As commerce changes and more businesses in every sector use the web to improve brand recognition, the challenges facing marketing departments have shifted accordingly. Sales Dot Two and Frost & Sullivan found sales teams feel their major challenges include responding to price pressure, finding the best prospects and making adjustments to the sales process, yet few coordinate with social marketers to use social conversations and data to address these issues.
The study says that as many as 40 percent of sales executives are not actively relying on a social media marketing strategy to complement their efforts. While many of these companies are using social media, the tool rarely expands beyond lead generation. Finding new prospects is a critical element of social media marketing. However, using it to foster and inform engagement through the sales process has helped countless businesses convert leads.
Brafton reported that 72 percent of businesses using social media marketing plans for at least three years say social engagement with prospects has helped them close sales.
