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How Sales Professionals Can Create A Digital Footprint In 2018

digital marketing sales Jun 05, 2018

Ever wonder how the internet could play a role in your success as a sales professional?

Modern-day prospects are serious researchers - which means it's important to manage your online reputation, especially in today’s web-fueled society. As a sales professional, you may have innovative ideas or excellent strategy. However, without a solid digital footprint, you will still struggle to cope up with the changing trends.

Your digital footprint is the language you use to project yourself to the world. It is a mirror that showcases your professional strengths and capabilities. Honestly, creating an online presence is a long-term process that takes time. Without proper guidance, many sales professionals struggle to create a manageable digital footprint over the internet.

...and that's the purpose of the article today. We'll dive into some actionable tips from a lively webinar hosted by Jack Kosakowski, global head of social sales at Creation Agency. Jack is in conversation with Miles Austin who's the CEO of Fill the funnel - also a renowned industry voice on the topic. Together they will offer a step-by-step formula to create a digital footprint online. By the end of the article, you'd know,

  • Why sales professionals need an online presence?
  • How to create a digital footprint?
  • What are the tools needed to start?

#1 - Why sales professionals need digital footprint?

Your prospects are busier than ever. With easy access to the Internet, these prospects (both B2B & B2C) would check out your online presence before they do any business with you. 

...and if they can't find you easily enough, your name is crossed off the list. So, you need to be visible and valuable outside of just selling your product or service. Connecting with a prospect and ensuring they can relate to you, is a major competitive advantage for your personal brand and your business. 

The primary purpose of creating a digital footprint is to create an environment of trust, so you're prospects can follow you. You need to give them value before they even work with you. And the key here is "before."

In today's day and age, "value" is not just another buzzword term. Value is the 'right kind of knowledge' that helps your prospect to arrive at an educated and informed decision.

#2 - Claim your name (The first step!)

The Internet allows you to own valuable digital properties (on social media) under your name. All you have to do is book your name before everyone else. That's why you should claim your name right away!

It is going to be valued if not now, definitely in the near future. The eventual purpose is to have published information under your name. It's also much easier for your prospects to find you just by searching your name.

Visit knowem.com and type in your name. Run a quick search and know the availability of your name on every social platform on the internet. The next step is to book your name on these major platforms. It's also recommended to buy a domain address closest to your name.

#3 - Start building a "Found"ation

Once you've decided on a domain name, you could start building a basic website. Start a free version on Wordpress.com or an advance website using Wordpress.org. Although, if you want to take it to the next level, you have to use WordPress.org to set up an attractive website. This means you'll have to own your hosting server or rent space on a server from one of the big names.

It's important to note that your website is the only platform that you own and control. This is a big advantage when you compare it to any other social platform. Having a website will remove every dependency and offer ultimate freedom to do whatever you want and customize your portal 100%.

#4 - Posting regular content

Posting a regular article or a blog post will keep your site fresh and give you the option to share your thoughts on social platforms. Maybe you create two-minute video clips, podcasts, or "five ways to becoming industry leader" blog posts. You can do all of this even through a cell phone. Creating awesome content is a serious competitive advantage.

Sharing important industry knowledge with your audience is also a great strategy. The concept is simple. If it's interesting to you, it might be interesting for your prospects as well. The search engines would also respect you for sharing important information and building credibility.

Let's say you want to become a social selling expert. You should keep your content focused on sales, social media, and social selling. That's what you want to be known for. That's what you want to be found for. Put yourself in your buyer's shoes. Based on that, figure out the keywords and create your content around those terms.

At the end of the day,

#5 - Link your content to powerful email campaigns

If you are in sales and you want to excel, don't wait for your marketing team to generate the leads for you. Be proactive and create an email list. You can always use free tools like MailChimp for your email campaigns. This is how you take control of your marketing.

Email marketing is a long-term play used to create prospect relationships and monetize them for your business. Think of it as an investment which is going to pay off in the next few years. As a salesperson, you work for numerous companies, but your email list stays with you. It's not dependent on any social platform. If you have a good community and network, you can contact them at any point in your career.

So, it comes down to -

  • Claim your name
  • Build a website to create an online presence you can control
  • Create and share content that your prospects want to consume
  • Use your cell phone as your content creation device

Using these key takeaways, you should begin building your digital footprint today. 

...and if you're looking to dive into building digital footprint through a step-by-step approach, sign up to get immediate access to the complete webinar. It's a goldmine of actionable knowledge you don't want to miss.

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