Got Lost With Digital Marketing? Get Found. By Those Who Need You.

As a supplier of technology, have you ever had that sinking feeling of reading a competitor's press release of a major project that you never knew of?
As a technology company selling into the broadcast industry, we can all benefit from finding more new customers and avoiding the feelings of frustration having missed out on major projects.

So how do we ensure we don’' miss out? One answer by many a misguided sale manager – more cold calling!
It's an experience we all enjoy - outright rejection, having short conversations with people who don’t appreciate your uninvited call, and being cut you off half-way through an introduction. Pure motivation and joy for any hardened salesperson. Personally, I have spent much of my sales career cold calling. But the majority of my deals have come via other means and actually cold calling, though it can work, was never a productive use of my time. So is there an alternative?

Well yes of course. Make the internet work for you – unlike your salespeople, the internet is on 24/7/365, does not require coffee breaks and can continually generate leads through digital marketing.

What is Digital Marketing? Digital marketing is utilising the internet to create inbound lead generation, that is people who contact you directly rather than relying on outbound marketing such as cold calling to generate new sales leads.
It is reckoned that over 84% of business buyers go online first when they are considering a purchase. If you can first engage with a prospect at this point, and help the prospect through his buying journey, then your chances of winning are hugely increased.

It's not always about being found in the search engines, though this is a major part of any digital marketing strategy. But being found within many of the social media platforms, online portals, online reviews, bloggers, vloggers and online user groups plays a part. Pay Per Click adverts and using LinkedIn to target specific persona's is also included within a company’s digital marketing strategy. Brand building will build a company's reputation and gives access for later engagement if a customer is not currently looking.

So how does a company make itself more discoverable online? A major part is about creating content, keyword links and distribution. Continual creation of case studies, blogs, press releases, white papers and videos with anchor text and subtitles improves your online reputation and your ranking in the search engines. Content has to be compelling, educational and interesting but needs to include anchor text, often linked back to “themed” landing pages that describes your value proposition.

Creating content need not be difficult, but there are also companies who will specialise in content creation if you don't have the time. But be prepared to be interviewed and you should make the time to review content to ensure it is accurate. Having a 'Call To Action' on your website will enable you to capture leads, for example someone downloading a white paper or an eBook, and in return you can ask for their contact details which enables you to follow up or nurture until they are ready to buy. Prospects are more likely to fill in a form for further information than a form on your contact page.

Monitor your website traffic, if your digital marketing initiatives are working correctly then number of visitors will increase, and this will ultimately improve your inbound sales enquires. Now as salespeople, these are the people we should be calling.

About the author: Mark Andrews has a technical sales and marketing background in broadcasting and video surveillance. His company, Rain Dance, has proven experience in helping technology companies grow by enhancing their digital marketing strategy and online presence. He is a specialist in writing content with the aim of brand building and inbound lead generation.