Summer is officially here! But with the warm weather you might have been noticing a lot of out-of-office replies and vacation days…
They’re called the dog days of summer for a reason. For many sales staff, the summer season can signal a slump as less people are in the office, it can take longer to get replies, and meetings might not be happening.
So, is the answer to take a break from sales prospecting? Not at all…
Instead, you can use digital marketing to generate leads even in the slower season. Here’s some tips you can put into practice:
- Inbound Marketing
With inbound marketing, you can pre-plan value-added content that goes out to your lead lists automatically. You can schedule sales emails, follow-ups, newsletters, and more to bring leads to you — all without having to make any outbound sales calls.
For more on Inbound marketing, see our blog post about inbound marketing mythbusters.
- LinkedIn Enterprise
Using LinkedIn Enterprise solutions can also help sales managers reach new leads automatically. Through targeting buyer personas, you can find prospects on LinkedIn and send them InMails. Follow up with the ones who respond. By doing this, you can maintain lead solicitation even in the slower months.
Discover more LinkedIn Enterprise tips for sales departments in our free eBook.
- Understand the Buying Process
Approximately 18% of leads come to your website ready to buy… By understanding and focusing on the other 82%, you can significantly up your conversion rate.
Sales prospecting takes time. A Harvard Business School study found that over 25% of selling cycles were seven months or longer. So, taking a break in the summer isn’t the answer. Instead, you can work on transitioning leads through the first two stages of the buyers’ journey to get them closer to the ready to buy stage.
Read more about the buyers’ journey and sales funnels in our free eBook.
- Group Prospecting
Similar to LinkedIn Enterprise, you can also use social media to target leads through groups. Both LinkedIn and Facebook offer groups — communities where people with similar interests, backgrounds, or other commonalities discuss topics relevant to them.
Make the most of group prospecting. Â
- Utilize PPC Advertising
With pay-per-click advertising, you can target prospects by keywords that they type into search engines, or through interests on social media. This is a great summer tool because even when people are out of the office, they’re likely still browsing the internet or connecting on Facebook.
Learn more about PPC advertising.
- Work with Lead Generation Outsourcing
What can you do if you‘re planning on taking your own vacation time this summer, but don’t want to sacrifice leads? Simple — outsource.
By outsourcing your digital marketing sales prospecting, you’ll save time and can feel confident that your lead generation will continue even while you’re out of the office.
Summer doesn’t have to be a sales slump. With a few tweaks, you can be generating leads all season long, even while making the most of the warm weather.
Pulsion Marketing is your lead generation partner. Contact us today to find out how we can help with your sales prospecting. Call 1-888-701-4441 or visit www.digiforcemarketing.ca.