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b2b digital and social media strategy
Before Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, people bought from people in social ways.
From a sales person perspective, an integral part of the sales process is seeking our new contacts, getting to know your prospects and establishing relationships. No matter which industry youâre in, even in business-to-business (B2B) sectors or company, being social has always been an essential characteristic of the most successful employees in any organization.
In the era of print, buyers were happy to trawl thorough thick stacks of brochures, whitepapers and pricing guides (brought by the traveling sales people, in leather briefcases,) to ensure that they were able to make the best buying decisions.
There was a big reliance on the SALES REP as the sole, TRUSTED go-to-person.
Changing Buyer Behaviour
Say hello to the democratization of information, insights, thought-leadership, competitive knowledge that is now available online. Cold calls and email blasts are becoming less and less effective.
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Fast forward to 2017, with the 24/7 availability of peer to peer networks, brand and product review sites (e.g G2 Crowd), external user forums (e.g. Quora) and virtually unlimited access to information about your company, products and your competition, the behaviour of the buyers (and influencers and actual users) in all B2B industrues is changing dramatically.
This is, of course, also backed by the very often quoted Google/ CEB study that says that 57% (more than half!) of a typical B2B purchase decision is made before a potential customer even picks up a phone or talks to a potential supplier.
A Forbes story also concluded that most â in fact 78% - of salespeople who use social media outsell their peers who donât.
Being social on professional social media platforms is now considered an essential weapon of any sales personsâ client engagement arsenal.
The most successful sales people who are being social are using social media to research, listen, engage, educate prospects, widen their networks ⌠and yes, even close deals.
So, letâs get more sales people on social media, you say? Itâs not that simple ⌠read on.
âBrink of distrustâ?
With all the political and economic events as well as scandals that have happened in the last couple of years, Richard Edelman, CEO & President of Edelman, says that trust has imploded and that 'businesses are on the brink of distrustâ (Edelmanâs 2017 Trust Barometer Annual Survey report)
Within this climate, the same report concludes that for the ďŹrst time ever, 60% of respondents said that âa person like yourselfâ is now as credible of a source for information about a company as a technical or academic expert.
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This is leading to a rise in 'micro-marketingâ in all companies. Itâs NOT just about getting the sales teams to sell or marketing teams to market - this means every single employee is potentially a 'sales personâ, be it if youâre in engineering, product design or even the intern.
Swinging back to the importance of social selling among sales, another survey insight which I found fascinating was by the Sales Executive Council - which attributes the sales experience as the largest contributor (53%) to why your clients choose to go with your brand (or your competitor) and why they continue to do business with you (customer loyalty).
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These latest insights puts immense pressure on every organizationsâ leadership team and sales managers to reinvent and refocus the way that their teams (product, engineering, business development, account managers, customer service staff etc) engage with their clients by moving away from just product and price to more value-added discussions around perspectives on the market, advice on pitfalls and alternatives as well potential issues and outcomes.
However, a organizational change doesnât happen overnight. CEOs, business managers and sales people, whilst worrying about meeting this yearâs target, also need to keep an eye out on the increasingly digitized and social buying landscape now and in the very near future.
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Jill Rowley, Social Selling Evangelist and Start-Up Advisor, expresses this in her blog post 'Bringing (sales) leadership into the digital ageâ - âmany leaders donât understand that effective sales strategies require an emphasis more on selling through service and insights, rather than through pushy pushy, in-your-face closing skills.â
If any organizationâs management and sales leaders do not adapt and and take steps to implements the required changes, it is suffice to say the lifetimes of these organizations will be limited, indeed. I havenât even discussed the advent of artificial intelligence, robots and machine learning!
Simply put, your client wants to able to rely on you, the sales person, to help them make these difficult and often complex buying decisions. They want to be able to TRUST you.
âDonât expect to see a change, if you donât make one.â
Therefore, no matter if youâre a quota-bearing sales person or a back-end product developer, there has never been a better AND more urgent moment to re-evaluate and re-strategize your personal digital brand to ensure you are sufficiently and accurately represented online and on social media platforms in the business areas you care about. If youâre a team leader, challenge and motivate your team to do the same.
If your prospect or business contact (someone you just met at a conference, perhaps) does a Google search for your name, what will he/ she find? Go on, do a test!
Chances are that your social media profiles (e.g. LinkedIn) will be close to the top of the search results. If you have spoken at events or been quoted on press mentions, these are likely to appear high up in the results as well.
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OK, but how about the rest of us, mere mortals, who might not have had the chance of being interviewed by the media OR spoken at conferences? Seek out those opportunities then. Think youâre not qualified or feeling insecure? Then, start building your credibility in your marketplace!
Andrew Grille, Global Managing Partner at IBM Social Consulting said âItâs NOT about what you know. Itâs NOT about about who you know. Itâs who knows what you knowâ at the Thomson Reuters Digital & Social Media Conference 2016 in New York.
3 focus areas:
Here are 3 focus areas that you can implement immediately, so that you begin to take advantage of social media more effectively to establish the online trust that your prospects or clients are seeking in you;
1. Carve out 15 minutes every week to optimize your LinkedIn profile credibility and discoverability. Make sure you have a corporate photo displayed. Include keywords and multimedia in your title and summary to demonstrate your expertise and knowledge in your asset class or sectors. Donât forget to ask for endorsements from customers, partners and ex-colleagues.
Seek and regularly share industry updates that educates your buyers and prospects. Keep them up-to-date on the areas that you and they care about (e.g. fintech, big data or the impact of MiFID II in 2018). If you donât know what your clients care about, you might be in the wrong job.
2. Curate your own list of credible sources on your mobile or desktop and make it a point to share about interesting, relevant content 3 to 5 times a week. Twitter is equally a great source for finding, sharing content as well as connecting with industry experts.
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3. Publish a monthly blog post. I truly believe everyone is an expert on at least one thing. Combine your experience, asset class expertise with your own interpretation of the market events. Pepper your blog with charts, graphs - SHOW that you know the market better than anyone else (aka competitors) whom your clients might also be speaking to.
Jamie Shanks, CEO @ Sales for Life offers more tips here on the mistakes that (sales) leaders are making on their Linkedin profiles. These tips pertain to anyone who is thinking about getting serious on social, not just for sales. Donât make them!
What other ways or examples have you seen social media and social selling work for you in your industry or your clients? I want to hear your thoughts, leave your comments below.
Source:Â Â b2b digital and social media strategy
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