Beyond social media lead generation

Value driven decision making has been identified as one of the key differentiators of the b2b space when compared with b2c. Then isn’t it obvious that we need to look beyond the social media lead generation to seek additional value when it comes to b2b space?

So, you may still be wondering as to what “more” than b2b leads can be of your interest? To cut things short, this blog post will dwell on possible solutions to the issues of long sales cycle times, lack of knowledge on the buyer & his / her position in the buying cycle and a few other finer aspects that are typical to b2b space.

The power of social media as experienced currently by one and all in the b2b space is just the beginning to what other compelling propositions that the social media has in store.

In spite of the strategies & tactics utilized by the b2b marketing & sales fraternity to bring down the sales cycle times in a cost effective way, there is no proven way to shorten it. It is clear that there are users, influencers and decision makers that are impacting the sale that makes the sales cycle times long, yet there is little cognitive solution.

The present day social media has been specifically built for people to get connected while the companies are yet to fully reap the benefits. However, a b2b social platform that enhanced collaboration amongst companies just as Facebook did to you & your friends could be handy.

Here is how it can be handy. Say, there exists a company “ABC Limited” that provides “Advertising solutions” to other SMBs of the world. Now, ABC is in need to really seek value from its social media activities beyond just lead generation. Assuming an ideal b2b social collaboration platform for “ABC Limited” that hosts ABC’s prospects (potential customers & its employees), customers (& its employees), etc. In this case, ABC Ltd can have access to not only its prospect companies but also the employees inside it. Since, it is into “advertising solutions”, it can “follow” the marketing executive (user), product manager (influencer) and VP Business development to receive real-time updates even from their FB, LinkedIn & Twitter. These updates will help the b2b sales & marketing professionals from ABC Limited to share appropriate data i.e files, links etc to their prospects and engage them effectively in order to facilitate top of the mind brand recollection of ABC.

This could be one of the many ways to shorten the b2b sales cycle times in a big way.

Further, often sales professionals in the b2b space will be quite familiar and wondering why a prospect is not hitting the BUY button in spite of furnishing several details. This is a clear case of lack of understanding of the buyer’s position in the buying cycle. Well, only a “follow” feature that can send updates in real-time about the prospect’s groups & discussions participations can be useful to gain insights into the buying cycle of the prospect.

If you still have questions as to why you and your prospects should be on the b2b platform? Please click here

Bottom line: Connect & collaborate with companies worldwide, the social media for businesses way!

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