Does your company use a CRM system, marketing email program or make sales online? Gathering email addresses is one of the most beneficial aspects of your company’s online database, offering more than just a place to send a monthly newsletter.
A majority of business owners know the importance of collecting customer email addresses when a sale is made or a relationship is being built. What gets lost along the way is just how valuable this information can be for your social media presence.
Studies have shown that a commitment to customer experience results in up to 25% more customer retention and revenue than traditional sales or marketing initiatives.
Here’s how you can stay connected to your customer base (and on their radar) using social media.
Step 1: Create A CSV File Of Contacts.
Any online data management program worth its salt has an easy way to export your contact list into a CSV spreadsheet. Login to your favorite program, such as Constant Contact, Salesforce or BigCommerce, to retrieve this list and save it to your desktop.
Step 2: Import Your Contacts to a Supported Email Program (Such as Yahoo).
A majority of social media platforms offer the ability to upload contacts from email, but Facebook does not support uploads from Gmail. To save yourself some time, the best bet is to create an email account in Yahoo and upload your CSV contacts from there.
Step 3: Let The Imports Begin.
Programs like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest all have simple upload tools that support Yahoo. Follow the instructions provided on each channel.
For example, importing your list on Facebook will have your company appear as a suggested page, encouraging them to follow your account. To do this, click on Build Audience, then Suggest Page from your company’s profile.
On the other hand, Pinterest and Twitter use their own upload tools to help you find people to follow. Although there is no guarantee that your customers will follow you back, this increases your odds by putting your company on their social media radar.
How have you stayed in touch with your prospects on social media? Tell us in the comments.
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