LinkedIn for Lead Generation 1 The Rise of the Social Seller: A New Approach to Generating B2B Leads...
-
Upload
eric-randall -
Category
Documents
-
view
222 -
download
0
Transcript of LinkedIn for Lead Generation 1 The Rise of the Social Seller: A New Approach to Generating B2B Leads...
LinkedIn for Lead Generation 1
The Rise of the Social Seller:
A New Approach to Generating B2B Leads through Social Networks
LinkedIn for Lead Generation 2
Overview
1. Social sellers: Why they make sense in the B2B market
2. What do Social Sellers look like?3. Key Risks Posed by Social Sellers to Organisations 4. Key Advantages of Social Sellers to Organisations 5. Governance: how to launch social sellers within
social networks?
4
B2B is Person-to-Person
• B2B is fundamentally different to B2C;
• B2B features much smaller, more defined target audiences;
• B2B purchases are almost always larger in size and/or time commitment than B2C purchases;
• Large B2B purchases have a significant impact on the organization and the person on the buying side
5
B2B is Person-to-Person
• In almost every B2B industry, the personal brand is as important as the company brand during the sales process (think about the effect of poor salespersons);
• B2B deals are usually confirmed on the strength of the relationship between the buyer and the seller himself;
• If you apply this truth to Social Media, then B2B marketing and lead generation need to be Person to Person;
• Companies that will thrive in Social Media must invest in the personal brands of their key people – turning them into Social Sellers.
6
Candidates for Social Selling
• Sales (BDM, Sales Director)
• Marketing (Marketing Manager, Marketing Director, CMO)
• Information Technology (IT Manager, IT Director, Chief
Information Officer)
• Operations (COO, Operations Manager)
• CEO
• Receptionist
9
Why would you choose someone as a Social Seller?
• Loyalty to company
• Thought Leadership (original thinker, but not Einstein)
• Good Writing Skills
• Commonsense person
• Good articulation of solutions, almost bordering on technical
• You are comfortable having them represent the company
17
Key Sections of a LinkedIn Profile
• Headline• Websites• Professional Summary• Work Experience (latest)• Display Assets (Powerpoints, Video, Blog)• Honors & Awards• Publications• Skills• Testimonials
19
Key Risk: Content Requirement
• Social Sellers are usually from Sales divisions
• Thus, they are often too busy pursuing new business to find fresh, relevant, and compelling content
• Even when time exists to source content, they often lack the
experience of preparing content that is 100% cleared from
every angle; i.e. brand, legal, and distribution
• Marketing must invest time and budget into producing
regular content for Social Sellers
20
Key Risk: Internal Resentment
“Why wasn’t I chosen as a Social Seller?”
Create Pilot Hold a meeting with all potential social sellers
and explain the Pilot, its risks, and why the social seller(s) was chosen
Explain the circumstances under which other potential sellers will become actual social sellers
Ensure that non-social sellers do not begin social media activity
21
Key Risk: Poaching
Yes – Headhunters and Competitors will get in touch with your Social Seller.
Discuss the unique investment in the social seller, and how competitors would never allow this
Explain the potential long-term earnings of this investment for the Social Seller, far outweighing any short-term salary gains
23
Positive Effects of Social Seller on the Organisation
• Personal & Company Brand Building
• Lead Generation
• Higher conversion rate from meeting request to meeting secured
• More clients for B2B Company
Content Distribution
24
Personal & Company Brand Building
Social ProspectsSeller
Status Updates
Group Participation
Content Distribution
25
SocialProspectsSeller
Status Updates
Group Participation
Mere Exposure Effect
Positioning (Sponsorship) Effect
SocialSeller
Brand
Personal Brand Building
27
Positioning through Sponsorship
Associating your personal brand with the content of your posts, makes you stand out and become synonymous with that content.
This gives you greater credibility and trust in the market
28
Paradigm Shift:
The Company Builds its Corporate Brand via the Personal Brands of its Social
Sellers.
Convert into business lead
33
Lead Generation – Inbound
This “Content Landing Page” can be a
Microsite or Blog
Meeting
34
Lead Generation – Outbound
Social Seller
After being connected with prospects for a
while, the Social Seller approaches prospects directly
LinkedIn for Lead Generation 36
Governance: How Do You Launch Social Sellers
within Social Networks?
37
Who Decides?
• Vest authority in persons who may decide on who may become a Social Seller
• The content of Social Seller’s profiles that relates to, and impacts, B2B Company should be approved by B2B Company
• Marketing has responsibility for content sourcing, content processing and approval, and dissemination to Social Sellers
• Social Sellers must distribute information in a timely manner
38
Marketing Must Support the Social Seller
• Source Regular Content
• Prepare Approved Content
• Feed Content to Social Seller (pre-cut status updates)
• Within 3 – 6 months of support from Marketing, the Social Seller should come into content sourcing, preparation, and distribution skills that alleviate the burden on Marketing
39
Roll Out
• Create one or two Social Sellers as part of a Pilot
• Pilots prevent situations where multiple social sellers are posting the same content or connecting with the same prospects blindly
• Once learnings are in (min. 3 months), then roll out to more staff
• Keep tight controls for the first 6 months of each Social Seller
40
Thank You!
Tom SkotidasDirector,
Skotidas (www.skotidas.com.au)
LinkedIn: Tom SkotidasTwitter: @tomskotidasGoogle+: tomskotidas