Blog | Page 32 of 34 | Social Jack | It's ALL About Who You Know

Jul 2017

Social Selling for Facebook: Two Easy Things to do Now to Generate Referrals

Those of you who know me know what my team and I do for a living: we train

Social Selling for Facebook: Two Easy Things to do Now to Generate Referrals

Business, Facebook, Social Jack Best Practices, Social Selling business, dean delisle, facebook, Facebook Chat, Facebook Messenger, social jack, social selling, social teaming Dean

Those of you who know me know what my team and I do for a living: we train and coach thousands of people globally on Social Selling through LinkedIn with our Social Jack Academy. We enjoy training enthusiastic professionals from Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and anything in between. What you may not know is that we also teach about Social Selling using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snap Chat and others! We create and share what we call “Power Moves” which generate appointments or referrals — not just activity, and this is key.

Social Selling is not platform-dependent; sure, our friends at LinkedIn made it famous, and we love it in the B2B space, but remember we see your Social Team as people connected to you, not only on LinkedIn. So let’s cover three quick easy power moves, and if you want more we will happily oblige!

Home page scan – or as we love to call it, UNE (Ultimate Network Event).

What does this mean? When you log into any Social Network, we tell you “think of it like you’re at an event” Pretty easy, right? Facebook is a gathering of people who are talking, networking, doing business, sharing personal info, but this is a gathering just the same. When you log in you might see some people you want to talk to and some you don’t; remember, you only need to talk to those you want. If you see a lot of people who annoy you, you chose not to connect to them. You can easily optimize this by either unfriending them (don’t worry, they do not get notified) or quieting them, unfollowing them (you will stay connected, but not their posts), or hiding the post. For me, that’s too much work; I either unfriend or unfollow. And this is just an example, I am not unfollowing my cousin!

Let’s do the Home Page Scan, it’s super easy. Scan your page for an ideal contact, and then simply “Like” or “Comment”; remember, it makes them feel good and counts as a contact with that person. Their network will also see the relationship, so if there are other targets in that network, they will see you, too. Then, if you decide to share with your network, they’ll love you even more. You know this because you know how it makes you feel. The key here is that if you are really working the relationship, then make sure you have the intent to get an appointment after the exchange. We recommend having two social media exchanges and then taking the conversation off-line (call, text, message, etc.). Which takes us to our next cool power move!

2. The Chat Hook – With NEW Facebook AI personal assistant

The ‘chat’ function is on the right side; on Facebook they call it “Messenger”. We like “Chat” because the intent is to be more casual and social, less business-like. The cool thing is that even if the person is not online, they will get notified when they are. What’s more, if they have notifications on their phone turned on, they’ll see it on the phone. You can also use the new messenger AI personal assistant to set reminders for each other; this is a NEW feature to remind people to connect every few days or weeks, for example. Then you both get a reminder to catch up and connect, which has a much more social feel. So remember the ultimate goal is the get the appointment, so jump on it when you have can, keep it casual and social like below.

For more cool power moves like this, remember to head to Social Jack, it’s free at the point of this article, however that will end August 1st, so jump on quick.

Remember if you are new in sales or an expert, there are people on the other side of the click, not bots or icons, these are people, just talk to them and decide when to connect for that meeting, build relationship and jump to the referrals (in our training we show more detail on this). Watch for more blogs on power moves, and of course we have over 200 videos in our Social Jack Resource Center. You can access our Resource Center by signing up for our Basic Social Jack Account, which can be found under the pricing tab on the Social Jack Homepage.

See you online very soon!

Jul 2017

Personal Branding – A Great Start to your Social Selling Journey!

As you begin to delve into social selling, know that it grows over time, so it’s not an

Personal Branding – A Great Start to your Social Selling Journey!

Branding, Business, Social Selling dean delisle, linkedin, personal branding, social jack, social selling Dean

As you begin to delve into social selling, know that it grows over time, so it’s not an instant process. In fact, in our training course, we go into 4 hours of building your brand. However, we know people are anxious to get started, and there are some quick steps to move into what we call the “personal branding of you” that we use in our Social Jack Social Selling Course. It’s a perfect framework to get started, and we think you’ll find these suggestions useful!

1. Know or define your authentic self (your story)

2. Know your ideal target

3. Identify relevant keywords

4. Update all online profiles and websites

5. Engage in relevant online conversations

Know or Define Your Authentic Self (Your Story)

Knowing your story is critical, and it is perfectly okay to start with a draft and adjust it along the way. Some people wait years to even start; the key is to pick a point and simply begin. Find some trusted allies that will provide feedback and even some subject matter experts to help you as well. People are very willing to help. You might also have some colleagues you work with that might have gone before you. Ask yourself this question: “What do you want to be known for?” Craft a short narrative, typically 300-500 words, this will help you stay on point. Catch yourself, you will want to tack things on as you go, make sure they are relevant. Stay targeted.

