Start Preparing Your Business for the Generation After Millennials

Many business people, myself included, have opined that with the increased acceptance and convenience of online shopping, consumers will eventually cease to visit retail stores altogether and instead shift their shopping online, best social media marketing specifically through mobile devices and apps.Let’s face it, a two-day wait for batteries and shampoo is preferable over traffic, parking and crowds especially if you have children.No generation will more contribute to this shift than Generation Z. Roughly defined as anyone born in the mid- to late-1990’s, they are estimated to have an average allowance of $70 a month, which equates to an annual purchasing power of $44 billion. As they start to hit legal employment age, their influence will increase dramatically.Generation Z, however, will likely have no brand loyalty. They are reported to prefer and lean toward companies that produce goods and services that have real rather than perceived value, and they more readily rely on the opinions and recommendations of their peers when making a purchasing decision.
While this is troublesome for larger corporations that rely on million- and sometimes billion-dollar marketing budgets to cultivate and maintain brand loyalty through a ubiquitous presence, it represents an opportunity for smaller companies.To take advantage of Generation Z’s fickleness, and assure that you do not become a victim of it later, here are a few business strategies to consider. Upon talking with Roberge, it was immediately apparent how organized his processes at HubSpot had been. There are four very defined tenets that he has built the inside marketing team around and he rattled them off like he’d done it a million times before social media marketing 2014 which I’d be willing to bet is pretty close to accurate.It was clear that the following attributes aren’t just talking points, but considered doctrine at HubSpot. I’m confident that you could ask any inside sales rep about them and receive a nearly identical, yet equally fluid response.

Strategically curate brand-building content

Each day, we consume a vast amount of information from industry news, how-to posts about topics we love and posts that are geared for pure humor or entertainment. how to social media marketing When we fail to share those posts, we miss two key opportunities to distribute that information in a highly leveraging way.When you share posts or content from colleagues or competitors, they see your support and are more likely to do the same thing for you in the future. Also, each time a reader discovers something great to read or listen to through you, this adds to your brand. This is a thought that would typically go against that of an outside sales force. After all, it is a numbers game and the more attempts you have the more likely you are to have a sale or at least that’s the thought.But the reality is consumers don’t consume like they used to and, according to Roberge, “buyers are less receptive to interruptive marketing.
Rather than cold call 20 hours per week, try investing a few of those hours in social media where your target prospects are conversing," Roberge says. "Read the same blogs, follow the same people on Twitter, join the same LinkedIn Groups and actively comment, re-tweet and participate. Make your comments smart and add value. These efforts will get you noticed by your target buyers better than cold calls and will position you as a trusted advisor in the industry.Whether you believe it or not, how to start a social media marketing business the days of the "Glengarry Glenn Ross" sales approach are over.You can’t just pick a list of targeted customers to call with your elevator pitch,” Roberge says. “That doesn’t work anymore because consumers are too educated and rarely appreciate or respond positively to a hard close.

Practice your elevator pitch

Your elevator pitch is critical today in a wide variety of contexts. It’s the short bio you use each time you guest post. It’s the pitch you use when meeting a prospective client at a networking event. It’s how you describe what you do at an investor pitch panel.There’s a lot to be said for having an elevator pitch that captures your business and is concise, compelling and on brand. Work on your brand message,social media marketing best practices strategically test refinements and experiment with it in different environments to get helpful feedback. This kind of approach yields a short pitch or bio that can be used anywhere to open doors, attract customers and drive positive recognition.Building your brand is an essential component of a thriving business. But it’s an easy thing to fall by the wayside as you do the harder work that’s associated with being an entrepreneur. Make the most of small bursts of time to improve your brand’s messaging and visuals, increase engagement, find great content and keep an eye on the market.
The reality is that you must become an absolute expert in your given space so that you can answer any question or adapt to changing circumstances, while taking the approach that you are there to provide the potential consumer with the help they require so they can make the best decision for them -- which isn’t always the best decision for you.We are constantly bombarded with new technologies that are built to cure pain points and overcome inefficiencies. social media marketing plan pdf Roberge attests that you must “absolutely crave new technologies in order to constantly streamline your business,” as it’s these technologies that can play a huge role in the innovation required to “make your selling more efficient, whether that's the Signals product, social-media management tools, data modeling, etc.”