When the digital content you create and distribute through your website, social media, and online venues is used strategically it can act as a second sales force that can help your physical one. But is the idea of a “digital sales force” just online spin?
Every marketer creates information to explain their products and services to customers. In addition, many marketers create educational, non-promotional, content to attract online traffic. New strategies and technology can coordinate and channel this content into a persuasive force.
> By posting content of significant enough value that potential customers will register to receive it, qualified sales leads can be generated.
> By creating content to position your products comparatively against your competition, market preference for products can be developed.
> By participating in social media venues, a dialogue with potential customers can be started.
> By posting educational content to help clients succeed, a sense of trust with customers can be built.
How real is this second digital sales force? If it can seek out new qualified sales leads, create preference for products, build trust, and create a dialogue with customers, it is pretty real. A digital sales force does not replace your physical one, instead it becomes your sales team's best friend by selling at times and in places where your physical sales force cannot be, by providing the physical sales force with leads to close, and by reducing sales resistance in the market overall.
Read about the persuasiveness of different forms of marketing content by downloading our study, Improving Marketing Effectiveness.