Don’t hide your B2B marketing talent.
Credibility and trust—hard for salespeople to earn, but a slam-dunk for technical experts.
Many companies only bring out their technicians to do demos. Big mistake. They can also be great for lead generation.
According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, technical and academic experts and analysts in your company are more trusted than your CEO. And that makes them your hidden gem for B2B marketing.
Bring on the Experts
B2B marketing pro Trevor Young shares more of Edelman’s research in his post: “Three BIG reasons your business should make rockstars of your internal experts.” He also explains why and how companies should promote the wisdom and insights of their technicians and other internal specialists. As he puts it:
Don’t hide your experts away from public view but rather, empower them to get ‘out there’ in the marketplace: Out, loud and proud being useful, helpful, interesting, engaging … even provocative if required!
‘Out there’ is a technical term folks.
It could mean a company’s in-house technical experts undertake any number of public-facing communications activities, including blogging, podcasting, featuring on YouTube videos, writing whitepapers, tweeting, sharing content on LinkedIn, speaking at industry events, etc. These activities can be structured with purpose and strategic intent and, importantly, aligned with a company’s ongoing communications program.
He goes on to share three ways that engaging internal experts in B2B marketing can help your company build trust with your target market:
1. People trust internal experts as a source of information for a company.
2. Puts a “human face” to your organization
3. Differentiates your brand from that of your competitors.
(Read the rest of Young’s article for more.)
How This Translates to Better Lead Generation
The logic is simple: The more potential customers trust your company, the more they trust your salespeople. And lead generation is much easier when sellers are credible in the eyes of their buyers.
My favorite quote from Young’s post is: “People don’t do business with logos, they do business with humans. Get the human element right … and you increase the chances of prospective customers developing greater affinity and connection with your brand.”
That’s what business is all about, isn’t it?
Want to learn more about boosting lead generation? Hire Joanne to speak at your Sales Kickoff, and learn why referrals are the #1 way for salespeople to bring in qualified leads and earn prospects’ trust.
