As marketers, we are all well aware of the role of social media in business growth, which is the main reason behind 91% of the US businesses investing in social media for marketing. Social media enables a brand to reach a much broader audience set than traditional marketing could at a fraction of the price.
Not only this, but social media has a much greater reach as 4.2 billion people use at least one of the channels each day.
Unfortunately, the world of social media is quite confusing for small and medium-sized businesses, as they are not very well aware of how to utilize their funds and on what networks they should invest in the most.
This is where our influencer of the week, Bridget Willard, comes into play. She is a marketing consultant and a strategic partner, keynote speaker, author, and CEO. She trains people to leverage their social media channels to their full potential and tap into unknown marketing territories.
Bridget Willard was a guest at our #ChampsTalk session last week, where she shared her valuable insights on “How To Leverage Social Media for Business Growth?”
Here is a roundup of all that happened!
We are going Live📢on #ChampsTalk – Chat Session with @BridgetMWillard | CEO at Bridget Willard LLC
The Topic➡️ How to Leverage Social Media for Business Growth pic.twitter.com/o3fj26T40v
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
Pardon the volume.
For the next hour, I'll be participating in the Twitter chat with @SocialChampSays.
Follow along and join in using the hashtag:#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
First of all, we would like to thank @BridgetMWillard for giving us her valuable time.🙌
Now starting off with our first question: What is the impact of social media marketing on a business? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/4nnxizjv1F
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
A1. Social media marketing can make or break small businesses.
We tend to think we're big like Amazon. We're not.
We still need to build relationships and start with a generous attitude in our community — online and off.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Q2. How should a business plan its social media marketing strategy? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/uxwfTq8rG2
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
A2. First, you need to know your business goals. Then your marketing strategy. Social media is a tactic in your overall marketing strategy. #ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
A2b. If your goal is to get people to sign up for your email marketing campaign, then you would need to make a landing page for that.
Share that landing page on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Then it's up to your email marketing to get the work done from there.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Q3. Between organic and paid reach, which one do you think is more effective for a business? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/hnCuJJlZ4V
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
A3. If people don't know your brand, paid reach is a giant waste of money. Once your organic efforts are working, pulsing paid ads work. I use Google Search Ads managed by @warrenlnaida.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Q4. What goals should businesses set with social media marketing? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/yErOYvwYrd
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
A4. Your goal with social media marketing should be brand awareness. You're paying for eyeballs just like Coca-Cola does with billboard advertisements.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
A4b. But also to listen and engage.
Listening allows you to understand what your audience needs and what they care about. This helps you create or edit your audience persona.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
A4c. Engaging allows you to interact — and not just managing replies on your own posts.
Do outreach. Make it a goal to reply to three tweets a day.
People will come to like you and we call that affinity.
Affinity leads to loyalty. Loyalty leads to sales.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Q5. How should businesses measure their social media marketing success? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/NumEF0PRDt
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
A5. Key metrics like that measure #socialmedia success are ,
👉Traffic to the website from social media
👉Achieving set goal i.e. how many clicked on CTA
👉Engagement on the said channel
👉Building your community – growth in members#ChampsTalk— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) April 28, 2021
yep yep!#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
A5. Measure your success with lead tracking or scoring.
"How did you hear about us?" (Twitter, search, Instagram, etc)
Pair that with platform and Google analytics.
If you don't ask how you got business, you won't know what is working.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Q6. What is the best way to attract followers on social media, and how can they be converted into loyal customers? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/sOWcaW2sDa
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
A6. Best way to gain followers;
👉Be relevant
👉Be consistent
👉Network, share, like, comment
👉Offer help – always
👉Be funny and kind#ChampsTalk— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) April 28, 2021
100%#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
A6. The best way to attract followers is to follow people. It's simple but takes work.
Before loyalty is affinity.
People have to like you.
We sometimes forget this.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Q7.What mistakes should be avoided with social media marketing at all costs? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/6IiSqgAgFL
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
A7. DO NOT *repeat* do not be salesy and in your face! Always think of adding value and solving a problem! #ChampsTalk
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) April 28, 2021
Always always!#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
A7. Cross-posting and automating social media is the biggest mistake.
It is the set-it-and-forget-it attitude that brings distance with people instead of creating connections.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
A7b. Not replying as your brand on other brands' posts/tweets is another mistake.
We forget that social media is meant to be a public event where we're networking.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Also it is a 'shop window' , you almost put your shutters down by not engaging and connecting #ChampsTalk #smm
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) April 28, 2021
That's a perfect analogy, Shruti!#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
A7c. It's a mistake to not follow people back on Twitter. It shows that you're not social.
People forget sometimes that the purpose of social media is to democratize the conversation.#ChampsTalk #ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Such good, simple nuggets of wisdom there! It's always give.give.give and then ask #Socialmediamarketing #smm #ChampsTalk
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) April 28, 2021
A7d. Jumping on trending hashtags without understanding them (or understanding how hashtags work and why in general) is a small mistake that makes your social media efforts less effective.
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
A7e. I could go on and on and on with examples.
I've also made mistakes.
They will cost you business.
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Q8. How to determine which social channel is best for a business? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/aS5GcUTvPa
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
A8. Where are your customers?
Where is search intent?
Where do people spend time?
For most businesses that is Twitter.
