Greetings NSquared readers. Do you want your business to make money? That may sound like a ridiculous question, but if you are part of the 22% of salespeople that don’t use social media for your business…then the question isn’t so ridiculous. This week we will have a three part series on using social media to make money. Hubspot (one of our favorite websites here at NSquared) featured an awesome article, 22% of Salespeople Don’t Want to Make Money, by Rosalia Cefalu.

Let Part I begin!

“22% of Salespeople Don’t Want to Make Money

“Two roads diverged in the social media wood, and I, I took the one less traveled,” said 21.7% of salespeople.

In a recent survey of 511 predominantly B2B sales reps and executives published on A Sales Guy Consulting, approximately 22% of salespeople claimed they didn’t use social media to close deals, while an overwhelming78.3% said they had used social media to sell.

Are you, or someone you know, part of the 22%? If so, it could be impacting your career, your business, and your paycheck. But there’s good news — there’s still time to join the 78%! Allow me to try to make the case for you (and feel free to co-opt any of this if you’d like to make this case for a 22%-er yourself.)

Why Social Media’s Value Is on the Upswing

We live in a world where open communication and transparency are not just options, but near addictions. When it comes to social media, many people have fallen victim to digital exhibitionism. We post how we feel about our meals, our friends, the services we use, and our views on just about anything. With this kind of unfiltered, raw personal insight flowing constantly through the arteries of social media, now is the time for salespeople to keep their fingers, quite literally, on the pulse of the marketplace through social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

It wasn’t always like this. In the beginning of the social media era, this kind of personal data simply wasn’t around. There were less people talking, sharing, and establishing relationships over social media. It’s taken some time for the B2B market to join the social media conversation, but there’s no denying that the data overwhelmingly suggests that industries have evolved and adopted these practices. In 2013, 43% of surveyed marketers said they had found a customer through LinkedIn. Similarly, 56% of B2B marketers plan to increase their social media spend in 2013.

Now that adoption has ramped up, it’s time to respond. Not just in Marketing, but in Sales, too.”

Stay tuned to learn why the social media upswing has become such a valuable sales tool and why your business needs a social media strategy. Contact us and we’ll do just that!