Three resolutions for social media success in 2013

By now, many of you have probably decided on what resolutions to hold yourself to in the new year. Personally, as I recently told Fast Company, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to visit non-technology comapanies to learn and get inspiration from other industries and organizations. From the beginning of Hearsay Social, my co-founder Steve and I have honed a culture and work ethic based on our experiences at tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce.com. By incorporating lessons from non-tech companies, I hope to continue to improve our culture and the way we do business.

But what about social salespeople and marketers? Here are a few “social media resolutions” my team and I came up with to help you be successful in the new year:

1. Close more deals with social signals
   The cold call is dead. Said another way, salespeople value social context: insurance agents sell more lines of coverage when their contacts have babies, financial advisors increase assets under management when clients change jobs, and real estate professionals sell more homes when their contacts move. Social networking sites provide easy access to a wealth of social context, providing your people with the right information to sell more effectively.
   
   In 2013, resolve to use social signals to build and deepen your relationships with current customers and to discover new leads and prospects.
   
2. Measure the ROI of your social initiatives
   There is a reason why marketing and sales teams have dramatically increased the amount of time and money they put into social media each year. It pays off. Take James Peregrino, one of Farmers Insurance’s best agents, for example: “62% of my business my first year came from Facebook.”
   
   It’s likely that your company’s social media efforts are already driving business, but are you measuring it? The better you can track ROI, the more effective you can make your social media program and the easier it will be to iterate.
   
3. Be your company’s social media superhero
   Nearly 7 in 10 Fortune 500 companies have a corporate Facebook page, and more than that have active Twitter accounts. Dive in! If you were just testing the waters in 2012, it’s time to commit. Build out a consistent content calendar, brainstorm on branding, and never let your social media assets get stale. Experiment with new techniques because there are few cut and dried solutions when it comes to social strategy. You must carve your own path.
   
   Resolve to take productive social media risks this year, like posting at unconventional times or testing out newly launched networks.

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