At this point in the series, I’m sure you see a trend. When you’re connecting with prospects on social media, building a rapport is crucial. You need to engage with them before directly reaching out.
We discussed Twitter and Facebook and have already touched on a few reasons why you should be using Google+ to connect with prospects.
Now we’re talking about how you can effectively turn those connections into leads.
1) Organize Your Circles
Your followers have no idea which Circles they have been added into, so isolate and segment them in a way that will benefit you most.
There is no one right way to organize Circles. You can segment based on industry, company size, or even level of engagement (i.e., separate the warmer prospects from the colder ones).
Tune the stream of your most important Circles to make sure you’re receiving all of their posts. Then you can sit back and listen for common pain points your prospects are struggling with.
2) Build Communities
While organizing Circles is good for observation, communities are where engagement happens. Join communities that your prospects are already active in and contribute to the conversation.
Don’t hesitate to start your own community either. Having your own community builds credibility because invited community members will look to you as the group’s thought-leader, which is exactly what you want when trying to attract or impress new prospects.
3) Create Connections Using Hangouts
Whenever you can talk face-to-face, you have an opportunity to build a strong connection. That’s why Google+ Hangouts is such an effective tool.
After you have built a foundation of credibility, hold a Q&A or an informal chat with a community your prospects are involved in. Doing this once or twice will allow your prospects to become more comfortable with you, increasing the odds of getting them to participate in a private hangout that can be more targeted toward selling.
Google+ is a unique social network and provides a number of opportunities for businesses to reach out to prospects.
How is your business using Google+ right now?