New leads. New potential clients. New contracts. New clients.
Which social media manager doesn’t get excited when thinking about working with a new client, in a new industry, or with a new team?
As we see it, signing new clients should be part of your long term business strategy.
Of course, when you first start out as a social media manager, you might be anxious to get your very first client STAT. We get it. Therefore, we wrote this to get you started immediately.
In order to have a pipeline of new prospects knocking on your door, we recommend implementing both inbound and outbound marketing strategies on an on-going basis.
As the terms ‘inbound’ and ‘outbound’ suggest, inbound marketing is when the prospect comes to you because of actions you’ve taken to be ‘discovered’ while outbound marketing is you taking action to reach out to prospects (cold or warm audience) because you want to offer them something.
How To Get Social Media Manager Clients
There are multiple ways to get new clients. In our active Facebook Group, we often share stories of how we’ve found our best, or most-profitable client.
Being privy to proven methods of client acquisition is one of many benefits this group has to offer!
Feel free to join our community!
Now, let’s get started so you, too, can get clients.
1. Identify Your Ideal Client
Start identifying your ideal client by answering the following questions. With the answers to these questions you will be able to identify who you would like to work with most!
- Who do I love working with?
- How do I make the most money?
- What client is most profitable to my business?
- What client would I like to fire and why?
- What industry is my favorite client in?
- Who does my favorite client serve?
- What platforms does my best client need help with?
- What service do I provide for my best client?
- How large of a business is my ideal client?
Once you have the answers to these questions, a profile of your ideal client should emerge.
Examples:
- B2B with up to 10 employees
- Non-profit that serves families in my county
- B2C local, location-based small businesses
- International Travel and Hotel Industry
- Independent Realtors
- Coaches
Content you create to attract these prospects (i.e inbound marketing) should be highly targeted at your ideal client.
2. Identify Likes, Habits and Interests of Your Target Audience
Next, you will want to know what they like, what their habits are as well as their interests.
HINT: This will help you write the perfect copy to attract them.
Find out what these business owners read, what organizations s/he belongs to and supports and what interest these ideal clients have in common?
Last but not least, identify the most common pain point in their business.
3. Offer Lead Magnet To Attract and Get Clients
Your lead magnet can be as simple as a checklist or as long as a full case study.
Offer something your ideal clients can use or implement to improve their business instantly.
These lead magnets allow you to start growing and nurturing your email list. If you’ve done your homework, your email list will be a list of targeted business owners to eventually (not right away) sell your services to!
Initially, send them newsletters, tips, videos, stories and more and nurture this audience while they get to know you, until they are ready to purchase from you.
4. Go To Where Your Ideal Client Hangs Out Online
Your ideal clients are everywhere online!
Business owners, entrepreneurs, executives; they are present on LinkedIn, on Instagram, in Facebook groups. They are reading your blog, interacting with your content and asking questions.
They might be searching for inspiration on Pinterest, or Googling ‘how to hire a social media manager’.
It’s up to you to be found, of course, but it’s also up to you to find the prime hangout spots for your ideal client. Go to those spots and be active, be seen and be helpful. Build relationships online and new clients will come.
HINT: Most often prospects will reach out via FB messenger, LinkedIn message or Instagram DM after they are inspired by a piece of content you’ve shared. Be ready to invite them to a call.
5. Attend Local Events To Meet Your Ideal Client
Local networking events are a prime spot to find new clients.
Join the local chamber of commerce, a local BNI group or search Meetup.com for other in-person networking opportunities; meeting business owners in person is a powerful way to make new connections.
When meeting prospects, be sure to do more listening and less talking. Find out about their business by asking questions and listen for their pain points! Have a stack of business cards ready, but only hand these out after having a conversation with someone.
Do not forget to follow up. Within a few days, send an email message to set up a one-on-one meeting or phone call.
6. Connect With Your Next Client Through Referrals
Who would be an ideal referrer to your business?
Most often, referrals come from someone who
- Serves the same target audience as you
- Is a colleague
- Knows you
- Trusts you
- You’ve met in person
In most cases, referrals come after a certain level of trust has been built. Very rarely will referrals come to you out of the blue. Referrals come from someone you've built a relationship with, they come from you putting time in connecting with people you meet online or person.
In the case of social media managers, referrals can come from
- Web designers
- SEO specialists
- Mastermind peers
- Graphic designers
- Agencies
- Social Media Managers
- Small business owners
- Organizational referrals (chamber of commerce, BNI)
The best part is that referrals give you an immediate ‘in' with a prospect, moving them from cold to warm audience, instantly.
7. Master Selling Social Media Management Services
It's not enough to get someone on a call. You have to understand what makes someone buy services from you.
It's not enough to get someone to buy services from you. You have to be able to deliver the goods.
We highly recommend all social media managers start off offering their prospects a social media strategy plan.
This sets the stage for a healthy working relationship and gets your foot in the door.
Starting social media management without a plan sets you up to fail! Check out our course on how to do this! Never write another social media strategy for free!
8. Prospect Continually to Get Clients
Social media managers, take note! Never stop marketing yourself and your services.
Even if you have a ‘full’ plate, meaning plenty of clients to keep you and your team busy, you never know what tomorrow brings. Taking a step back and looking at what 2020 has brought us so far should have all of us in the marketing industry on our toes and prospecting for new clients at all times.
While this article touched on several strategies, there are plenty more to explore!
Additional actions to take while prospecting to get clients:
- Write highly targeted blog posts
- Place Facebook ads
- Produce excellent social media content
- Publish Case Studies
- Create cold email campaigns
- Utilize a chatbot
- Update your portfolio
- Gather testimonials and recommendations from your paying clients
- Schedule calls with prospective clients
- Guest post on high-ranking blogs
- Research keywords for Search Engine Optimization
- Peruse online job boards
- Answer questions about your business
- Connect and collaborate with local small businesses
Wishing you much luck with continued prospecting!
I am a Certified Social Media Manager, Strategist, International Keynote Speaker, Organic Specialist and Agile marketer! Blogging is my creative outlet. Running, hiking and skiing are how I recharge. You'll recognize me on stage and online by my always present orange glasses, a nod to my Dutch heritage.
