Why You Shouldn’t Confuse Sales and Marketing
If you follow our blogs or keep up to date on the marketing industry in general for that matter, you are aware of how much the marketing industry has changed over the years. With the constant change in the marketing industry, other departments have changed, too. The evolution of marketing has brought a whole new definition to sales and the two departments work for hand in hand (in most cases.)
Consider the process of walking into a car dealership 20 years ago. If you were interested in buying a car, you would rely on the salesperson at the dealership to give you every bit of information that you needed to know about the car. Fast forward 20 years into today’s world and the salesperson at the dealership is not the beholder of all the information. In fact, the buyer that is interested might even know more about the car than the salesperson! Why is that? Because all of the information is online, for anyone to see.
While the salesperson at the dealership knows everything there is to know about the car, buyers today generally compile all the information they need. From price, model options, reviews, warranty offers, etc., everything the buyer needs is already there for them. So now, the job of the salesperson is to use the information that is already available to the buyer, to make the sale. Marketing, on the other hand, is responsible for providing information, answering questions and making the buying process enjoyable.
Why is Content Marketing Important?
As defined by the content marketing institute, content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience, and also drive profitable customer action. When it comes to sales and marketing, it is important to understand the difference between the two but also identify how the two teams work together. Marketing teams today act as servant sellers by creating helpful and useful content that is valuable to the customer, so they are prepared to buy your product or service.
Lead Generation
A term that has become very important for businesses today is lead generation. Lead generation is the marketing process that stimulates and captures the interest of your buyers for the purpose of developing a sales pipeline. Although lead generation has been around for years, it has become very prominent with the rise of digital media. Because of all the information that marketers have provided to online buyers, there has been a rise of the “self-directed buyer” and new techniques that develop and qualify potential leads have emerged.
Within the last few years, the buying process has changed tremendously and as a result, so have the ways to reach buyers. Buyers are now bombarded with advertisements on their newsfeeds and email blasts. Buyers today receive so many advertisements that marketers today must focus on developing a message that is useful and valuable in some sort of way for the buyers and additionally, build a continuous relationship. If the content is not able to stand out against the many voices on the internet it will be impossible to deliver your message to your audience. It is safe to say that marketing teams today are the ones that generate this content to help generate leads. From there, your sales team can convert the leads the marketing team has into sales.
Marketing Techniques that Contribute to Sales
Create a Sales funnel/ Buyers Journey
Building a sales funnel is all about building brand awareness. Or in other words, you want to be where your target audience is. The goal is to become a magnet to draw in the customers you are targeting. The way you do this is to develop a targeted message. One of the most common techniques is social media but you can also do this with blog posts, email newsletters, whitepapers, video’s, etc.,
All messages should end with some sort of CTA (Call to action.) Perhaps this CTA is ‘subscribe to our newsletter’ or even ask for a response. Whatever your call to action is, it should provide you with useful information like contact information so you can capture this lead. In exchange, your audience should always receive something of value whether its newsletters which feature discount codes and information or a free trial. Your marketing team does all of the work when it comes to the top of the funnel (building brand awareness) and capturing leads, but once you have the lead, the sales team comes in and closes the deal. At that point, the deal should be simple to close since they are already interested and have all the information they need.
Recognize and Connect with Leads
Understanding what leads can be a bit confusing. While having a large following on social media is important, not every follower is a lead. Someone that does not follow you, but comments on your posts are considered a lead and those are the types of leads you want to chase. Having your marketing team respond to interactions on social media is extremely important, it builds that relationship that will convert them down the road because instead of being bombarded by advertisements, they are engaging with a brand that is genuine and loyal to them.
Use Social Media as a Lead-Generating Machine
Social media is different from any other method because it allows you to show your brand at its best. Through consistent posting of high-quality content, you can show people that your brand is established, trusted and values its customers. Having the right team to handle your social media can help you to build a social media presence that will help generate leads.
Without understanding the difference between marketing and sales, it is difficult to succeed. Brands must understand marketing and how it generates leads and then utilize techniques to generate those leads for the sales team.
Are you ready to start creating useful content for your buyers so that these sales will show up at your doorstep? Don’t hesitate to reach out to Joseph Studios to learn more about how our marketing team can help increase your sales.