Identify Relevant Keywords that will represent you

When writing and building profiles and bios, we look at the story, we analyze the target audience, then we determine which words people would use to find you on the internet, how you want to be found. Sometimes the words are not always what you would choose; however, they are what people would use to find you. We have a whole course you can reference, for free, in our Basic Social Jack Account to go deeper into this topic. Keywords and phrases are typically made up of 1 to 3 words. The ideal profile has 10 keyword phrases, but it is okay to start with 5 if needed to get out of the gate. Once you have them, weave them into your story. We ask you do this after you draft your story so you can flow with your ideas before worrying about keywords.

Know Your Ideal Target

Think about your ideal audience, the people you want to attract and who you ideally want to do business with. This should be at the level of knowing industry, title, type of company, geographic locations, size of organization, years in business, whatever matters most to you. This can be tough for many of us as we sometime want to keep adding to our story; however, the tighter we make this, the better our story will be, and it will take less effort to generate new business or advance your career.

Update All Online Profiles and Websites

First and foremost, even if you do no go into social selling or career advancement, you should do this next step at least once a month for your own protection. First, google your name and any variations. This could look like your name + your company name, etc. When you google your name, you are looking for things that you are NOT aware of and making sure that all social profiles, websites and content are in alignment with your new brand (story). Look over at least the first two pages of your search results. The first things that should appear are any social network accounts, websites and high-traction videos. Once you have these, simply replace your old profiles with your newest profile. You might want to delete any old invalid profiles.

Next, set up Google alerts with your name, brand names, company names, etc. Have Google alert you at the frequency you desire, we recommend daily; this little free tool will alert you when your name shows up on the internet. I do this for my entire family. You will need a Gmail account to set this up, that is also free.

Engage In Relevant Online Conversations

Anywhere online — blogs, video, pod casts, social media sites, online news articles — make sure you get your name and your brand attached to the content that’s most relevant to your story and that fits the keywords you want to be known for. This will take some practice. You can also engage (like, comment, share, retweet, etc.) with the content of others. This will give you reach and visibility into their social network. This can only be good for you. See the 7 likes and 3 comments below; on average, this will reach thousands of views in news feeds as people keep engaging. Keep playing with this and have fun, it’s networking right from your smartphone.

In Summary

Remember you can start this easily now with these first few steps; it only takes a few hours to get out of the gate. If you don’t like where you start, you can make simple adjustments as you grow, just remember your other profiles. Also, remember to do this with others; you are not alone and nor should you be. If you need further resources, check our Free Resource Center at Social Jack. You can access our Free Resource Center by signing up for a Basic Social Jack Account; there are worksheets and classes available currently or contact us for a promotion code depending on the date you’re reading this.

We will see you and your story online!

Mar 2017

5 Psychological Tips for Selling on Facebook | Sprout Social

On – 21 Nov, 2016 By Jenn Chen We as consumers like to think that we’re above

5 Psychological Tips for Selling on Facebook | Sprout Social

Blogging Dean

On – 21 Nov, 2016 By Jenn Chen

5 Psychological Tips for Selling on Facebook

We as consumers like to think that we’re above marketing tricks. We’re savvier than when we were shopping 10 years ago. We use tools like price-comparison apps and budget-prompted push notifications to help us shop better.

Use consumer psychology to your business’ advantage. This doesn’t mean you use evil tactics to deceive your customers. Consumer psychology is all about knowing your customer’s buying habits. It’s useful for automatic processes (e.g. sending an automated email to a potential customer if they left a shopping cart without purchasing) or even for knowing where to place your call-to-action buttons on your website.

Set up Your Facebook Page for Success

Before we even get started on psychology, make sure your Facebook Business Page has been set up with all the necessary basics.

Here are a few key items you should check on:

Are your products or services easily purchasable on your Facebook Page?
Are your virtual stores linked? For example, if you use Shopify for your website ecommerce solution, is it synced with your Facebook Store?
Do you have a customer service plan in place?
Is it easy to contact you as a customer?

But that’s just the start of it. Here we’ll go a bit deeper by identifying five cognitive biases and ways you can use them for selling on Facebook:

1. Anchoring Bias: Set a High Price Point

Amazon offers a variety of Kindle models. At first glance, you see four models on their Kindle E-reader page ranging from $79.99–$289.99. If the lowest-priced Kindle was presented by itself, you would think that $79.99 is a high price for an e-reader. But since the high-priced Kindle Oasis is present, all the other options seem like a bargain.

