I'm not sure if your aware of the recent trend report from Gartner and Forrester, both agreeing that the traditional buying process has fundamentally changed how all businesses are being disrupted by competitors who are more 'socially savvy', and that this way of thinking is already impacting on those that are still opting for old school, analog cold calling and intrusive advertising methods.

Here's the headlines of the research summary;

• Over 68% of due diligence is being done by the prospects themselves on a potential vendor, this is often not even known about by vendors, and can make the difference between them choosing a competitor over your company.
• During that due diligence phase there are now between 8-10 internal stakeholders involved. This means that what was a cosy relationship with an internal sponsor isn't going to cut it.
• All of those stakeholders invest circa 40+ hours in doing their own research around, your company, its key employees, and what other companies, and existing clients are saying about you.
• The last place they go to check you out is your website.

One of the key pillars to deliver an outstanding 'Social Selling' strategy is underpinned by the creation of value added content, this is done in the context of storytelling via articles, blogs, vlogs, and good old fashioned one to ones. 

As active practitioners of what we do producing content is second nature, its how we help our existing clients, its how we engage in conversations, its how we stimulate conversations, and its how we add value to various business sectors to better understand what 'social media' means in today's digitally connected world.

Its also how we continue to be the No 1 voice for Social Selling around the globe, and is social proof as to why we do this consistently, day after day, week in, week out, 365/247.

I've provided a link below to some recent research that supports the value of creating, producing, and sharing great stories (content) that supports how as a business, and as an individual you can maintain a 'front of mind' presence with your potential prospects, which is critical if you are to stand out from your competitors.

Do you spend time producing content that isn't getting you traction, engagement or inbound leads?

If so, please feel free to contact the author of this blog, we know we can drive up the value, reduce your marketing cost, and show you how to generate inbound leads you literally couldn't pay for.