Many of you are no doubt aware that social media has a (by now) well-established place in B2C lead generation. It’s been employed to great ends (think the world-beating Twitter account that Zappos runs), and to less effective ones, but in this day and age, virtually every B2C sales organization of any size has some sort of social media presence. From a Web 2.0 perspective, to not do so, in 2010, seems to signify a lack of hipness.
Now, at this point, some might be thinking, “Well, of course, all of this makes sense—for B2C sales relationships.” And those who hold this view are not alone. Many
Remember that “lack of hipness” thing in the first paragraph of this post? Sure, that’s a part of the importance of using social media to engage customers, for branding purposes. But it actually goes much beyond that. Not having a social media presence also represents a very large missed opportunity to build lasting relationships with your customers. And, regardless of what type of sales you’re trying to engage in, those relationships are vitally important to the long-term success of your endeavors. Indeed, with the increased sales cycle length, limited market size, and monetary investment inherent in B2B sales, such relationships might be even more important.
When considering how to best put together a B2B lead generation campaign, it might do you well to consider incorporating elements of social media outreach into your approach. While it might be somewhat silly to expect B2B customers or prospects to direct message you on Twitter with a complaint or comment, it’s nevertheless an extra medium of communication you’re choosing to open to interested parties, which can only be a good thing.
Another way to help your sales cycle: Consider The Lead Dogs to do the heavy lifting for you, including inquiry management services, so that your sales team can focus on closing sales and generating revenue. Outsourced lead generation can be a smart play, freeing up your staff to do what it does best.
