Do you remember the days when marketing your business involved taking out an ad in a magazine or local paper. It was great wasn’t it? Your little box snuggled up against all your competitors’ little boxes.
Then of course there was the humble mail shot, not to mention the dreaded cold calling. You’d spend hours and hours going down your list of phone numbers, repeat your well rehearsed opening pitch, desperate to hear a ‘yes’ rather than the usual ‘***!!!####’. Those were the days.
Thank God you don’t have to rely on that type of marketing anymore.
When I started out as a copywriter, I vowed I would never resort to cold calling.
I don’t know about you, but I hate it when my evening is interrupted by a sales call. How dare these people phone me, uninvited, to try and sell me something I don’t want. To be honest, even I was in the market for their offering, I still wouldn’t buy because they felt it was OK to disrupt my evening.
So if you use cold calling – even if it’s to other businesses – stop and think. Is it really worth hacking off 199 people just to get 1 yes?
Relationship selling through social media
The advent of social media has opened up a whole new sales arena.
Because it gives you the opportunity to listen, engage and talk to your customers, you can use these platforms to build trust and relationships. These, in turn, will help you sell more.
There are a lot of businesses out there obsessed with return on investment. Quite rightly, after all, if you’re going to make an investment you’ll want to make sure you’re going to get something back. But your social media activity is not the easiest thing to measure in terms of ROI. It is much more about return on relationships.
By talking and listening to people, you can be in the right place at the right time to give valuable advice. You will come across as open and approachable and not yet another faceless company chasing money.
By interacting and using these channels regularly, you will be able to:
- Attract new clients
- Make great contacts
- Give help and advice when your customers need it most
- Drive more traffic to your website
- Have a lot of fun
As this digital age gathers pace, it’s time to cut the strings of your old marketing activities and to branch out into the social digital world.
Over to you
Are you still a fan of cold calling, or are you a social media convert?
Leave a comment below and share your ideas, beliefs and the things that make you mad!