The anchoring bias shows up most often on a pricing page. When presented with a pricing table, you lock onto the first price you see. This is often the most expensive option. With the pricing options presented next to each other, you begin to comparison shop.

How to Execute

If you offer a service, identify your best selling service. Next to the bestselling service’s price point, place one service that is below the price point and another that is above the price point.

An example of this in use in a pricing page is QuickBooks’ pricing page for one of their products. Note how the pricing table centers their best-selling service and even highlights it for you. Your attention is naturally drawn to the middle of the page, which also happens to be the mid-priced option.

To have a similar pricing model for your Facebook Page, make sure your Page Category is correct. If you offer a service, the Services tab will be available to you.

There you have the ability to set up the Services tab just like you would for your pricing page. Simply add photos or set different levels (e.g. Gold, Silver and Bronze) to help the customer pick out your recommended service.

In essence, the customer is like Goldilocks: your best-selling service shouldn’t be too expensive and not too cheap.

If you have a product-centric company, such as Everpurse’s selection of various purses, arrange products so the highest price is either first or paired with the most attractive photo. You want to have that product be the first a customer sees when they look at your Page.

Remember: Use anchoring bias to your advantage by placing comparable items around the one you really want to sell.

2. Hyperbolic Discounting (Fear of Missing Out)

We have seen the advertisements: “One-day flash sale! All items are 50% off!” Despite not needing the product, you lock onto the idea that you’re getting a great deal so you must have it now. This is irresistible.

Hyperbolic discounting makes you want items now instead of later. Even if it is cheaper to wait. Using this bias for selling on Facebook is easy if your company does not run frequent sales.

How to Execute

When you’ve built up enough of a fan base on Facebook with a high engagement rate, you can create flash deals.

Try to use flash deals in a variety of ways:

Offer a coupon code that only works for a limited amount of time
Set up a limited-edition product
Offer a bundled deal that you will never offer again

Takeaway: Grab the customer’s attention by discounting at an unexpected time.

3. Emotional Connections Drive Facebook Shares

The science behind a viral post rests on your knee-jerk emotional reaction to it. The more extreme your emotional reaction is to your post, the more likely you’ll share it. And the more often you share posts to the right audience, the more likely you’ll see that translate into sales.

In psychologist Robert Plutchik’s wheel of emotions concept, he identified the emotions that drive our sharing behavior. The inner circle denotes the eight emotions to think about when creating content.

How to Execute

For link-based content, appeal to the emotional side of your audience by changing up the headlines. Even if your blog post has one headline, it’s still possible to post the link multiple times with various headline tweaks.

Old: Local Woman Saves Her Cat

New: 70-Year-Old Woman Climbs Tree During Harsh Storm, Rescues Cat

Why this works: In providing more detail from the article, you become amazed at how remarkable this feat of strength and dedication to this woman’s pet.

Link-based content should also have attractive photos in place. Sometimes, the photos are all you need to prompt a share.

Takeaway: Aim to create an emotional connection with your audience through your Facebook posts. Instead of using marketing terms that sell to the customer, talk with the customer.

4. Stories Sell: Creating a Great Story

Storytelling might be the newest marketing buzzword, but having a compelling story behind your company will help you sell your products.

To understand how to use storytelling effectively, you must know the key components of a great story:

Protagonist: This is the hero
Antagonist: These are the roadblocks, often found while building a company
Conflict: There is an argument or issue between the protagonist and the antagonist
Resolution: The hero has overcome their battles and is now successful

How does this come into play for your company? First, you need to identify your own company’s story.

The entrepreneurial story of how ClassPass’s founder came about is a compelling one. She was mugged while waiting for a meeting and realized she wasn’t able to defend herself.

The incident kicked off her desire to learn defense skills, but building the company wasn’t without its own blockers. She failed twice before landing on a successful pricing model.

How to Execute

On Facebook, use videos and photos to share stories about your products or services.

One of the best companies for brand storytelling is Nike. Without having blatant product placement in their videos, they share the strength of athletes and the obstacles they have to battle to reach their goals.

Conclusion: Tell a great story with an emotional connection to the reader.

5. Value Time Over Money

In a research study conducted by Cassie Mogilner and Jennifer Aaker at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business about time versus money, they concluded that “If you can dial up one’s thinking about time spent experiencing the product relative to thinking about the money spent to own the product, then you tend to get … beneficial effects.”

With the exception of luxury goods companies, use this to your advantage by showcasing the time or experience the customer will have with your product.

A classic example of this in action is Miller’s slogan, “It’s Miller Time.” Instead of reminding customers that they’ll be paying for their drink, the company reframes their product as an experience.

How to Execute

When you’re posting about your products on Facebook, try and avoid mentions of prices. Instead, use storytelling tactics to show how the customer is buying into an entire experience.

