We live in a digital age, the age of communication and instant information. What once took hours, even days to reach people across the globe now only takes a few quick keystrokes and a matter of seconds. But don’t let me bore you with what you already know. What I’m really trying to get at is the fact that, when approached correctly, social networks are viable channels for sales and endless opportunities are within arm’s reach. All sales and business development professionals should consider leveraging this global social trend to broaden their sales funnel or you may one day, find yourself obsolete.
Back In The Day
In our grandparent’s time, business was conducted on a very personal level. The local baker knew what type of bread each family preferred, the butcher began cutting your favorite cuts as soon as he saw you walk through the door, everyone and I mean everyone, knew each other. This was relationship building at its best. Businesses across the globe lost this personal touch as time went on and our world grew a little bigger and busier. Until now.
7 Billion Strong
Yes, our world is no mere village, with over 7 billion inhabitants of planet Earth we are... Read more
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Tagged 'social selling' 
Why (social) communication is the key to selling!
Tags: Facebook, marketing, Sales, social marketing, Social Media, social media marketing, social media strategy, social selling, socialmedia, twitter
Posted in Social Media | 2 Comments »
The Influence of the Social Buyer on B2B Business
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In the B2B world, the emergence of the Social Buyer is causing organizations to search for better ways to reach its’ base of buyers. What we do know is that B2B buyers are demanding more social experiences in their buying processes. To date, it appears that many of the efforts to reach buyers remain tactical in nature. Companies are looking to social media and other means such as content marketing to fit into their existing structure and business operations. This approach, if wedded to existing structures, may in fact be impeding the evolution of B2B organizations to not only adapt to changes in buyer behaviors but also align their organizations to the emerging Social Buyer.
What we continue to witness is how compartmentalized efforts are being aligned with existing departments. Certain tactical initiatives related to social networking, content strategy, demand generation, and more continue to have a very provincial nature to them and the debate related to proverbial “who owns this” continues to be avoided. Business leaders, especially those in B2B, must take heed to what is happening in the under layers of their business industry and what influence the Social Buyer is having in their marketplace. Here are just three that... Read more
Tags: B2B, b2b marketing, business, Business model, Business-to-business, Buyer, buyer persona, buyer personas, content marketing, Goal Centric, Social business, social buyer, social buyer behavior, social buyer ecosystem, social buyer persona, social ecosystem, social experience, Social influence, social marketing, Social Media, Social network service, social selling, Social technology, Tony Zambito
Posted in Creative Best Practices, Emerging Platforms, Opinions, Search, Social Media, Targeting, Websites | 2 Comments »
Social Buyerology: Turning Insight Into Influence
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This is the fourth and last installment of my initial reflection on Social Buyerology. The first article, Social Buyerology: Understanding Buyers in the Social Age reflected on the need for a new science of examining buyers in the social age. The second, The Research Methods of Social Buyerology, reviewed the types of research methods needed to attain a deep understanding of the new social buyer persona. In the third installment, Social Buyerology: Listening to the Social Buyer, we looked at how Social Buyerology can be designed to listen to revealing insights about the social buyer. In this fourth article, we examine how to turn insights about the social buyer persona into social influence.
A starting point I believe is to take a hard look at what I believe is a fundamental change on the part of social buyers related to the old adage of turning insight into action. In the social age, influence or perhaps more correctly, social influence, has become the centrality of the social buyer’s mindset towards taking steps leading to a buying decision. This, in fact, is creating a tension point between marketers and buyers today. For years and yet still there has been... Read more
Tags: Business marketing, buyer insight, buyer persona, buyer personas, customer insight, Goal Centric, insight, Interpersonal relationship, LinkedIn, marketing, research, Sales, Social Age, social buyer, social buyer persona, social connectedness, Social influence, social marketing, Social Media, social media marketing, social selling, Tony Zambito
Posted in Creative Best Practices, Emerging Platforms, Opinions, Search, Social Media, Targeting, Websites | 1 Comment »
Plan for the Social Buyer Before It’s Too Late
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To say things are changing is an understatement. Morgan Stanley (2010) recently reported in a study that there are now more social network users than email users. An even more profound and sobering fact is that 80% of business buyers today say that they found their vendors as opposed to vendors finding them. If you are a Chief Sales Officer, when was the last time you checked how often your sales teams are making contact with potential buyers? You might be surprise that most often, outbound calls are going directly into voice mail. Don’t worry, you are in good company as 85% of business phone calls go into voice mail and are never returned.
What is happening? For starters, businesses using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking platforms are expected to grow at a rate of 20%-30% this year and even at a greater rate next year (CIO Insight, 2010). The Fortune 500 is jumping on board with nearly 70% actively pursuing social networking as a business benefit for their buyers (McKinsey, 2009). Marketing, as we know it today, will see its’ percent of activities devoted to social marketing increase past 50% over the next two years. What... Read more
Tags: business, buyer behavior, buyer experience, buyer insight, buyer persona, buyer persona development, buyer personas, buying cycle, Goal Centric, LinkedIn, Morgan Stanley, Sales, Social Age, Social business, social buyer behavior, social buyer persona, social buyer personas, social marketing, Social Media, Social Network, Social network service, social selling, Tony Zambito
Posted in Creative Best Practices, Emerging Platforms, Opinions, Search, Social Media, Targeting, Websites | 1 Comment »
