“You like me, right now, you like me!”
Those lines were famously uttered by Sally Field in 1985 as she accepted the Oscar for best actress in the movie “Places in the Heart.” However, she is often misquoted as saying “you like me, you really like me.” Either way, it feels good to be liked!
How often do you look at your Facebook and/or Twitter pages and get all gooey about the number of fans or followers you have? If you are using that metric as a measurement of success, you will eventually be sorely disappointed in your social media efforts. Being liked is nice, but it’s just the first step in turning your fans into customers.
Once you’ve built trust with your audience, the ultimate goal is to move identified leads to a website or sales page. Here are several steps you can take:
- Facebook App. Have a sweepstakes, contest, or a free e-book offer. Facebook Apps are a nice way to convert fans to leads because the users don’t have to go outside of Facebook to participate with your brand. Right in the App they can opt in to receive future communication from you.
- Email Marketing. Now that you have their permission to reach out to them, send your leads occasional emails. Careful, though. Don’t go for the throat just yet! Balance your email messages so you have a fine mix of engaging content and sales messages.
- Host a Webinar. People love to get free information. Invite your strongest leads to a webinar on a subject that is important to them. Offer to help them solve their problems with a question-and-answer session. This sets you up as the expert and a problem solver, all in one.
Sally Field was able to leverage all those people who liked her into a lifelong, and fruitful acting career. Who knows, it may even lead her to another Academy Award for her portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln in this year’s Steven Spielberg film, Lincoln. Personally, I think she was robbed of an Oscar for her portrayal of Carrie in Smokey and the Bandit, but I digress!
Take it from Sally: it’s good to be liked, but more important to convert those likes into meaningful business relationships.