Patagonia sells clothing but they also sell an experience. Their Facebook Page is filled with stories of great adventures, illustrated by videos and photos.

Takeaway: Reframe your products to showcase how they would be used. Would you rather see a photo of a product or a photo of it being used?

Getting Started With Selling on Facebook

Selling on Facebook takes time and effort by your marketing and social media team. To track your marketing campaigns on Facebook, use Sprout Social’s Facebook management tools to simplify your social inbox with message tagging capabilities.

facebook integrations collaborate manage

Additionally, Sprout allows you measure and gauge your Facebook engagement data to know what selling techniques work best with your brand.

Marketers shouldn’t be afraid to tackle selling on Facebook. And with the right mindset and plan of action with your customers, you can use the platform to increase sales.

Jenn Chen: Jenn Chen is an SF-based digital strategist, photographer, and writer who works with specialty coffee companies to make them look awesome online. She also has a penchant for cake donuts. Connect with her online @thejennchen & at jennchen.com.

Source:

http://sproutsocial.com/insights/selling-on-facebook/

Mar 2017

Five Steps to an Effective, Sustainable, High Performance Content Plan

On Tuesday, September 27th I will be traveling to San Francisco to speak at the Social Media Strategies

Five Steps to an Effective, Sustainable, High Performance Content Plan

Blogging, Business, Business Building Tips Dean

On Tuesday, September 27^th I will be traveling to San Francisco to speak at the Social Media Strategies Summit with many of my colleagues. Since a majority of you won’t be attending the event, I thought I would share an exclusive blog on a some of the information I will be presenting that day. If you’d like to attend the event in San Francisco and see more on this session, get your tickets here.

Whether you’re a beginner, or a senior level expert in social media and content marketing, your content plans have to better than ever. They should help you hit your goals and objectives. In my workshop, I will show you what is currently working with brands, and how to build and deploy efficiently.

Writers block can happen to anyone, below I’ll help you find five fresh ideas to include in your current, and future content marketing plans.

First let’s break down the fundamentals of content marketing:

We practice relationship marketing to build trust, rapport, an emotional connection and because, well, relationship marketing has the numbers to back it up. This allows our content to be more connected to the audience.
When we engage with customers, they’re more likely to buy from us (87% of survey respondents indicate that online social engagement with a brand positively impacts their likelihood to purchase).
Now here are the five steps that will help your content marketing plans:
1. Make a plan – figure out your main goals, your target market, where you want to be found, and what you have to offer.
2. Target – identify and clearly realize you are always in a conversation with your content, so make sure you know your target and your target is speaking to that target audience.
3. Commit – to engage with your new and old relationships, have ownership and a schedule and let them know of your content.
4. Value – always communicate how you can help others, how do you compare to the competition, what makes you different and what products and services do you provide?
5. Schedule and Launch – Create a realistic consistent schedule. Start generating valuable content, interact and engage with customers and prospects, build those relationships, and once you decide to start, don’t stop. Setup a schedule of success so your content becomes a place where your target audience knows they can come to for reliable, valuable advice and answers.
Implement these steps into your content marketing plan and let me know how the results are. We hope this helps you with your adventures in content marketing, whether you are a beginner or expert, there is always a next step in your journey.

At the summit, we will do a live broadcast recap on our SocialJack.TV program, so tune in September 27^th to get an inside view of SMSS San Francisco, meet keynotes speakers and even win in our prize giveaways. If you would like a free membership to Social Jack™ Training and Coaching, plus the program, click HERE TO SIGNUP.

Feb 2017

Miri Rodriguez from Microsoft reveals, “Don’t be a Social Media Watermelon”

If you missed the webcast that launched on August 9th that featured Miri Rodrigues, lead of community and

Miri Rodriguez from Microsoft reveals, “Don’t be a Social Media Watermelon”

Uncategorized Dean

If you missed the webcast that launched on August 9^th that featured Miri Rodrigues, lead of community and social support at Microsoft Office. In this session, we learned about trends in social care and what customers want from brands, understood key internal players that impact the social space and how to partner strategically with them to deliver a unified social voice to customers. And finally, how to hack social content to leverage multiple sources within the organization to take the customer through their anticipated journey in social channels.

You can listen to the podcast version here.

2016 Social Media Trends:

Real Time Engagement: consumers want you to engaged with them. Your customers are now looking for a response time of 30 minutes or less, this number went down significantly from last year when customers expected a response in an hour or less. This contributes from the fact that our attention spans are “like that of a tree frog,” says Miri.
Live Streaming Video: There are so many outlets and platforms where live streaming is now an option and consumers are now looking to not only follow a brand, but their employers also. It gives consumers a feel that brands aren’t robotic.
The Passionate Consumer: Consumers begin following company employers because “people follow people” says Miri.

