Good work begets more good work. When you exceed customer expectations, deliver impressive results and consistently go the extra mile, word spreads.
Entrepreneurs aren’t the most patient people in the world. So, they’re always looking for ways to accelerate this tried-and-true business development practice. One way to jumpstart business development? Social media. Whether you’re a small company or a larger brand, social media scales lead generation, uncovers new opportunities and shortens the sales cycle. Combined, this results in faster growth, better clients and – my personal favorite – no cold calls.
Let’s take a more in-depth look. For starters, here are three opportunities created by embracing digital communication:
- Establish expertise without borders. My PR and social media firm’s largest client is based in Canada. The introduction came from someone who lives in New Jersey who I “met” via Twitter. In fact, I can trace 75% of my company’s business back to relationships that initially began online (most of which originated on Twitter!). Thanks to social media, anyone can build a better network and share client work, case studies and their business philosophy with a larger audience – unlimited by geography. Even though we’re a boutique communications consultancy based here in Columbus, we work with clients from Canada to California. Technology makes it easy for businesses today to not only establish thought leadership, but also to convert that expertise into business opportunities.
- Show your intent. To monetize social media, humanize it, according to Harvard Business Review. We work with the Columbus Marathon and through social media, their online community has direct access to race director Darris Blackford. For the past two years, we’ve organized “Ask the Race Director” – a live Q&A broadcast on UStream and Facebook – where Darris answers marathoners’ questions. Two years ago, Darris got teary during the live broadcast as he shared gratitude for the thousands of volunteers who make the marathon happen. Last year, he literally couldn’t speak as he tried to convey his passion for Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the marathon’s commitment to raising funds to help sick kids. The result? The marathon sold out again and participants helped raise $875,000, which was donated to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Additionally, comments from participants after the race were overwhelmingly positive. While the marathon is a non-profit, the lesson is just as relevant for for-profit companies: Social media puts a spotlight on the people behind the logo, reveals your values, and strengthens brand loyalty and preference. As Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
- Shorten the sales cycle. By leveraging social media to share your “why,” you can drastically decrease the sales cycle. Prospects can learn a lot about you and your company by perusing social profiles. Who are you interacting with? What kinds of conversations are you having? What are other people saying about you? Does their approach to business and intention align with yours? Interestingly, potential customers can develop a sense of “knowing you” just by following and interacting with you online. As a result, the sales cycle is less about background and more about the brass tacks of getting down to business. By the time someone contacts me to learn more about Geben, they already know a lot about our approach to integrating traditional and digital PR and my approach to business, thus eliminating multiple stages of the sales process. Thanks to this shift in the business development, you can spend less time chasing new business … and more time delivering results.
Social media accelerates business development. Whether you work for a B2B or B2C company, a large organization or an emerging startup – you can grow and achieve your goals faster by taking a fresh approach business development. Of course, there’s an upfront time investment, but as you can see from these examples, adding a layer of social media is good for business growth.
How are you using social media to spur business development?
This post originally ran on Columbus Business First’s Social Madness Blog.
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