like you, and finally they learn to trust you...all of which can be done through Stories. Instagram and Facebook Stories are an excellent way to publicize events that showcase your products and engage local consumers. Use them wisely to increase traffic.
This can be overlooked but should not be. Both Facebook and Instagram offer Story creators lots of Gifs and Emojis to use and these can make all the difference A Gif added to a photo you share can catch the eye, capture attention and help the viewer focus in more detail on your message. Emojis in the same way help you showcase your brand style, your uniqueness, and they add value to any Story.
I highly recommend using Gifs as a way to further capture attention and then build the know, like, and trust relationship through the simple and often fun ways a Gif can add that extra enhancement that sets you apart.
As a Story user, you can and should look to re-post the content of your followers and others, making sure to tag them when you do. It shows a level of goodwill to your loyal viewers and social media influencers and helps to build a sense of community. It also promotes more shares of your Facebook and Instagram stories. It can be a way to quickly get good content to share as well. Inspiring quotes and user generated content in Stories is a great way to have content, touch followers, and further showcase your brand and style.
Instagram and Facebook Stories are simple, quick, and here to stay. It is among the cheapest forms of marketing that a marketer can use and currently one of the most popular and still growing in greater use. It's time to look deeper into Stories and experiment with how it can help you reach more of the right audience, connect with that audience, and ultimately drive more of that larger audience to you.
That's a wrap this time!
Please let your Twitter followers know about this podcast.
Simply click here now to post a tweet >>.
If you enjoyed this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast, please “go over to iTunes, leave a rating, write a review and subscribe!
Thank you so much for your support!
I’m an Indiana Hoosier native where basketball is the top sport. Every team heads to the locker room at halftime to evaluate the first half and create an updated plan for the second half. That plan includes adjustments based on reviewing what worked and what didn't. The “halftime” is a key review point where the game stops, the team pulls away to huddle in the locker room away from the fans, and they come out prepared and ready to succeed in the second half.
That’s what this podcast is all about, taking the time to pull away for a bit to evaluate, learn, and set some strategies for your business to succeed in the second half. Join me by subscribing and let me be your “business halftime” to help you find great success going forward!
Subscribe: Halftime Mike on iTunes | Android users via RSS | Listen on Stitcher.
Where will Mike be talking about Social Media Lead Generation this year? Next up:
Social Media Week Lima, Lima, OH, in June (largest social media conference in the Midwest!)
