How social media platforms share your information is not under your control, so relying on them to make connections and drive B2B business development efforts is not a solid plan to increase sales.
Recently, another of JMS Elite’s co-founders, Jim Scaparotti, published a blog addressing the need for an integrated approach to lead generation where he states, “Content marketing is a powerful, effective way of growing your business, but it can’t work as a stand-alone method for B2B lead generation.”
Social Media Changes
We are in the second month of 2018 and already two of the leading social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, have announced changes that will affect what people are seeing in news feeds.
While details are limited, the gist is that fewer people will be seeing posts and promotions organically from business pages – meaning your well thought-out content marketing programs may lose a significant portion of your target audience.
What exact changes we can expect from Instagram and Facebook are unclear, but what is apparent is that content marketers are not in charge of social media platforms and can only rely on the fact that the platforms will continue to change both without notice to and without consultation from their users.
The short-term takeaway? Businesses cannot rely solely on content and inbound marketing to drive lead generation efforts.
An integrated approach is important in order to retain control over your lead generation efforts. Content marketing is powerful, and can be effective, but it’s important to invest in the areas that you can rely on to remain consistent and produce a positive ROI.
Make Connections on Your Own Terms
Making calls to targeted prospects is a sales method that is yours to determine and amend when necessary, based on specific performance or business needs. Whether you are using your own sales team or outsourcing to experts, you can decide who is representing your business, how, and to whom.
Personal connections and meaningful interactions, made by business-level executives, are not going to be randomly affected by an algorithm. Investing in callers who can interact with decision makers on a peer-to-peer level will lead to highly qualified leads entering your sales pipeline.
The benefits of investing in highly-qualified callers reaching out to a targeted prospect list are many. If your callers have executive-level experience, you know your company is being well-represented, and that their conversations will effectively determine if leads are truly qualified and in a position to buy.
Content marketing has a place in the world of B2B lead generation. It can be an effective way to get your message to a large audience and keep your name top-of-mind in your industry.
However, relying on social media alone to generate qualified leads is putting your time and money into someone else’s hands.
John
