From corporate boardrooms to staff meetings, the message is clear—the company needs to sell more.

Sales keep you profitable and allow the business to stay afloat. Without more business coming in, trouble starts.

Traditional marketing methods have worked in the past, but we live in a time when they can’t be relied on solely to generate income.

B2B buyers have changed their buying behavior. 

They no longer depend on the seller’s word, rather, conduct online research to identify the best solution for their problems.

B2B sellers who aren’t incorporating digital marketing strategies into their selling strategy are missing opportunities to grow their business.

We’ll be looking at practical ways to leverage digital marketing strategies to revv up sales.

Cold Calling

The cold calling technique is no longer about dialing random numbers from a list and pushing your products/services on their faces.

When you have no information about the brand you’re calling, you come across as an uninformed telemarketer who just wants to make a deal.

The technique we’re talking about has prerequisites. 

It revolves around narrowing down your prospect’s list to businesses that can profit from dealing with you. You identify their motivations, values, pain points, and how effectively your solutions can fix them. 

This approach showcases you as an informed partner who understands the prospect’s industry and can provide measurable value. 

Other tips on maximizing this strategy include:

• You have 10-15 seconds to catch your listener’s attention. Make them count by preparing a compelling opening statement that highlights a crucial pain point and your ability to solve it.
• Have a checklist that captures all the information you need to convey to the prospect. Avoid overwhelming the prospect with too much information. Supply enough to get them interested in scheduling a meeting where further details can be discussed.
• Make the conversation a dialogue. Jot down relevant questions about the prospect’s business that they can answer and participate in the conversation.
• Make cold calls on Tuesdays through to Thursdays. Avoid Fridays and Mondays, since people are planning for the weekend or recovering from it.

Search Engine Marketing

With 90 percent of B2B buyers researching solutions they wish to purchase online, it’s the customer that finds you and not the other way.

If you’re not pursuing search engine marketing (SEM), you’re leaving business in the hands of your competitors.

Here’s how to create an effective SEM strategy:

• Define your audience. Come up with the market segments you want to serve, the products/services they would be interested in, and their geographical location.
• Select keyword phrases customers use to describe the solutions you provide. Add these phrases to your website copy, headlines, meta descriptions, and alt tags (for images).
• Use pay-per-click ads to reach targeted and motivated audiences. The ads only display in front of people who are actively searching for your solutions.
• Measure the success of your SEM efforts to identify actionable insights for future marketing activities.

Social Selling on LinkedIn

Research shows that up to 78 percent of businesses that engage in social selling outsell their peers. This strategy works.

Social selling allows B2Bs to use social platforms like LinkedIn to connect with prospects and nurture leads to conversion. 

But we’re not talking about loading cold emails into your LinkedIn account and blasting them out to all your contacts. That’s spamming them and won’t yield much.

Smart social selling warms up sophisticated B2B buyers who are choosy over who they want to do business with.  You cultivate long-term relationships with these prospects and relay credibility.

Let’s look at ways to leverage social selling:

• Optimize your LinkedIn profile to attract visitors. People make snap-second decisions about dealing with you based on your profile. Does your profile speak to your target audiences? What experiences and facts can encourage them to want to know more about you?
• It takes time and multiple meaningful interactions for brands to notice you. Identify the leads you want to target, check out their profiles to see what they are talking about and with whom. Create content that targets their interests.
• Join LinkedIn groups where your target audiences are active. Be on the lookout for the challenges and problems they talk about that you can solve.
• Publish interesting but relevant content surrounding your target industries. Congratulate your connections on milestones achieved and add useful comments to conversations.

Video Marketing

Video is fast becoming the go-to content of choice for B2B buyers. Up to 69 percent of them prefer watching a short video when learning about products/services.

With its high engagement rate, video is ideal for increasing website traffic, generating leads, and improving conversion—translating to better sales numbers.

How do you use video in your digital strategy?

• Create product demos that show your products in action. It helps viewers understand how the product works and acts as proof that it delivers what it says it will deliver.
• Come up with tutorial videos that educate your audiences on how to use your products or services. 
• Share your brand’s story. Marketing is about storytelling and who better to speak about your company’s inception, journey, milestones, values, and mission? Brand stories that elicit emotional connections are effective in building trust and confidence.
• Post happy customer review videos on your site and social platforms. Customer success stories showcase real brands with real problems enjoying the solutions your company offers. It’s great for building credibility.
• Create videos to promote new products/services and share them across social platforms to maximize awareness and boost sales.

Referral Marketing

Referral marketing is a key contributor to driving sales. You have past and present customers spreading the word about your products and services.

Both sellers and buyers have tons to gain from this strategy.

As a seller, it serves you as a tested and tried solution provider with the ability and capacity to handle clients effectively.

Buyers don’t have to spend much vetting potential suppliers. A recommendation from a brand they respect carries weight and they are likely to consider that seller.

Here are a couple of processes to help revv up sales through referral marketing:

• Create strong products/services. People will refer others if the solutions are worth recommending. Think about the quality of your solutions, how you deliver, and how you deal with clients from the time of inquiry to the actual sales.
• Build relationships with existing customers. Invest in customer relationships by picking up the phone and checking in with no agenda or organizing social gatherings/sporting activities for networking. It will help shift you from an ordinary supplier to a trusted partner. 
• Ask for referrals. While some customers will naturally refer you, you can secure more business by asking for referrals. Drop your customers a text message or have them complete a small form with details of businesses that may benefit from your services. 
• Return the favor. Are there people in your network that you can introduce to your customers? They will appreciate the effort.
• Follow-up referrals sent your way and be sure to deliver as expected. Don’t embarrass your customers by offering below-par service.