Are You Utilizing Social Media for Sales Prospecting and Lead Generation?

Social Media

One question often asked by many C-level executives and those in the corporate world is, “How do I know Social Media is working for my company?”

The answer is simple. You have to execute a strategy and then measure that strategy. If you’re still unsure about the value in social media for marketing and sales, take a look at how many of your prospects, clients and competitors are on social media and then re-evaluate your reservations. Two weeks ago I sat in on a webinar from HubSpot that explained how leads are generated through social media. For those who are still unclear about how sales have anything to do with social media, I suggest you take a look at the important arguments I took from the webinar.

Social Media is NOT a Buzz Word

First and foremost, we must remember that social media is not a buzz word (or term). Although many sceptics still exist, social media is here to stay. How do we know? It’s impact on marketing, business, PR, customer service and basic customer service has expanded so rapidly that people do not use social media as the “last resort” to communicate with others, rather, social media has made its way to top of mind for many businesses.

What is a Lead?

A lead is essentially a proxy for sales. Leads are those that show interest in your service/ product/company or are people who you have a connection with and believe will have an interest in your service/product/company. A lead is the first step to a sale. By using social media, leads are being generated in a different way than they were with traditional marketing. Lead generation is now about the transaction of information. A company is sharing information that will hopefully entice a prospect enough that they respond to it; prospects can respond by retweeting, sharing your information or commenting on it. One thing to keep in mind is that you cannot predict how people are going to find you. What you need to focus on is giving them plenty of ways to find you. In saying this, social media marketing is not linear nor should companies treat it this way.

How Do I Turn a Lead Into a Sale?

Measure, measure, measure. Use a social media monitoring tool to track who is looking at your information, how long they are staying and what they are saying (if they are saying anything at all) about it. For example, if your company posts white papers on their website, share it via social media. Take a look at your Google Analytics and see who is coming into your website and what they are looking at. The next thing you need to do is start researching. Research the company, their service, goals, employees, etc. Then match them with the services you provide to see if you may be able to help them. You already have an introduction to the conversation with them. For example, I saw you downloaded/shared our white paper. The ultimate goal is to get people to your website; the more content you create, the greater your chance of website visits.

Are you still on the fence about the quality of leads through social media? Think about it this way, the prospect that clicked on your link or shared your information is already interested in what you do and can provide. Once the interest is there, the hard part is over.

For more information on how social media can help enhance your sales efforts, take a look at our sales prospecting with social media and feel free to email us at [email protected] you may have.

Are You Utilizing Social Media for Sales Prospecting and Lead Generation?