The Impact of Social Media on Sales

Kenneth Brown

September 3, 2008

The way of doing business is changing. We must ask ourselves how companies have communicated with clients and prospects in the past, and how they are going to in the future.

Most smart salespeople seek to build dependable referral lead sources consisting of clients, centers of influence and very important people. Although these are proven strategies for increasing sales success, this lead generation method takes considerable time. It could take months and sometimes years. Most companies can be rather impatient. This puts pressure on sales people to generate sales immediately.

So what are your choices? Some Fortune 500 companies have adapted to the change in social media and prospecting. Unfortunately, small and medium sized companies have not gotten the message yet.

Mike Volpe agrees. As the vice president of Hubspot. he recently conducted a Webinar on the impact of social media on marketing. The traditional methods, he notes; cold calling, direct mail marketing, advertising and trade shows, are less effective today.

Why? Everyday, Americans are bombarded with marketing and advertising. Someone is always trying to sell you something. Consumers and prospective buyers are blocking out these messages. The “Do Not Call List” prevents unwanted telemarketing calls. The federal government passed the Can Spam Act which blocks unwanted emails. Tivo allows television watchers to bypass the commercials. And on certain channels in the Sirius and XM satellite radio world, no advertising exists at all.

Business owners are now analyzing their return on investment on advertising. Now they are implementing alternative marketing strategies via the Web. Major newspaper and television companies are losing advertising revenue, downsizing and laying off employees. Instead, major corporations are advertising online by flocking to social media sites: YouTube, My Space, Facebook and Linkedin are attracting millions of subscribers. Likewise, Fortune 500 companies are connecting with those subscribers online and spending millions of dollars.

Selling is a tough business. Here are the facts about sales and marketing:

•    The average company brand awareness is 7 percent.
•    Ninety percent of people connected are not ready to buy.
•    A new sale might take eight to 15 touches with a prospect.
•    The average sales person makes one to two calls and never calls again.

If selling is such a tough business, what questions need to be asked about you and your company?

•    What is your brand awareness?
•    How do your clients and prospects recognize your products and services?
•    What do they say about you and your company?
•    What are you doing to stay in front on your best prospects?
•    How are you connecting and improving your relationship with your clients?
•    What tools are you using to engage your clients and prospects?
•    How are you using technology to enhance your image?
•    How are you using technology to demonstrate that you are better than the competition?

The traditional methods for prospecting and selling no longer work as well. Many salespeople still cold call and telemarket, send mass direct mail via U.S. Postal service, attend networking and trade shows. Most salespeople who do not have a prospect database must find clients by reading local newspapers and magazines, buying leads for a database company, searching directories for the best prospects and “smiling and dialing” the Yellow Pages. Although sales professionals should never abandon these methods, they must adapt and continue to thrive in this tough business environment.

The key is to find ways to attract your best prospects. People want to buy. They do not want to be sold. In the past, prospective buyers needed marketing and sales personnel to get enough information to make a buying decision. Not anymore. People are using the power of the Internet and embracing technology. They are using major search engines to find the information that they need.

What does this mean for you and your company’s sales? If you do a search on your name, company or your keywords that describes your business, what search results do you get? If you are not on the first page, guess who getting the business?

Your competition.

If you are not actively using the Internet to attract potential and keep clients, start now. You can’t afford not to start now. Your business might depend on it. There is plenty of opportunity to build your web presence and digital image. Do not let the Internet and others define you, your brand and company. You have no choice. Take control. The other option: Smiling and dialing in the Yellow Pages for eight hours straight.

Here are a few suggestions to better understand the impact of social media on your business:

•    Conduct a search on your name, company and key words associated with your industry.
•    Learn more about the Internet and how to use it to your advantage.
•    Start reading business blogs and news releases.
•    Discover interesting videos in your industry or profession.
•    Join an online social network to connect with potential clients and referral sources. LinkedIn.com is a good start.
•    Start blogging your personal views and observations within your industry.
•    Start video and audio podcasting.
•    Begin writing articles and submitting them to directories that will search your target market.
•    Send an e-mail newsletter to friends, family and clients.
•    Initiate a monthly or weekly news release promoting your company.
•    Review your company website and your SEO (search engine optimization) parameters and guidelines.
•    Offer free trials and tools to encourage prospects to try your products or services.

Kenneth Darryl Brown is president and CEO of E3C, a profit and business development company that specializes in profit success systems, leadership, sales, communication and technology. Brown shows companies how to maximize their sales and profits by implementing best practices for sales, networking and profitability.

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The Impact of Social Media on Sales

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Kenneth Brown

September 3, 2008