2016 Customer Experience Trends:

Retail Stores Aren’t going Anywhere: Consumers want to be able to physically handle products. Think about Amazon Prime stores that are starting to pop up all over the country. Why would consumers wait if they could have it right now?
Say Goodbye To Call Centers: The call centers we know of today will be a thing of the past soon. With phones decreasing as a communication channel, chat (instant messenger, etc) are becoming the new way of communication. Consumers prefer this because of the lightning fast responses from IM. Which websites have you been on recently that have a “chat with an associate” now button?

Don’t be a Social Media Watermelon

The definition of a social media watermelon is simple: One the outside you’re green, on the inside you’re red. The assumption here is that by the look of it, watermelons have it all together but in reality they are a mess. When you cut open a watermelon you’ll notice the seeds are scattered all over, we think of these as employees who are not on the same mindset. In order to not be a social media watermelon you have to follow the 3 steps.

Connect Internally
Define Your Goals
Unify Your Message

Another way to connect to your followers on social media is to take a risk. Your audience will take notes on the type of content you are posting. Miri says that she often does polls on Twitter. Some are personal and some are work related. But in the end you are testing your audience and seeing what type of content they reply to.

You can follow Miri Rodriguez on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn. And as always, if you’d like to be watch these videos live—sign up for Social Jack today! See you online, and stay social!

Feb 2017

7 Steps That Will Excel Your business and Build Social Culture

Growing your company from in the inside out might be one of the easiest things you could do

7 Steps That Will Excel Your business and Build Social Culture

Article, Blogging, Social Selling social culture, social jack, social selling Dean

Growing your company from in the inside out might be one of the easiest things you could do for your company. In today’s world of employee advocacy, social media, leadership and transparency, companies are beginning to change the way that they act and feel in front of their clients. This is also changing the way we do business.

One of the most important shifts that we see is a new commitment by companies that have been talking about becoming a social business. We’ve seen this take on many different meanings.
But what does all of this have to do with culture? In order for us to be social, and in order for our clients to feel connected, we have to be connected internally first. The way we look at it, is that this is where the application of our Social Jack system and social teaming come into play. When we go into an organization, whether it’s from marketing, sales or culture side, we look to see how the company is connected together, before we start connecting them externally.

This allows them to begin to work together as a team but also be transparent together. This works best when there is a top down initiative, and the leadership is bought into the fact that the company will not operate in this fashion.

The great news about this is that you can be any size company, what matters is that you operate as a cohesive team internally, working together so that clients are connecting to you but also the brand. We also see this as a marketing incentive that we call “humanizing the brand.” All of a sudden, we’re bringing the brand alive with people from within the organization. So this does promote a couple of great things as we begin to take this shift and make this happen.

It builds a stronger internal trust between the team members and the culture.
It allows us to connect to each other’s networks for resources and visibility.
It helps support employee retention, recruiting, and career development.
And ultimately it helps marketing the brand through the people to the rest of the world.

So when we look at building a social culture from the inside out it has a lot of benefits although it has to start with training the core employees making sure the brand and the people operate in concert with each other as they begin to communicate externally. This we see as culture changing for any size business. Here are seven tips to build the social culture within your own compa435ny.

Top Down Initiative-leadership buy-off: Without support from leaders within a company, social culture cannot strive in the business atmosphere. To make this work, you must be enlightened and a reformist CEO. Another way is to make the business care internally by reverse engineering out of the company’s business goals. By doing this, you are showing how social practices can help achieve social culture.
Corporate Mission-: Quit overlooking the pages of the annual reports, today mission statements must be influential and inspire employees at work. Does this support the effort?
Policy-: Remember to educate your employees on what can and cannot be said on behalf of the company. What type of rules do you have in place at your business? A known social media policy is also important, remember what goes on the Internet, stays on the Internet.
Roles: Within a social business, roles become an important dynamic between how the employees help the business operate. Social media isn’t just for the younger employees, today it is key for all employees to utilize social media. Get online, get to tweeting, posting and snapchating away! Who are your internal champions?
Rewards and celebrations: Employees are the root of expanding the brand and the story your company tells, remember to recognize and reward employees on their efforts. It is important to create a culture of socially sharp employees.
Contribution: When employees show extra effort in volunteering to make the company thrive forward, it shows customer’s that the brand displays an authentic commitment.
Measurement: Every marketing company knows that they have to measure levels of engagement among posts. What are the metrics that your company is using? Which KPI’s (key performance indicators) work best and how do they tie back to business? A productive business will help employees become hard working brand ambassadors.

