We live in a digital age where the phenomenon of social and digital media has become a part of every aspect of our lives. From how we search for information to sharing our ideas and interacting with others, social media has reshaped the way we live.



Undoubtedly, social media comes in many forms such as social networks, blogs, forums, business networks, photo-sharing platforms, social gaming, microblogs, chat apps and more. 

As of 2020, the global social penetration rate reached 49%, with East Asia and North America having the highest penetration rate at 71 and 69 percent respectively. Coupled with the fact that 54% of social browsers use social media to conduct research before purchasing, it is therefore critical for marketers to leverage social media marketing to promote products and services.


Social Selling: An Introduction
 
The ‘Digital Age,’ has blurred the lines between the two different business disciplines, Marketing and Sales. Nowadays, both disciplines run hand in hand to generate revenue. They align and support each other for a swift and successful execution of effective social media strategies.
 
Social selling is when the sales team leverages the social network to find, engage and nurture the right prospects until they are ready to buy. It is proven that social selling helps derive 16% better revenue and deliver 48% larger deals.

Pro-tip for successful social selling is to try some of the online tools like socialsellingcoach.ai that can help you establish your brand, simplify your social networking efforts, and organically grow your business, generating leads in an ongoing and consistent way.

Barriers Of An Effective Social Selling and Social Media Marketing Strategy
Social and digital media selling is becoming an increasingly popular sales concept.  It helps in improving overall sales effectiveness by forging a deep and meaningful relationship with prospects. The key to an effective social media marketing strategy lies in creating the right perception of a brand through relevant content.  

However, there are many barriers faced by companies while trying to reach their social sales agendas.

1. Lack of Measurement Technology to Set Goals and Benchmarks
It is tough to measure the effectiveness of social and digital media. It requires a deep understanding of social media services, to carefully analyse the effectiveness of the employed strategy.

Make sure to gain insight into the brand’s performance and effectiveness on social media by analysing and interpreting the varied set of key performance indicators (KPIs) of each social platform. Things to consider while crafting an effective marketing plan to meet your business objectives include:

a. Engage with your followers and take a deep look into their demographics
b. Understand your market landscape
c.  Track your competitors

2. Unclear Targets
Crafting an effective social media strategy can be very intimidating. Creating a summary of every social marketing activity for achieving future business goals is crucial. 
a. Be specific while creating a list of social media objectives and goals
b. Ensure that your social marketing objectives are attainable
c.  Make sure that social media goals align with your overall marketing strategy and business goals
d. Keep it concise

3. Lack of Social Commerce Expertise or Overall Digital Maturity
It is challenging to stay up to date with the ever-evolving algorithms and features of social media platforms. Adapting to them requires constant experimenting with content and marketing strategies. 

4.  Not identifying Social Media as a Priority Marketing Channel
Social media marketing services offer plenty of return-of-investment (ROI) opportunities such as brand recognition, customer loyalty, increased conversions, and cost-effectiveness. It is one of the best ways for businesses to understand their targeted audience. 

How to Make The Most Out of Social Media Services
The best way to overcome the dilemma of finding the right execution of social media marketing strategy is by relying on experts. 

The education required to stay up-to-date with simple social tools, and thus craft effective social media strategies in-house, can be costly. This can be supported by working with a full-service digital marketing agency such as Strategic DigitaLab, which can properly utilise and optimise multiple social media channels, targeting and reaching each specific audience to achieve highly trackable results from brand awareness to top-of-funnel lead acquisition.

Reach us by email at enquiry@strategicdigitalab.com or fill in our enquiry form to discuss. You can also take a look at our list of services.