We’ve talked a lot this week about the sales funnel and your social media strategy, so why not integrate the two and show you how they can work hand in hand?!
A recent study on the state of inbound marketing by HubSpot showed that social media actually produces almost double the marketing leads of trade shows, telemarketing, direct mail or PPC. Despite this striking fact, we strongly believe in an integrated marketing approach and this is a perfect example. Filling your sales funnel with potential leads can be done by integrating traditional tactics such as cold calling, networking and expos with more modern tactics like email nurturing campaigns, website downloads or social media. Sometimes social media can be overlooked which, according to HubSpot’s findings, is potentially a huge mistake! Here’s why.
First, let’s show you how the funnel stages can be aligned with the stages of social media engagement:
Top of the Funnel- Remember, this is the awareness stage where leads have either become aware that they have an unfulfilled need or they have become aware of you and your product or service. The top of the funnel can be likened to Facebook fans or Twitter followers who have found your company on social media but have little to no engagement. They are aware of you as a company and your job here is to engage them by posting information to educate them about their unfulfilled need.
Middle of the Funnel- The evaluation stage. The fans and followers have recognized that your product or service can fulfill their unmet need and are now looking to evaluate your company to determine if it is the right fit. Here, you should be focused on their engagements. Do they like you informative posts? Do they comment on posts? Do they post questions about your solution on your profile page or address you in any direct way? Do they click links to download content offerings?
Bottom of the Funnel- The purchase stage. So far, you have used social media to build a relationship with the lead by providing valuable information, resources, expertise and to show your credibility and your ability to solve their problems. From here, incentives offered through social media can be your golden ticket to converting a lead to sale.
Social media also becomes an important resource after a sale has been made. Outlets like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ are extremely effective in customer retention and easily allow companies to stay connected with customers. Offering tips, tricks, user guides or any other related value add content to social media followers after a purchase can build the foundation for repeat business, reliable customer service and satisfied reviews and/or referrals.
Some other things to remember about using the sales funnel to bolster your social media strategy (and a great infographic…surprise, surprise):
Expand the Funnel, Get a Higher ROI
Social media allows companies the opportunity to reach potential leads earlier in the sales process. In essence, social media adds additional levels to your sales funnel allowing you to expose, influence and engage potential leads to create the brand awareness that has driven the lead to the awareness stage of the sales funnel. With so many users on various platforms, social media allows companies to reach a huge amount of people at a relatively low cost, serving as a sales prospecting and nurturing tactic with a high ROI.
Understand the Difference Between a Social Media Lead and a Traditional Lead
Social media leads often enter the sales funnel at an earlier stage in the sales funnel than traditional leads. They may not be ready to purchase right away. They may just love your strategic combination of fun/interesting posts and helpful industry news/insights. For this reason, you need to make sure to integrate content geared towards the decision making process and lead nurturing. Answer questions. Highlight problems that prompt the need for your solution. Provide opportunities for them to learn more and to trust you as a solution. That’s right...keep posting viral videos, funny pictures and engaging polls or questions. Just remember to supplement it with content that aligns to the goals of each stage of the sales funnel.
There’s An App for That?
In June of this year, InsightSquared launched the first free sales funnel app. It is called “The Free Sales Funnel by InsightSquared” and it is available on the Salesforce AppExchange. The app allows you to monitor actual conversation rates at each stage of the sales process for effective management of your pipeline and accurate forecasting. We know this doesn’t really relate to social media but we figured we would give you a little teaser for our upcoming post on mobile apps.
See how everything works together so nicely!? Social Media, The Sales Funnel and now Mobile Apps. We really do love integration here at Stratus!
Oh Yeah… and An Infographic