So no matter where you are in the journey, start changing your culture today so that you can reach more business from the inside out. Let us know if you need any support around getting started, we would love to help!

Jan 2017

6 Reasons Instagram Is Becoming The Ultimate eCommerce Tool for 2017 – Social Media Explorer

On – 01 Dec, 2016 By Dakota Shane Nunley We all know Instagram as one of the most

6 Reasons Instagram Is Becoming The Ultimate eCommerce Tool for 2017 – Social Media Explorer

Blogging Dean

On – 01 Dec, 2016 By Dakota Shane Nunley

We all know Instagram as one of the most visually appealing platforms on the web. With it’s visual design, Instagram has done for photographers, models, and fitness entrepreneurs what YouTube did for filmmakers: provide a previously-unavailable platform to a community of creatives. For these influencers and entrepreneurs, Instagram has been an absolute godsend for their business.

However, from the standpoint of most ROI-focused brands, Instagram has proven nonessential at best.

This comes to no surprise because what makes Instagram so unique also makes it difficult to monetize, convert leads into sales, and so on. I’m sure those who work at Instagram (and especially the platform’s mother, Facebook), know the downside of this chink in the armor of the social media giant.

But change is coming…Well, actually, it’s kinda already here.

A few recent, strategic updates could result in a tumultuous shift for the platform. These new features, along with Instagram’s existing design, could mold the platform into the strongest selling tool for ecommerce we have seen since over two decades. Period.

Here’s why…

1. The Shop Now Button

In early November 2016, Instagram announced it would be adding a Shop Now button (article here), where brands can link checkout carts to their products displayed in posts.

Here’s an example:

At the moment, brands like Warby Parker and JackThreads are experimenting with the feature.

Think about it: More than 84% of smartphone users in the US browse, research or compare products via a web browser or mobile app. Thus, when it comes to brand’s funneling money into a social media platform (aka monetization), what could be more powerful than linking products as they appear in high-resolution, lifestyle photography?

Note: If you think of any tools more powerful, let me know and maybe I’ll join you in creating it!

2. Instagram Stories

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Selling stuff takes time. It takes explanation. It takes contemplation. Why do you think infomercials are so damn long? Because it takes hard work for a consumer to gain trust in you as the seller.

Yet, the most important factor in selling is context. Social media mogul, Gary Vaynerchuk, goes as far to say “content is king, but context is God”.

When it comes to social media however, context is exactly what is missing. Previously, YouTube, Snapchat, and blogs were some of the only mediums that enabled users to nurture an intimate, authentic relationship with their audience.

That changed when Instagram Stories hit the market.

Now, Instagram has the potential to hold the same power, the same authenticity and intimacy Snapchat gives users.

I’m not saying Snapchat and Instagram Stories are now equals. In fact, one could reasonably argue Snapchat’s secretive brand will only gain more momentum as other platforms try to replicate it.

What I am saying though, with the addition of Stories, Instagrammers now are able to connect with audiences on a much deeper level in a Snapchat-esque fashion.

Which brings us to our next point…

3. Links Within Instagram Stories

Not only will Instagrammers be able to create Snapchat-like intimacy with their followers, they’ll also be able to promote and share content via a recent update to Stories: link sharing.

While this may not seem like a huge deal, it comes from a company that has lasted 6 years with only allowing one link per user at a time, so the update marks a shift from it’s original design to one eager to monetize. In a recent piece, The Verge told readers that Nathan Sharp, an Instagram product manager, said the company added links in Stories in response to the large number of brands using the feature to promote content there.

Now, imagine if you are an entrepreneur promoting your newest product on Instagram. Using Stories, you would be able to showcase your product, explain the reasons to buy it, then link up the checkout page so your users can purchase it right then and there.

Essentially, you’ll be able to host your own mini-webinar using only your smartphone.

4. Influencer Marketing’s Dream Child

If you keep a close pulse on marketing trends, you know influencer marketing is growing by leaps and bounds regarding brand budgets.

When it comes to influencer marketing, one of the biggest hurdles is driving direct traffic and conversions for the brands who are paying for it. At the end of the day, awareness is great, but conversions are the true marker of a “successful” campaign.

Because of this, most of the influencer marketing on Instagram has centered around generating awareness. This strategy definitely makes sense given the typical CTRs on the channel being 0.4%.

With the addition of links to Instagram Stories, brands will be able to measure conversions easier than ever before. Influencers can tag the brand in their Stories and link up their products they are wishing to sell.

If you’re a travel blogger paid by a brand to visit and review a destination, you’ll be to capture raw footage of the location via Stories, then link up your blog post covering the campaign promotion.

If you’re an Instagram fashion influencer paid by a brand to wear their gear, you’ll be able to scroll through the various products you received, link up the specific product page of each, and direct your audience further down the sales funnel.

