Recently a research report caught my eye because it said that LinkedIn, at 65 percent, drives most customers in the business-to-business (B2B) realm, compared with a company blog at 55 percent. And it turns out that Facebook, too, is growing in importance for the business world.
In the Facebook environment, it’s all about exposure, not necessarily customers. Being the highly social critters that we are, people love to feel that they are “in the know” and have the power (i.e. information) to influence – and impress! – others. When this type of personality finds your Facebook presence impressive, they waste no time in sharing the news with friends, customers, and suppliers. You just never know who’s watching and listening!
Furthermore, the research says that advice from influencers is more convincing than from corporate sources. That’s why, traditionally, editorial coverage in print was considered far more important than paid advertising. It’s called “implied third party endorsement”.
So, it looks like social media can help people find you by improving their search results. And that adds up to business leads for you. Do you have a story about an online contact turning into business? Please let me know. I’d love to hear it and share with everyone else.
Watch our Putting People Back into the Business Equation video to learn more.
Best wishes, Connie
Connie Galligan is Founder and Lead Developer of RedHorse CRM. During two decades of consulting and software development in the industry, she has created custom tools, modifications and stand-alone systems to answer the needs of the clients and dealers she knows so well.