Why Social Media Matters in the Sales Process

Everyone knows sales are essential. Without them, any business goes belly up. There are multiple methods companies use to support their sales team. They range from specialized training to lead generation and so many more efforts that are in place to help close sales and may even be part of their social media strategy for hotels. Although this is the case, seldom does anyone note social media as a powerful tool in the sales process. The digital social networks are becoming stronger key players in moving leads through the sales funnel. Here are five crucial ways in which these popular digital platforms can aid in your sales funnel.

They take you where customers are

Twitter has 336 million users, Instagram now has as many as 800 million active users worldwide, and Facebook boasts 2.23 billion. With these large numbers, you can be sure at least some of your potential customers are online. With our ever-evolving world plugging in online, it seems like a great place to meet your audience. As time passes, more and more aspects of our lives are being digitized. People, especially the younger generations, are very comfortable online. So go where your audience is, meet them there and build a relationship with them wherever it is that they feel most comfortable. You might have to adjust your methods to reach them, but this is a small price to pay for maintaining a strong customer base.

Digital Exposure helps build your brand’s image

Building a brand is more than just a unifying color and logo. Any product, personality, or statement that is linked to your brand becomes part of your brand identity. With social media, a lot of this is controlled by the person running the page. They get to curate what is shown to the potential customers carefully. This may be user-generated content, articles from experts in your industry, or helpful tips. Whatever your brand chooses to show online can be selected to portray your brand in the light you want.

Social Media leads to repeated exposure

One of the great things about social media is that you can still post for free. However, organic reach has been decreasing more and more every year so that marketers are forced to pour more of their digital marketing budget into paid advertising on these platforms. Nonetheless, with every post, paid or organic, the audience is exposed to content that helps them gain a better understanding of the business they are following online. The more they see posts, the better their knowledge should be of the company, what their goals are, and how said company might be able to help them through their goods & services. Through the familiarity of the repeated exposure, trust is built, and that is a great base to have for any sales relationship.

Many sales are digital

Digital sales have grown as people spend more and more of their precious time online. The good thing about that is that so many products and services are accessible to customers online with just the click of a button. Since you will be nurturing a digital relationship with them online when they are ready to buy, it is easy for them to click on over to your website and make a purchase there.

Education is key

A digital platform allows for one more way for brands to teach potential customers about their products or service. Here, people can interact with the brand, ask them questions in the comments, or message them directly. Whatever way you put it, this is just one more channel to be able to educate the consumer.