Is Social Media Effective for Selling Industrial Products and Services?

Social media networking has taken the world by storm. According to a Pew Research Center survey, two-thirds of all adults in the United States have a Facebook account -- and that's only a single network. There are more than a dozen social media networks, each of which targets a different demographic of users. If you run or work for a B2B company, though, you might be wondering if social media is an effective sales channel. It's certainly a great way to find news, current events and funny photos, but can you use social media to sell your company's products or services?

Social Media Offers New Sales Opportunities

Using social media will open the doors to new sales opportunities for your company. One survey found that sales reps who use social media such as LinkedIn or Alignable generate 38% more sales than their non-social counterparts. Whether or not you experience these same results remains to be seen. However, it's safe to say that social media will almost certainly allow you to sell more products or services because you'll reach a larger audience.

It's Popular Among Industrial Sales Reps

It's no secret that industrial sales reps use social media to promote their products and services and many times reach their target audience, but you might be surprised to learn just how many sales reps use it. Statistics show that roughly 83% of all industrial sales reps use social media, thus making it one of the leading marketing channels.

It's Inexpensive

Of course, one of the reasons why so many industrial sales reps use social media to promote their products and services is because it offers a high return on investment (ROI). Most social media networks, including LinkedIn and Twitter, allow businesses to use their platform for free. These networks also offer paid advertising solutions, but this is completely optional and not required when promoting your company. Even with a budget of $0, you can create a personal page, company page and even product showcase pages on LinkedIn to promote your products or services.

Personalized Brand

You can personalize your band when using social media to promote your company's products or services. In other words, social media allows you to humanize your company's brand image so that users are more likely to relate to it. This is important because customers are more likely to buy products and services from companies with a personalized brand. The key thing to remember is that you need to directly engage with your company's audience on social media.

It's Another Quality Touch

If you utilize SalesLeads’ Industrial Project Reports, then you know the quality information we supply. Build a more robust relationship with these identified key contacts by simply inviting them to connect on LinkedIn. Now you’ve just added another avenue, another touch to building a relationship that can lead to new revenue and a faithful online cheerleader.