Atelier Blog

Companies around the world are forever launching marketing campaigns aimed at tantalising more customers through the door to increase sales and promote their brands. Some of these campaigns will be highly successful, driving brand awareness, increased sales and ultimately enhanced profits. An example of one of these is if you were to hear someone say “Probably the best lager in the world” you would most certainly think of Carlsberg. Likewise, “Every little helps…” and you’re now thinking Tesco…

At this point it is worth noting that these companies will spend hundres of thousands, perhaps even millions on colossal national and international marketing campaigns. Most UK businesses simply cannot afford to invest in marketing initiatives of this scale. So how do you make your voice heard to a large audience on a more modest marketing budget? Put simply, your answer lies in social media marketing

A huge number of social media websites are free to use and have the potential to generate significant marketing exposure. So it doesn’t really matter any more if you’re a one man band selling fishing tackle or a multinational financial services conglomerate. Here I will explain how you can use these tools to target more sales cost effectively.

Many business owners I have spoken with seem convinced that social media marketing does not lead to a direct increase in sales figures. That statement just simply isn’t true and here are some examples of well known and established brands to support my argument. Firstly, Dell. Dell computers attributed £3million dollars worth of increased sales to their presence on Twitter. Secondly, Sony. Sony announced in February that Twitter accounted for £1million of their sales. Yes, these are two multinational super powers with established brands and reputations. So what about the smaller fish?

Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV tells a story of him paying good money for a billboard advert in New Jersey with a promotional code for free shipping of his wines. He also logged on to Twitter and posted the same offer. A month later the very expensive billboard advert had produced a hundred or so sales. Twitter on the other hand generated thousands. The best part of his story is that Gary paid nothing for his Tweet… Now that’s what I call return on investment! Gary transformed his business from turning over $5million to $50 million using the power of Social Media alone. Another example is John Fluevog Boots & Shoes Ltd, a small shoe making company based Canada, who reported a 40% increase in sales in 2009, the same year it started social media marketing. Was this coincidence? I have a hard time believing it!

If you think about it, a television advert will only reach the people watching it at the time it is aired. What’s more you have no opportunity to engage and interact with the consumer. A tweet can reach millions of people very quickly. If a company were to regularly tweet their latest offers, their consumers can keep up to date by following the company and the tweets they post, allowing for sales to grow and the brand to gain increased awareness and reputation. People can also reply to your tweets, enabling you to gain customer insight and engage with your audiences in discussions about your brand, your products and much more. This can forge strong bonds between the consumer and your brand which a TV advert can only dream of.

Social media marketing is a viral strategy. Word of mouth is often what small start-ups initially rely on – people telling their friends of a great experience, product or service. Social media works in a similar way. Twitter and Facebook use “friends” to make connections between users. It is likely that of the 120 friends the average Facebook user has, 50% of them will share similar interests, tastes and hobbies. When a Facebook user comments, likes or becomes a fan of your company it will be displayed to his friends in a newsfeed. We know that roughly half of his or her friends or connections on facebook share similar interests who also become a fan and so it perpetuates. You now start to realise and get excited about how much power, influence and access to customer insight lies at your finger tips!

Continuous use of social media over time creates brand awareness and thus helps to increase sales. If you were to gain one hundred followers on Twitter, it’s a hundred more people who now know about your brand, promotions and offers, and who may suggest you to their friends, visit the website or use other social media outlets to mention your brand. Over time traffic increases to your website which increases its value and your bottom line.

Many factors can lead to increased sales and brand awareness is only one. But what I hope this article has demonstrated is that by creating brand awareness through social media, you can have a considerable impact on your audiences’ awareness of your business and the revenues that follow from this.

You can find out how to tweet effectively by reading my previous article entitled “The Art of Tweeting”.

By Tom Clifford