Self-Marketing: Get Clients via Social Media
Get clients from social media they said! It’ll be easy they said!
Well, they were right!
The catch is that it takes patience. Remember, there is great value in creating your personal Reality Show. This post will focus on the business part of online interactions. If you are a freelancer specializing in social media, these proven tactics will get you in front and center of prospective clients.
Tell everyone what you do
Sing it from the rooftops! Or at least the top section of your social media profiles — you are a results-based social media professional!
Update all of your profiles to reflect your job title, so people know you’re their go-to person. In your bio, link to the “about” page on your website or create a short, professional bio video to wow prospects. To further reinforce your job title, link your Facebook and LinkedIn company page to your personal profiles.
(Sly Tip: on LinkedIn, put both your first and last names in the first name field, then a comma and your job pitch. For example, “Jane Doe, Your Results-Based Social Media Director”. Technically, this is against the rules, but it may go unnoticed for a long time.)
Help people in Facebook groups
Another effective way to get clients from social media is by putting some sweat equity into engagement on relevant Facebook groups.
Rather than spending money on Facebook Ads to drive traffic to your website, look for groups that are related to the different apps and tools you use frequently, or groups specific to industries you want to focus on. Provide genuinely helpful answers to people’s questions.
You can search within groups for topics that you feel informed on such as “Facebook Ads help”. Send a private message to the person that’s looking for help then let them know in a comment that you’ve messaged them with help. This way, you are guaranteed to get noticed by that person, and the public can see your goodwill and expertise.
The person you’re helping and other people in the group will likely visit your page – this is where creating a polished profile comes into play.
Leverage LinkedIn
For a small monthly charge, you can have access to a premium LinkedIn account, (or you can activate a free one-month trial). This allows you to target and message people with specific job titles. Reaching out to Event Managers, Digital Marketing Directors, and VPs of Advertising can generate quality business.
Think about what industry you want to work with, and what position in a company would likely be part of the decision to hire you. Send them a friendly direct message on LinkedIn explaining who you are and why you’re reaching out. This efficiently targets your prospects while showing them your professionalism.
Attend Business & Marketing Events
If you want to get clients from social media with maximum efficiency, internet marketing events like LaunchCon and funnel hacking live are a huge leg-up. It can be like shooting fish in a barrel – they gather people who need your skills all in one place.
Just like with helping people in Facebook groups, your aim at these events is to be helpful and show your personality. Tell them you’re a social media ads expert or a ClickFunnels expert and offer your advice. They will hire you on the spot.
Call your dream client
“Pick up that phone and start dialing!” – The Wolf of Wall Street
Cold calling is a tough pill to swallow. But there is a reason why — even in the age of the internet — it’s still a widely practiced tactic: it works. Search on Google for your dream clients: specific companies and people who you want to work with (i.e. “health coaches in Seattle”).
Make a prospecting call. Say this, exactly: “Hi, (name) I’m a results-based Social Media Director from (city). I want to work with (companies/industry) and I was wondering if you could help me out. What’s your biggest challenge or frustration with Social Media?”
Through some thoughtful questions, do your best to understand what their major pain points and goals are around social media, and what their objections would be to working with you. Pitch yourself.
If you don’t close, persistently follow up. On average, it takes five or more follow-ups to make a sale, so don’t give up! The downside to this tactic is that you’re not in a power position for the sale. However, it is an effective way to farm leads if you’re having trouble with the above methods.
These methods work similarly for other types of online freelance work too. Did this article give you some good ideas on how to get clients from social media? Any questions? We’d love to give you some free advice!
For more information, check out the following guides: