3) Check their LinkedIn profiles regularly to see who’s looking at them. Buyers often get to know your reps be- fore they’ve even spoken. They do this by looking at your team’s LinkedIn profiles. “The profile is critical,” says Strid. “Most of these people have never met me. Maybe we haven’t even spoken on the phone. I’m constantly checking to see who’s viewed my profile. It’s not a vanity thing; it’s a buy- ing signal.”
Social networks provide a real opportunity to improve sales productivity. Salespeople who use the networks effectively can do what Strid does – find interested buy- ers, build relationships, and deliver insights – through a fresh, new channel where buyers are still receptive to approach.
For more information, contact
midinopulos@peoplelinx.com SELLING TIP Choose the Right Social Platform for Leads
The social media and online marketing landscape is constantly changing. The hot social media trends and buzzworthy platforms of today might be totally outdated in just a few years or even a few months. B2B social media market- ing and content creation buyers are always asking three questions: 1. Where can we find decision makers?
2. How can we choose content marketing platforms in a way that really puts our content in front of the right people?
3. How can we avoid wasting time (and money) on the wrong content platforms?
Here are some of the most over- rated and underrated content plat- forms for B2B content marketing.
OVERRATED: TWITTER AND FACEBOOK
Lots of B2B decision makers just aren’t on Twitter or Facebook, and they’re not going to be flocking there anytime soon. Twitter does help people find your company
and ask questions – and it’s still a great “listening tool” where you can hear what’s happening in your industry and see what people are saying about your competitors – but, if you’re in B2B marketing, I wouldn’t recommend putting your entire social media budget and effort into Twitter and Face- book. If you’re trying to sell to top executives at big companies, chances are that your key decision makers don’t even have a Twitter account – and, if they do, they’re not using it very often. According to one study, 60 percent of busi- ness executives (director level or higher) use social media 1 hour per week or less.
UNDERRATED: LINKEDIN Many B2B marketers still haven’t discovered the simple truth that it’s more possible than ever be- fore to connect directly with your target audience and key decision makers on LinkedIn – and people actually use it, and respond! One survey found that LinkedIn is the
VIDEO: MOTIVATIONAL MINUTE WITH EARL NIGHTINGALE
social media site preferred by executives. There are lots of ways to make LinkedIn a natural extension of your marketing and network- ing activities: join discussions on LinkedIn groups (or create your own conversations or start your own groups), build upon your existing network of former col- leagues and contacts, and mes- sage people directly via LinkedIn InMail.
UNDERRATED: BLOGS Blogs don’t get a lot of media hype in 2015, but, in a way, that makes them even more powerful. Blogs “pull” content instead of “push” content. Instead of “pushing” con- tent to your email list or your social media followers (where everyone is already overwhelmed with too much clutter, spam, and non-value- adding content), blogs let you “pull” an audience in based on SEO and relevant, helpful content. Any single blog article can potentially be the front door to your business and the first introduction to a prospective buyer – and there’s real power in that. – GREGG SCHWARTZ
SELLING POWER OCTOBER 2015 | 19 © 2015 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.
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