Are You Moving Online With Your Customers?

Marketing involves the promoting and selling of products and services. If you’re a marketer you’re essentially a salesperson, even if that’s not how you perceive your job. Most people think a “sales” role consists of these typical activities: endless cold calls, prospect meetings and a whole lot of proverbial doors slammed in your face. But in today’s business world, the tenets of selling are evolving right along with the core focus of marketing. Consumers no longer stand for being forced and bullied into a decision; instead, they prefer to build relationships with brands, gather information and eventually come to an informed conclusion on their own. Your job as a marketer or a salesperson is to do a better job of highlighting the value of your products and services than your competition.
 

Social Media Is Changing The Business Landscape

The ability to adapt is one of the most important components of success in both business and marketing. This willingness to pivot and take risks is especially important for truly great digital marketing campaigns due to the fast-paced nature of the Internet. One aspect of the digital space that is significantly shifting the business environment is social media. While some companies are still getting acquainted with the idea of social selling – using social media platforms to generate leads and close sales – the early adopters are busy reaping the benefits.
The simple fact is that in order to sell, you need something very specific: a potential customer. Logic follows that to interact with potential customers, you need to be where they are (waiting for them to come to you just doesn’t cut it). This is exactly why websites and strong digital branding have become such a vital part of marketing over the last decade – if you don’t have the website customers expect it makes a bad first impression. As consumers flock to rapidly growing social media platforms, social activity is becoming just as critical as an engaging website.
 
From a numbers standpoint, the stats speak for themselves. Recent Forrester research shows that 91% of B2B IT buyers are involved with social media. On the other end of the spectrum, studies found that 78.6% of salespeople who use social selling out performed those who weren’t using social media. Essentially, social media platforms are like giant, can’t-miss conferences that literally never stop running. The people who attend achieve more success – it’s not a coincidence. Do you really want to actively ignore an opportunity that big?

 

Marketing Stats
SMBS + Social = Success 
 
*  98% of businesses surveyed found content marketing to be an effective social media tool. 
* More than 10% intends to put more social content services and reputation management services. .