Salespeople don’t have it very easy these days. Over the years, it’s become more and more difficult to reach key decision makers. While people in positions of power have always had a gatekeeper – a secretary or assistant whose job duties include “protecting the boss from salespeople” – many of today’s technologies have also made it easier for them to hide from salespeople.
So, why not use some of today’s technologies to your advantage? If decision makers aren’t taking calls or answering voicemails, there are still steps that can be taken to reach them online. Here’s how to get to the decision maker online.
How to Reach Key Decision Makers: 10 Opportunities Online
Who are the key decision makers in a company? Once this important question has been answered, it’s time to reach them online. Here are the top ten ways to reach the key decision maker online.
1. Optimizing Your Website
The Small Business Association (SBA) reveals that 36% of startups and small businesses do not have a website. Research from Google also shows that nearly 90% of B2B buyers researching for solutions are doing it online. So, if you don’t already have a website, get one! Then, it’s time to optimize it.
When B2B buyers are looking for solutions, they’re generally not searching by product name; they’ll enter a generic word and check out the results. So, to optimize your website, you need to be sure it includes generic terms, or keywords, that will draw users to your site even if they’ve never heard of your product. Of course, remember to still use your brand name frequently to develop a correlation between it and the generic search terms in the minds of your customers and Google.
2. Sending Emails
This may sound like a no-brainer, but if you’re going to email a key decision maker, you’ve got to do it right. That means getting to the point quickly (these are busy individuals, after all) and highlighting the benefits of your product or service, not just the features. Your target wants to know what’s in it for them, not about all the bells and whistles.
You’ll also want to be sure to include a downloadable PDF about your product; while the decision maker may not have time to read through a lot of content the moment your email hits their inbox, they may save it for later (or forward it to someone who can determine if it is worth their time).
Be sure to check out our blog 8 Techniques to Boost Your Medical Device Sales for more ideas on how to make your connection more valuable.
3. Creating Inbound Content
Creating inbound content can actually bring the key decision maker in a company to you, without them even realizing it. While outbound marketing such as emails-done-wrong can be seen as an intrusion, inbound marketing works to attract customers by creating valuable content that they are actively searching for. In fact, research shows that more than 50% of B2B buyers look for instructional content prior to making a purchasing decision!
For example, a hospital administrator may be searching online for “how can I improve my patient experience.” You’ve already anticipated this type of query (it’s part of knowing your customer), and you’ve created content that answers this question while promoting your product or service. This could be in the form of a blog, whitepaper, eBook, webinar, or any other content of value.
You can also gate your most valuable content; this means the decision maker will need to input their name, number, and email to access it, which gives you more insider information.
4. Becoming a Guest Blogger
It can take time for a start-up website to build traction. So, use the influence of other popular websites by creating content for them. Many websites allow visitor blog posts if they provide valuable content. You can then use these posts to discreetly share information about your company or product. You can generally leave links to your website or social media accounts as well to further grow traffic. Medical device start-up companies looking to guest blog may want to check out The Ultimate List of Health Blogs That Accept Guest Posts.
5. Using Social Media
You don’t always need to navigate around gatekeepers to reach your target; after all, you already know who is the decision maker. So, why not reach them on social media? One of the best platforms for reaching professionals is LinkedIn. The social media giant already offers an easy way to reach members by company name, industry, skills, titles, and more. You can even message them directly through InMail messages. Be sure to check out Groups on LinkedIn to find out where key decision makers are and get involved in the conversation.
Already know who you want to reach? LinkedIn allows you to target the audience of your choice through a program called “Matched Audiences.” Using Matched Audiences, you can deliver quality impressions directly to top players to aid in the decision-making process. Learn more about it here.
Also, don’t forget about YouTube. It’s the most popular website in the world, so it is a great place to showcase your product or service.
6. Engaging with People Online
If you’re a start-up, your brand may have very little recognition. One way to grow that – and increase traffic to your website – is to engage with the community. An engagement strategy involves participating in social media group discussions within your industry, answering questions on public forum websites such as Reddit, and interacting with your followers on social media.
So where can you find these people to engage with? BuzzSumo is one of the latest tools providing insight into what people ask in forums, Q&A sites, discussion boards, and more. The site indexes hundreds of question and answer databases so you can easily find those that match your product or service. All you need to do is plug in your main keyword and scroll through the results. It’s that easy.
7. Building an Influencer Community
Influencer marketing is all about marketing your products or services to people who are able to influence the purchasing decisions of others. They influence others because of their industry expertise, popularity, or reputation. They may not even be known to the general population, but in certain circles, they are superstars.
Sure, you can pay celebrities to endorse your product, but nurturing unique brand supporters over time who regularly recommend your product or service can be even more rewarding; it demonstrates the popularity of your product or service with someone that people will listen to – and you didn’t even have to pay them for the endorsement. Read more about this technique in our blog Building an Influencer Community.
8. Hosting Webinars
Wondering how to connect with decision makers? If you’ve already gained traction with them through your online efforts, a webinar could be a great next step to showcase your product or service and answer any decision-making questions. A recent study of online marketers revealed that a minimum of 20% of webinar participants are transformed into qualified leads. Of course, you have to have an online presence to get there, which a marketing consultant can help you create.
9. Increasing Reviews
A whopping 90% of consumers read online reviews before engaging with a business, so it’s very important for start-ups to begin publishing reviews on their website or allowing them through third-party sites (Google Reviews is of course popular, or you may find one within your own industry niche; learn more about managing them and using them to your advantage on Clickx).
Not only do online reviews inspire confidence in potential customers, they help with SEO (we’re talking Google). One thing Google likes is frequent updates to pages, so hosting an active review page can help improve your search rankings. Gaining reviews across third-party sites is also beneficial for SEO.
10. Using Targeting Ads
Depending on your budget, you may want to consider social media targeting ads. While many other methods of reaching a decision maker can be effective, paid advertising is still worth considering. Why? The average conversion rate across Facebook Ads is more than 9%, and those in the healthcare industry fare even better, with conversion rates of 11%. WordStream details strategies for creating and monitoring paid advertising in their blog.
Reach Key Decision Makers with Diberin Solutions
Determining how to get to the decision maker isn’t always easy. That’s where Diberin Solutions comes in. Our goal is to help you reach those seemingly unreachable decision makers through superior marketing techniques that meet your business needs – and your budget. Contact us today to learn more.
