Failure to Funnel

Social media can be an efficient, cost effective and measurable way to grow your company. This is the second in a  series of posts on the Dangers of Ignoring Social Media as a Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tool.

Direct mail, trade publication, newspaper, billboard and broadcast advertising are costly to produce, hard to measure and difficult to adjust to changing business conditions.

Conversely, social media and search engine optimization have low production costs, are easy to measure and can be adjusted according to evolving business goals.

Successful marketing campaigns have always relied on the synergy of communication tools – the marketing mix. Using social media to drive search engine results takes this idea to the next level by:

  • Funneling prospects to you based on their keyword searches
  • Providing information to decide if they want to take the next step
  • Increasing the likelihood that your sales team seals the deal

The largest part of our funnel is focused on CAPTURING the interest of search engines and therefore, our prospect’s attention. How? By harnessing the power of social media such as blogs, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook.

Once you’ve got your viewer’s attention you can add those prospects to your sales funnel. Capturing their attention requires:

  • Results at the top of the first page
  • Compelling content
  • Authentic offerings

Congratulations! You’ve intrigued your prospect enough to click on your page.

The visitor gets to your page, the funnel narrows.

At a glance does the visitor see what he came to see:

  • Familiar graphics and content?
  • The right product?
  • Relevant choices?

If so, we are ready to move the prospect into our INTERNAL funnel.
Here’s how:

  • By asking them to download a whitepaper
  • Sign up for an e-course
  • Take a survey
  • Request information about a specific product/service

This action allows you to obtain an e-mail address (for future communication) AND to categorize your prospects’ level of interest (to  narrow your funnel).

Once your prospects are segmented, you can work smarter – not harder. Ask yourself:

  • Are they a hot prospect?
  • Likely to buy in the next 1-3 months?
  • Gathering information for a possible future purchase?

Time spent nurturing categorized leads makes for timely, meaningful communication that drives sales.

Funneling your prospects is a basic Sales 101 concept. Yet, I find that it is often overlooked in the rush to use social media as a marketing/SEO tool and the pressure to grow your company.

Focusing your funnel lets the sales team concentrate on converting the most likely buyers while nurturing prospects through the pipeline.

When they are ready to buy, prospects are armed with the information you’ve provided and ready to ask specific questions. Sales reps are can focus on answering their questions and closing the sale.