A new research brief from Aberdeen “Social Selling: Best-in-Class Targeting of the Right Message, at the Right Time, for the Right Person” contends that while social media represents a relatively new tool for professional sellers, current data suggests a series of proven best practices. Social media marketing has been studied by Aberdeen for some time, and recognizing the power of user-generated content is quite common among business-to-business practitioners of marketing best practices.
In his blog post on the report, analyst Peter Ostow writes “With untold numbers of consumer hours now dedicated to posting, tweeting, liking and pinning, where is the measurable ROI for line-of-business executives seeking to monetize this brave new world? Moreover, has the momentum of social media marketing brought us to the point where professional salespeople can also benefit from its use?”
Data highlighted in the report looks at how “social selling” takes the hand-off from social media marketing by understanding when in the sales cycle survey respondents believe user-generated content is most effective.
“Building a list of sales prospects, companies or contacts – working WITH Marketing”
- Best-in-Class, 44%
- Industry Average, 36%
- Laggard, 27%
“Building a list of sales prospects, companies or contacts – working INDEPENDENTLY from Marketing”
- Best-in-Class, 8%
- Industry Average, 21%
- Laggard, 27%
“Initiating contact with new prospects”
- Best-in-Class 46%
- Industry Average 27%
- Laggard 28%
Ostow writes, “This data showcases how the top sales performers lead all other firms in using social media to build sales prospect lists by working side-by-side with marketing. Laggards lead the Best-in-Class by more than a 3-times factor, however (27% vs. 8%), in believing that social content should be used to create targets without the help of marketing.”
Access the complete research brief on the Aberdeen website.
