Salespeople who attend networking meetings know and understand the value of developing their pipeline. They also know that attraction marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing. In response, they will have many ’small talk’ conversations, sharing trivia and errata with their potential customers with the sole intention of making these individuals feel comfortable with them.
After a client is comfortable, they are wooed back to the office for further information about the selling company. There are more indepth discussions about pricing, services, and the level of expected commitment. The networking meeting is designed to get the potential customers through the door, where other methods are designed to convert those leads into sales.
The online world is a perpetual marketing meeting. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, niche forums, and other interactive havens form the foundation for social networking. The best marketers use these outlets to plant the seeds of trust and comfort with their customers, enticing them back to their brand’s website. After that, the leads and customers can be enticed even further to join mailing lists and purchase products.
Many marketers have the misconception that social marketing and networking are the second phase of the sales process. They believe that the man hours which are placed into constructing the perfect tweets, following others, sending messages and writing blog posts are going to yield instant and immediate results rather than lay the foundation and develop customer comfort levels.
Other marketers feel that social marketing is not worthwhile because it does not immediately entice sales. Social marketing is the gateway, not the solution. Broadening the Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn base is the primary goal of the social marketer. The social marketing strategy should be considered a part, rather than the whole marketing strategy.
Behind that social marketing, a professional needs a web site, a mailing list, and other accoutrements to make the sale. If a social marketing campaign is charming, attracting people in droves, but there’s nothing remarkable within the website, sales will not get made. Conversely, if a website is top-notch for conversions and the social marketing campaign is not up to snuff, very few individuals will see it. It is a balancing act.
When fashioning a marketing strategy, remember that social marketing is neither the end all, be all, nor is it useless. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are tools with which to get bits and pieces of your message to the masses. Understanding this can ultimately help your sales to soar.
