Dublin 15 Network is an innovative community networking venture that fosters peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, whilst assisting local businesses to achieve global sales and create local jobs. The below event was organised on 28th Jan at Bank of Ireland, Ballycoolin.
1. Participate in conversations and stay away from making hard sales pitch.
People join online groups i.e. WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, Quora, Reddit, etc to keep themselves updated on local news, share info, network and make friends, last thing they want is to be notified of a sales pitch. So take off your marketing hat and really participate in the conversations that are happening.
2. Know your field of expertise better than anyone else.
Content is king, but we are surrounded by a lot of content, your customers are regularly filtering non-related content and as this becomes a habit, marketing online becomes more difficult. Thus, it is suggested that you write informative blogs helpful to your audience, DIY (Do It Yourself) blogs tend to be a hit with readers and avoid having intense marketing jargon.
3. Connect with people and be accessible.
Answering questions online, personally connecting with individuals shows that you are not some bot, but an authentic business that genuinely cares for the people. Remember these:
Community cost less
Community grows loyal
Community maintain authenticity
Community drives innovation
Community supports natural reinvention
4. Community leaders/influencers.
One of the best strategies out there is word of mouth, go out and identify key leaders/influencers within a community, get them involved, build a relationship with them and make them feel part of your team and convert them into your brand ambassadors.
5. Consistency is key to success.
Your 80% sales come from your 20% loyal customers, thus understand your target audience and keep them engaged by constantly publishing blogs and participate in conversations. Get feedback from people - good or bad, so listen, engage and adapt.
Other comments made at the event:
People come to Facebook for information not to buy, they go to Google for that.
Refine your buyer persona as soon as possible.
Reddit.com / Quora.com
Career boot camp, check out Empower.ie
Join our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/322667221920090/
Join our WhatsApp group here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Ks5G88J6UaPG8kvzohpZZP