Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary Recommends This 6-Step Social Media Strategy to Be Profitable If social media feels like just fluff for your business, here's what you need to do to make it profitable.
By Mark Klekas Edited by Mark Klekas
Many execs or small business owners think social media is complete fluff — and for most businesses, it is.
And when they say fluff, they don't mean to say it's pointless. It's well-documented that social media is a powerful tool. The skepticism with investing in social media is that it can be a coin toss if there is a return on investment (ROI).
"That is because most marketers do not apply any direct-marketing tactics to their strategic approach — if they are even strategic at all," author Kim Walsh Phillips said in her latest book, Ultimate Guide To Instagram For Business, Second Edition.
Direct response marketing is all about getting a quick response from consumers. The main goal is to generate new leads as fast as possible. And Phillips believes this is the key to making Instagram a more profitable marketing tool.
Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary of Shark Tank had this to say about Phillips and her strategy: "Not only is Kim Walsh Phillips the first social media marketer I ever heard that even mentions [return on investment], but that is her main focus. She is also the first marketer I ever recommend to all of my Shark Tank investments. She has my full endorsement."
Related: How to Calculate ROI for Your Content Marketing Campaign
Phillips said in her book that she has tweaked her marketing strategy over the years and has focused on results-driven social media marketing.
"For the first time, I saw how marketing could equal results," Phillips writes. "I could track each action, and when I found something that worked, I could scale it fast. When I found something that didn't work, I could eliminate it quicker than an anchorman after a vulgar tweet."
Here are her six essential principles of Instagram marketing.
1. Track and measure everything
Ever hear that line attributed to department store founder John Wanamaker? "I am convinced that about one-half the money I spend for advertising is wasted, but I have never been able to decide which half." This philosophy is bogus. Everything in marketing is measurable. Everything.
And if it is not, you should find another strategy quickly or fire the person running your marketing. How will you ever know your social media marketing ROI unless you track it?
When it comes to Instagram marketing, do the following two steps:
- Use a unique URL and landing page in your bio. This way, you know that every lead you get came from this source. Use tinyurl.com, bitly.com or buy a new domain name to create this link.
- Use a unique email address in your bio description. Create an email address just for Instagram so that when leads come in with this "To" line, you know where they came from.
2. Always have an offer
In Instagram, you never want to come across as a sales predator pouncing on your next kill, but you do need to give your prospects a consistent opportunity to connect and do business with you. If you don't, you will not realize a return of your marketing dollars and staff resources spent online. Your marketing funnel will launch with the click of your bio link in your Instagram profile.
Make sure you draw attention to this link in your post description and bio so that visitors are given an opportunity to buy at some point. Remember, you are providing a solution to a need, and you are doing your prospects a service by giving them a chance to buy.
There are many types of offers you can run in an Instagram marketing and sales funnel:
- Lead Generation: An incentive for your recipient to provide contact information is done by offering something of inherent value that is so good your recipient would pay for it, except they won't because you are giving it away for free. This can include incentives such as:
- A report/white paper/guide
- A sample chapter of your book
- An ebook, video or webinar
- A discount code or a ticket to a live event
- Templates
- Sale: It is possible to sell directly to cold traffic on social media. We do it every day, but you must remember a few key things. There should be something special about your offer, such as:
- It is being sold there first.
- It is being sold for less money.
- It starts with a free trial.
- It comes with bonuses.
- It is time sensitive.
- It is such a good deal it is impossible to say no.
In contrast, if you sell the same thing for the same price on social media as you do everywhere else, then you will most likely not realize great results. Social media is a cocktail party, not a shopping mall, and the only way to get people to pay attention to what you are selling is to make it a really good deal. Do that, and everyone will pay attention and want in.
3. Give them a reason to respond now
"I really could be busier. It's just that I don't have enough to do. If you could give me a few more things to fill my day, I would appreciate it," said no one ever.
Let's face it. No one is waiting around, hoping you will give them more to do. Every prospect you encounter is busy and distracted, and unless you give them a reason to act now, they won't. That's why so many gyms offer boot camps: "Sign up now for the 21-Day Challenge: Abs from Flab to Fab!"
Related: Are Your Meetings Doomed? Here Are The 2 Things You Should Change According to an Engagement Expert.
Adding a reason to respond now gives that thing you can otherwise put off "until Monday" a deadline. Time-sensitive triggers include limited quantities, limited time or are event, day or time specific.
4. Have clear instructions on how to respond
Want your followers to comment on your post? Tell them. Want "hearts"? Request the double tap. Simply telling your audience what you'd like them to do (the call to action) can increase your engagement. And testing different calls to action can mean a big payoff.
Related: 3 Critical Principles of Effective Calls to Action
5. Brand is important, but it is just the first step of a marketing and sales funnel
In contrast to some old-school direct-response marketers, I believe your marketing need not and should not be ugly. If you make branding just the first step in a strategically executed marketing and sales funnel, you can leverage it to develop trust and authority positioning.
Eighty-nine percent of people surveyed will buy from a brand they follow on social, according to the 2020 Sprout Social Index report. Social media channels are a one-to-many solution for getting the word out about your products and services. By creating a strong brand presence on social media, you can reach a broader audience. After all, you are looking for lifetime customers here. Not one-time transactions. Branding is a strong way to start to build that trust.
6. Results Rule. Period.
There is an endless supply of conjecture by marketers, PR professionals and "branding experts." Be very cautious whenever you hear a universal truth about any type of marketing.
My Elite Digital Group team places thousands of ads each week for clients across industries, locations and products, and we have found that nothing can be deemed a universal truth, not even within the same industry. The only thing that you should use to determine your spend and marketing direction are the results of your own marketing. This is why you need to track and check everything every day.
Our reporting to clients tells them exactly what they spent on ads and our fee and how many qualified leads or customers they received that day. Keeping an eagle eye on spending and results allows us to quickly scale a campaign up or down without guessing if it is working.
As you develop your marketing and sales funnels, you will most likely find your own set of rules. I encourage you to start with the ones I outlined here and then tweak and add more as you find a system that works for you. Above all else, let results, not conjecture, be your guiding force.
This story was excerpted from the book Ultimate Guide To Instagram For Business, Second Edition. Buy it now from Entrepreneur Bookstore
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