#ChampsTalk— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Q9. Lastly, who do you think we should invite for the next #ChampsTalk? pic.twitter.com/Lz4Q1NC9xl
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
A9. My friend @Carol_Stephen is amazing at social media and content writing as well as Twitter Chats (she co-hosts #DigiBlogChat).
She's always a fascinating guest.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Hi Shruti, we hosted this chat session and it feels great to have you with us today! ☺️
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
Thanks guys 🙂 Feeling very welcomed! #ChampsTalk 😊 pic.twitter.com/6F3bTfElUB
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) April 28, 2021
YAY!
Twitter chats are my favorite. #ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
And that's it for today, we would like to thank you @BridgetMWillard for your knowledgeable insights on How to Leverage Social Media for Business Growth 🙏
We loved having you and hope that the audience enjoyed today’s session of #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/RFX07XSvkE
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) April 28, 2021
Thank you, thank you for having me.
What great questions and fun discussion!#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Okay, this one is interesting.
What's Relationship Marketer?
How is it different? What type of content is purposed for this form of marketing? #ChampsTalk— Sameer Ahmed Khan (@Sameerpeace) April 28, 2021
Being a relationship marketer means that your goal is making friends. Be friendly. Be generous. Be the friend you want to have.
Share other people's content. Offer helpful advice.
(cont)#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
I also believe in that very much.
Community -> Awareness -> Branding -> And BOOM!@SocialChampSays #ChampsTalk
— Mustaasam Saleem 🇵🇰🇩🇪🇵🇹🇳🇱🇧🇪🇫🇷🇹🇭🇬🇷 (@MustaasamSaleem) April 28, 2021
Yes. This takes years.
I had a sales call yesterday and I asked her how she found me.
"I just knew your name," she said.
That's Brand Awareness.
I've been paying the bills managing Twitter accounts full-time since 2017.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
What's your take on audio-based features that are launching and replicating #ClubHouse? Should brands invest time on it? #ChampsTalk
— Sameer Ahmed Khan (@Sameerpeace) April 28, 2021
Audio-based platforms like Clubhouse and Spaces are helpful if you have extra time. You can't necessarily record those or use them elsewhere for legacy and search (YouTube).
But you may learn quite a bit about your audience that way, too!
GREAT Q!#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
I'm actually recording my rooms in Spaces with the intent to release them in a podcast format so the content can live on. What do you both think of that? At some point Twitter will have native recording available. For now I'm using my own gear to do it myself. 😊
— Madalyn Sklar – @Madalyn on Bluesky 🦋 (@MadalynSklar) April 28, 2021
That's an interesting idea. However, I think people in the room should be informed that it's being recorded. That's coz I've heard some people speaking confidently about their past life experiences, (marriages, startup failures, etc) and are not worried that it's being recorded.
— Sameer Ahmed Khan (@Sameerpeace) April 28, 2021
Having said that. But if it's a room totally about a specific niche and people don't go too personal in sharing. Then why not record and make them evergreen? (Unless it breaks the TOS of Twitter, coz Clubhouse doesn't want you to record, for now)
— Sameer Ahmed Khan (@Sameerpeace) April 28, 2021
I see a ton of recording going on every time I stop in Clubhouse. And more people, especially podcasters, are starting to record in Spaces.
— Madalyn Sklar – @Madalyn on Bluesky 🦋 (@MadalynSklar) April 28, 2021
Great to have you here @BridgetMWillard
I really love the unique design of your agency.
What's the inspiration behind having a "Cookie" based website? I love it! #ChampsTalk— Sameer Ahmed Khan (@Sameerpeace) April 28, 2021
Thank you!
It was an inspiration from @fatdogcreatives because she knows I love to make things easy for business owners to do themselves.
Gather the ingredients then make it!#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Oh, loved the analogy!
Like one master chef! #ChampsTalk— Sameer Ahmed Khan (@Sameerpeace) April 28, 2021
Right? She's so smart. As a branding person, she listens to me and creates a design that resonates with me and my audience.
Wait until the rebrand for my new LLC.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Wohoo! Can't wait to see the new version of LLC!
And yes, it's an art to create a design that resonates well! #ChampsTalk— Sameer Ahmed Khan (@Sameerpeace) April 28, 2021
For any brand, what is the best way to increase followers on social media related to the targeted niche? #ChampsTalk @BridgetMWillard @SocialChampSays
— Syed Muneeb Ul Hasan (Let's meet at #WCUS) (@syed_muneebb) April 28, 2021
Definitely by following and creating a list for the people in that industry, Syed.
I have a lot of info about using Twitter lists here:https://t.co/s6ykdux2uK
Great Question.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
Q. How can a person align his social media marketing goals with his business? @BridgetMWillard @SocialChampSays #ChampsTalk
— Tahniat Alam (@tahniatalam) April 28, 2021
Aligning your social media with your business goals, not the other way around.
If you want more sales, then do biz dev on Twitter.
If you want more likes, then use Instagram. But don't expect them to go to your website and buy.#ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
How can I find out which social channels are best for my target audience? @BridgetMWillard #ChampsTalk
— Yumna Hafeez (@hafeez_yumna) April 28, 2021
Great question. The best way is to do some experimenting.
And creating some kind of audience profile.
Where are they hanging out? You know? #ChampsTalk
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 28, 2021
We are genuinely thankful to Bridget Willard for taking out the time and answer the questions that our community sent her way!
If you would like to see your favorite influencer in our next session, please tag them on Twitter with our handle @SocialChampSays and #ChampsTalk or mention in the comment box below!
