Being Authentic in a “Fake News” World
I’m going to just cut to the chase and ask all my friends who are entrepreneurs and business owners these questions…
And please be honest:-)
- What kind of “return” do you get from all your social media posts and shares?
- Can you tie it back to your bottom line?
- How do you measure success?
I ask because maybe all the “Likes”, “Hearts”, “Follows” and “Friends” you get for your business … or your personal brand … feels good … (Yes, it IS awesome to be validated …because, let’s face it, we all like to be liked, it makes us feel good. Right?)
But wouldn’t it be much better… if all that time and money you spend on social media posting, interacting, trying all the latest hacks and trends …
…actually tied directly to your bottom line?
…actually boosted your traffic and conversions in a predictable way?
…actually succeeded in positioning you as an influential thought leader?
…actually connected you with your true tribe so you didn’t feel like you were just throwing spaghetti against the wall, and you know…
No kidding right?
I consult with a lot of business owners, many of them trying to build their personal brand and their businesses …
…and when I ask them if they know how to get a growing, predictable and measurable return from all the valuable time and money spent engaging people on social media …
Either they admit they don’t know … and yikes … that means they are leaving massive value on the table …
Or they have a general idea …which is interesting…but I’m sure you’ll agree is not a strategy.
It’s simple really.
People buy from people they know, like and trust.
Assuming we agree that developing relationships with potential customers and sustaining relationships with existing customers is a key driver of predictable business growth…
Yes?
Then let’s take the past into the future.
Way back, to grow a business, we may have had to hire a sales person, at $300,000 a pop. Most likely a dude, they got into their bespoke suits and their Mercedes and went out to wine and dine customers and make them feel special.
Fast forward to the new tech-driven economy, and customers expect those relationships to be built on social media.
Many companies make the mistake of thinking they can forgo the relationship part, and just create auto-generating inbound funnels … without taking the time to actually invest in authentic relationship.
These tactics may work for some, and for some amount of time, but the shine is wearing off the merely transactional sales pitch.
In fact, rather than companies selling B2C … consumers are buying C2B. They hold all the cards and evaluate brands and businesses by how they show up on social media. In fact, 92% of us don’t even purchase without validation from “someone like us” (that is, NOT the company) on social media.
Social media is the scalable new venue for relationship-building with customers – and a way to speed growth by identifying, cultivating and leveraging true fans to multiply the outcomes you want.
Now in the past, when our $300K man prospected for leads and sales, did he talk to the gas station attendant, the bank teller, the grocery bagger or the old lady at the deli counter?
No!
He talked only to those people they already knew were qualified to buy.
So back to social media: Why scattershot your messages to people you don’t even know … when processes and technologies exist to help you identify your true tribe so you are not wasting time talking to those who simply don’t care?
At Verifeed we had a dog food company client who had built up a large Twitter following. They posted every day, often pictures of cute dogs, and their Tweets were engaging and heavily shared.
The problem?
Our algorithms found that only 23% of their followers … owned dogs.
So they were spending long hours talking to people who would never buy.
They were missing the opportunity to truly connect with qualified buyers …
They were missing the opportunity to bond authentically with their true believers … so that their believers could be leveraged as influential customers…
They were leaving money on the table.
So another question:
How many of you look at social media as a way to find and engage qualified business leads? Develop relationships with them through to conversion, and use social media to keep them loyal and engaged?
The reality is this: Sales these days is about trusted connection because it takes a relationship to sell.
People buy from people they know, like and trust.
So take the proverbial ‘salesman’ out, and how do you find out on social media who knows, likes and trusts you?
How do you get them to know, like and trust you?
OK, so that’s the problem I’ve solving.
And the DATA is in!
Literally.
Verifeed has spent two years analyzing social conversations and our algorithms and processes have captured a growing trend.
Here’s a secret for brands, businesses, CEOs or Founders who want to grow their Thought Leadership.
The data shows that those who focus on developing sincere and authentic and personal relationships with the right people on social media outperform everyone else.
That’s right. By any metric: Traffic, conversions, revenue, earnings – even the valuation of a company.
We have a name for it: Return on Authenticity™.
Our data ninjas and social sensei spent several years studying what works and what doesn’t – and from that created a protocol and predictive scoring system called ROA™.
It’s a play on ROI because we’re solving two problems with ROA™:
1. How to get a measurable and multiplying return from social media…
2. How to personalize your authentic messaging at scale for maximum leverage …
I’m so excited about this and so eager to share our knowledge that I’m opening up a special offer to the a select number of entrepreneurs, innovators and experts that want to change the game on social media with me…
If you qualify, you’ll join 17 others who get crazy value from me…
- My personal attention and time developing your custom roadmap …
- A curated list of your top 10 influencers and how to court them to be your viral ambassadors …
- A psychographic dossier of your ideal customers …
- And so much more including your ROA™ Score …
I’ve created what I think is an irresistible offer for the right people.
To see if you qualify to join 17 others before August 31 (and apologies in advance, not everyone will) please check this out.
There is a short application to fill out (it won’t take much of your time) … and I can’t wait to work with those of you who want to show up with authenticity and build amazing customer relationships 
Namaste.
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