Making The Most Of Social Media As A Sales Acceleration Tool

September 26, 2013

Many small and medium-sized companies rely heavily on face-to-face sales strategies to initiate long-lasting enterprise growth. While technology has advanced rapidly in the business world, the basic lead generation process continues be highly effective when employees are on the ground speaking to existing and potential clients.

Despite the reliability of these in-person strategies, sales managers should be careful not to ignore the potential impact of using new tools. One of the main side effects associated with an increasingly digital business world is significantly higher levels of competition among similar brands. Social media and content marketing have essentially evened the playing field when it comes to the level of access to target customers companies have.

As a result, businesses may want to consider using a dynamic mix of tools for sales professionals that not only increase revenue, but uniquely position brands to generate more leads in the long term. Here is a closer look at some tips managers and employees can consider when using social media to start a sales acceleration:

Do something real
According to Sales Playbook, too many businesses set up social media accounts only to waste their time filling their feeds with passive, ineffective content. In many cases, organizations don’t even post original content over channels like Twitter and Facebook. Instead, they simply have their employees “listen” and monitor brand-related discussions. Having this mindset when on the Internet is detrimental to enterprise growth, Sales Playbook said. If salespeople really want to use social media tools effectively, they must be active participants. For example, the source said employees can find new leads by commenting on someone else’s posts or by asking questions and engaging in meaningful conversations. In other words, it’s important to take the concept of social media literally. Just because it all takes place on the Internet doesn’t mean that there aren’t any true interpersonal skills needed to successfully attract new customers.

Use the right metrics
Having a successful presence on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter isn’t exactly a popularity contest. Inc. Magazine said businesses that are interested in learning how to grow profitable revenue through social media channels shouldn’t be so heavily focused on the number of followers or likes they receive. Sales teams often have to utilize other metrics to measure the effectiveness of their digital marketing campaigns. As a result, managers and employees should establish clear goals ahead of time so they can easily come up with effective ways to monitor performance.