Social media, SEO, web analytics–it’s enough to make a sales or marketing manager long for the good old days of cold-calling, advertising, and direct mail. In truth, the old days weren’t so good. Casting a wide net to capture prospects with just the phone, local ads, and the U.S. Postal Service really wasn’t very efficient. Modern methods can generate better results and ROI if you use them properly.
And there’s the rub. Dealers are finding it difficult to find the right sales and marketing formulas to produce optimal results in today’s market. If you don’t use the right tools and methods, or you use them incorrectly, then you are at a disadvantage with competitors that have figured it out. Here’s how the 2016 Elite Dealers are maximizing what they get from sales and marketing.
Take search engine optimization (SEO) seriously: Having great SEO could be the difference between being in the top three search results on Google or number 30. That’s important, because almost no one looks beyond the first page of search results. In 2016, 4 The Office made an investment to make sure its website was optimized for search, and the dealership can attribute new business and opportunity to the effort–enough that it has made up for having fewer people selling.
Message in a way that differentiates your company from competitors: To get the most from your marketing or website, you need a good story to tell–one your customers can relate to. Datamax communicates its differentiators so that they are objective, quantifiable, unique to the company, and relevant to the customer. To do this, Datamax keeps its operations and vision for the company aligned with its customers’ priorities.
Educate customers and prospects on your offerings and capabilities: Sharing what you know is proving to be an effective way to get the attention of customers and prospects. However, it’s effective only if you can put that knowledge in the the context of the customers’ needs and priorities. To do so, dealers like Advance Business Systems arms its sales team with the tools they need to understand businesses in every industry the company sells to with the goal of understanding their challenges, existing workflows, and organizational needs.
Your website is an important medium for educating your customers on what you know and do. Many of our Elite Dealers have recently updated their websites to not only provide more information to customers and prospects, but better encourage interaction and capture leads. Des Plaines Office Equipment (DPOE) has a new website that answers questions on its services and includes guest articles and industry statistics. DPOE has taken that a step further by developing an app for mobile devices.
Be active on social media: Customers and prospects doing research on needed products or services will likely look you up on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. If you have pages there that lack meaningful content or recent activity, you could be written off early. DPOE understood this when it updated its website and rolled out its app. The company made sure its team was active on its social media channel and encouraged interaction.
Get out and in front of people: Social media and the web might be the primary marketing tools, but it still pays to be visible in the communities you serve. DPOE President Chip Miceli, for example, takes advantage of opportunities to speak at civic organizations, business associations, and trade associations about the company’s IT services. He’s careful to present in a context that is more educational and less promotional.
