11 Reasons Why Social Media Is Important in Sales

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube, Vine, Vimeo—these social media platforms have become not only a normal part of our vocabulary, but have influenced the way we interact, buy, and sell.

 As a sales manager, you have likely been working with a lead generation process that has been the same for years. Perhaps your process is tried and true. My guess is that your current system works quite well, in fact. But you’ve also likely noticed that the world around you is changing every day.

Technology: cell phones, computers, tablets—is now integrated into our daily lives—both at personal and business levels. Humans are connecting through social mediums now more than ever. We keep up with our friends and family through our Facebook news feed. We invite prospective customers to coffee via email and connect with them on LinkedIn.

Each and every one of us has the option to choose to connect in a virtual world. As sales professionals, our networking options are bigger than ever. Social selling allows us to discover new prospects and companies, nurture current relationships, and discover more about others.

The question remains: are you capitalizing on the opportunity to connect, nurture, and discover through social media?

Get Pumped Up!

Have you ever watched a movie that made you laugh so hard your stomach hurt? Ever read a story so moving that it made you tear up? Human beings are emotional. We have a series of emotions that are triggered by what we see, feel, and experience.

Advertising experts certainly understand human psychology and how to invoke certain feelings. Marketing gurus put together TV commercials about food to make your mouth water. As visual creatures, we see, internalize, and formulate our thoughts based on what we just viewed.

As the network effect expands to social media, so does our opportunity to touch the eyes, then minds, of those around us. Through social media, we have the opportunity to share our story with hundreds, thousands, millions, and even billions of people. Our brand, our mission, now has a place to shine.

Tell Your Story

If your company doesn’t already have business accounts for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ (and Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and Vimeo for the ambitious), you must make one today.

Some might say: If you don’t exist on social, you don’t exist.

As a sales improvement organization, we say that if you aren’t on social, you are missing out on opportunities.

Why Go Social (for Business):

Here are eleven reasons why your business should be on social:

1. It allows you to be where your target audience is
2. Your message & content reach more people
3. An online presence builds credibility
4. Everyone and their grandma is on social (literally)
5. Being social drives traffic to your website
6. It allows you to keep tabs on your online reputation
7. It is a great place to find leads
8. Maintaining a social media presence is less expensive than traditional advertising
9. It opens the lines of communication with prospective & current clients
10. It provides a platform to share your story, testimonials, and advice
11. Being active on social shows that you keep up with your industry

Now that you know why being on social media is pivotal to your sales process, I encourage you to develop a system of best practices for social selling for your sales team. It is important to get marketing and sales together to see who is responsible for what (specifically on a business page level) and how to two departments can work together to drive and nurture business.

Need help with the process? Check out our NEW Free Ebook on Social Selling:







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