Page 116 - Lighting Magazine June 2018

on the mark
The real bene t to using social media is in creating a connection with people and having a conversation.
yOu’re NOT MONTy PyThON
Drop the SPAM. When email was new, we loved to open every one that was sent to us. Today we have overloaded SPAM folders and exclusive bu ons that swi ly designate an important, yet ill-con- ceived piece of marketing material, to the trash while rendering the sender to the eternal position of junk provider. Another short-lived digital mar- keting method is the banner ad; the click-through rate is so negligible, it’s not worth the investment in time or money. A er all, how many banner ads do you see and then click on in a month?
geT sOcial
Stop – or at least profoundly limit – automatic or scheduled posting. This impersonal method of ge ing work done has a limited place in any suc- cessful digital marketing e ort. You can’t build a relationship on any of the digital platforms with- out engagement, and these types of posts are the least-engaging.
The real bene t to using social media is in creating a connection with people and having a conversation. People swipe by businesses that only post salesy ads or talk about how good they
are. Using social media e ectively is about the rapport and relationships that can be built with current and future customers. The goal is TOMA (Top Of the Mind Awareness). When the need for a product arises, or when a recommendation is asked for, the positive drip, drip, drip of edu- cational, humorous, and professional content will drive you to the top.
OuTdaTed sales MeThOds
Back in the dark days of selling, when the client had limited choices, the playbook demanded that the sales force be aggressive and strong-willed to get the customer to buy. From the famous play/ movie Glengary Glenn Ross, we learned the acro- nym “ABC, Always Be Closing.”
While closing is still a skill we use, how we em- ploy it has changed. Closing the customer morphs from being an action being done to a person, to the natural result of a mutually bene cial process that educates the client.
If you have been a student of Sales, you have heard many types of closes that have been used. As the client has become empowered through the life enhancements of digital changes, there are
114 enLIGHTenment Magazine | june 2018
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