5. Discoverability

In addition to all of the other new features, Instagram has also announced Stories will now be displayed on Explore.

The success of Google and proliferation of SEO proved how much brands will shovel money into increasing the likelihood of being “discovered” by consumers. On Instagram, if all goes according to plan, brands will eventually invest in securing high spots on the Explore tab.

In this sense, brands with similar products and services will now be able to capitalize on audience’s similar interests, making Instagram an even more enticing platform to throw money at than ever before.

6. Concision

While the other points made in this article are either features or implications of those features, this point is more high-level. More than likely though, it is the most important aspect of Instagram when it comes to molding it into the most powerful eCommerce tool we have seen in a decade: concision.

Instagram is completely visual. It is free of clutter. With only 87 characters before the Read More option appears in the caption, it is also free of over-explaining. Thus, it is up to the user to interpret the highly-visual content for themselves.

Instagram is a platform completely focused on mobile. On your smartphone, you can’t have 20 tabs open at once. On your smartphone, you can’t split-screen with two monitors. On your smartphone, it is just you alone with a single screen. It’s a much less distracting, almost intimate experience when compared to desktop.

Based on these factors, Instagram has forced creators to do what they do best: be creative. It has forced them to be succinct and tell stories through pictures, not words.

I would argue this makes Instagram the most formidable for selling products because it boils down consumer’s options. And what is the first thing any marketing course teaches you? To always have a clear, concise call to action. For this reason, Instagram would get an A+ in any marketing course.

Instagram is making moves. Big ones. Yet, with how fast the social media landscape moves, it’s easy to think of a platform’s new features as “just another new update”.

Taking a step back and looking at the big picture would be extremely beneficial for anyone who utilizes social media for their business, for their stock portfolio, or for enjoyment.

One of the many big pictures we are looking at here is this: if Instagram continues on this trajectory, it has the opportunity to become the biggest selling tool we have seen in the last 20 years.

Source:

https://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/cases-and-causes/6-reasons-instagram-can-become-powerful-ecommerce-tool-social-media-ever-seen/

Oct 2016

How to Increase Your Membership with Webcasting and Webinars

In the last eight years, we’ve seen a trend of membership organizations looking into increasing their users value

How to Increase Your Membership with Webcasting and Webinars

Article, Blogging EPI, webcasts, webinar Dean

In the last eight years, we’ve seen a trend of membership organizations looking into increasing their users value per membership. In the traditional sense, membership organizations provide education to their members in a variety of ways. Our Social Jack System, has been a part of that movement, where we provide a ton of education to membership organizations related to Social Selling, growing your business, career advancement—things that help us define what social media and social teaming is.

In our recent observation, many membership organizations are still in legacy mode, where their education is based on premise or at conferences, and have not completely leveraged the internet with things like streaming and video. Also many membership organizations have seminars and conferences to promote new members. A lot of times there’s education about the organization but not necessarily around the education that is provided to the members. The movement that we’ve seen, and benefit greatly from, is leveraging the internet for webcasts—which we have been involved with for many years and providing that education not just to the current members but to the perspective memberships.

For instance, we recently held a webinar on ‘how to grow your financial services practice with the use of social selling’ for Exit Planning Institute. This service was provided to their members and perspective members. The members that are “prospects” get to see the high quality education that is provided from the membership and then get test drive of some of that education and value the membership provides. We also allow space in those presentations so that the membership is able to explain the additional value that they provide when registering for a full membership.

We’ve been doing this over for 8 years and have seen a rapid acceleration of this model being used and the simplicity is, providing web-based information because people want to have a convenient way to get the information without always having to travel to conferences or events. This is also a great way for organizations to attract perspective members to their platforms.

While we see that this is huge movement and we’re seeing more & more membership organizations and institutes going in this direction there’s still many that have to make the move. The good news is for those organizations that this a proven model and it can help them not just for retention of membership but also increasing admission.

Our Social Jack System has a very specific recipe for effectively getting participation, filling and getting people to show up to the webcast. There is a science behind this all and it can be indicated in this slideshow.

We hope this opens your eyes to the power of Webcasts and Webinars to increase your membership and have people sample content en route to joining your membership organization.

Sep 2016

How to get your dream job in 8 steps or less

You took your last final two months ago, you walked across a grand stage and shook the Dean’s

How to get your dream job in 8 steps or less

Article, Blogging, Business, Business Building Tips, Facebook college, college graduate, diploma, job, social jack Dean

You took your last final two months ago, you walked across a grand stage and shook the Dean’s hand, and now your diploma just is collecting dust at your parent’s house. For young college graduates, the unemployment rate is currently 7.2 percent (compared with 5.5 percent in 2007), and the underemployment rate is 14.9 percent (compared with 9.6 percent in 2007). Employers are looking to hire employees who come through referrals. Think about the saying, “it’s who you know, not what you know.”

Pick your destination:
Before applying for a job, think about the location in which you envision yourself and where you want to work. This means you will have to decide which industry you will want to pursue, which company interests you the most or geographically where you see yourself. Regardless which one it is, you will want to pick that destination.
Targeting Individuals.
Next you will want to identify and name the targets. Make a list of what type of people would be connected to the destination you strive to be at. If it is a particular company you are interested in, connect with the employees currently there. A good starting place is to connect with the head of HR, and send them a message introducing yourself and that you applied for a position. You will want to have a clear vision of that target individual looks like. Within the target, you will want to focus on “hubs” or organizations that would contain those people. This would be associations you are a part of, your alumni group, chambers of commerce or past conferences you’ve attended. There all kinds of past involvement that you can tap in to for career opportunities.
Social Media Accounts:
Make sure to update your profiles so that they are consistently representing who you are as a person, and for where you want to go on your destination. Build your LinkedIn page to its maximum worth. The use of social media for for recruitment has grown 54% in the the past 5 years. A recent SHRM study found that 84 percent of organizations are now recruiting on social media; only 56 percent of companies were hiring on social media in 2011.
Current State Team:
Then you will build your current state team. Start by looking at everybody within your circle of influence and build a team of people. You then match those people with the targets you identified with.
Get Connected:
After that you will then make sure you are connected with that team on social media like LinkedIn. If these people are personal connections, follow them on virtual hang out places, that could be Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. This will be different for different team members
Stay Connected:
The next step is to pick four people a day to connect and have conversation with to then build your rapport and your connection with deepen. You want to let these people know what your destination goal is. By reacting out, having simple conversations, being genuine and authentic, you will have access into their networks and can connect with them. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask questions, because your end goal is to get into that destination, company or industry
Scouting:
Scouting for new team members on the professional side is seen as almost identical to scouting for a sports team. One thing that is easy but challenging for people is to let go of current team members who are not getting you to your end destination (Derrick Rose to the Knicks??). Thus, we have a scouting and drafting process in our Social Jack system that helps people bring new team members on board. We recommend that you go our Social Jack website and get a free account, and you will have access to the training we provide. It’s easy and fun!
You’re hired!
Enjoy the benefits that come along with getting hired., most importantly tak
e advantage of the snacks! We promise that if you follow these steps, and get into a routine on this, your network will ideally connect you to your ideal destination.

We’ve successful training over 100,000 professionals, (high school, college, graduate students) with this simple process yet if you stick with it, it works. Make sure to share this blog post with your recent college graduates.

Aug 2016

Microsoft buys LinkedIn for $26.2 billion: Good for business, bad for social?

In reading recent articles the last couple of weeks, it seems there are mixed reviews on the good

Microsoft buys LinkedIn for $26.2 billion: Good for business, bad for social?

Article, Blogging, Business, Business Building Tips, Social Media News, Social Selling linkedin, microsoft, social jack, social media, social selling Dean

In reading recent articles the last couple of weeks, it seems there are mixed reviews on the good and the bad around the purchase of LinkedIn. I have a few thoughts on this:

Microsoft has stated that it has plans to integrate LinkedIn and Social Selling into its existing CRM product, Microsoft Dynamics CRM- which is second to sales. I believe this is great for Microsoft but not so sure how it will impact the rest of us that do not use Microsoft CRM. There are also current LinkedIn tools, like “Sales Navigator,” that work well in the sales force. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.

My personal thoughts are that Microsoft is genius at wanting to own the data that LinkedIn has. The business intelligence that LinkedIn has from a social perspective of how people are connected and how people work and communicate together, there is nothing out there like this. Microsoft will be able to obtain social trends, social data, business trends, business data all blended together. I believe this is the main reason why they wanted to do this and also give new life to their new CRM products.
Microsoft has historically not been that successful when it comes to social networking or social media. This to me validates that now they’re seeing the value, and it has increased, of social media and social networking. Many people think that this is potentially the death of social media, where these platforms cannot survive on their own, however I believe just the opposite. Microsoft has proven the value of connection, which is what we teach in our Social Jack training programs on coaching individuals the value of their connections based on their own ROI (Return of Investment).

The fact that Microsoft paid $26.2 billion in cash for 433 million users, tells me that they found the cost per user came out to be $60. In our system, we look at it by value of user based on the ROI and outcome of the relationship, which is expediently more. The fact that Microsoft has placed a value on those connections, which have relationships, shows us that there is a value in social networks and connections.

So, connect with someone new today and you never know where it will take you.

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