For more information on how SEO complements sales, contact Shane at www.digitalsquad.com.au
Transcript:
Ben Lai
Hey guys, it’s Ben Lai, from Sales Ethos, and today I’ve got a special guest with me, Shane Chand. Welcome, Shane!
Shane Chand
Thanks Ben, good to be here.
Ben Lai
Today I’ve got a question for Shane because he and his team are in the digital marketing space. And I thought it’d be interesting to ask him about his opinion on the role of search engine marketing or online marketing, and how SEO complements sales for companies. So Shane, what is… What are your thoughts on that?
Shane Chand
Great, thanks. Thanks for inviting me first of all, Ben, and great question. So when I think about search engine marketing for businesses and B2B marketing, I’d like to talk about SEO as one of the core channels because again… One that is our area of specialization, and I think that’s the biggest in terms of conversion rates… It’s probably the best channel to focus on, both in the short and the long run. In terms of, you know, being a free channel so to speak. And the sort of quality of leads that come through from organic and SEO leads, from SEO. So if you think about B2B space, in my personal experience has been that through content marketing and a very clear inbound marketing strategy… You know, I’ve had conversations and this this inbound conversations, or in inbound leads, and that have led to conversations with companies such as Fonterra. As you know, in fact, Squirrel Mortgages, which is the biggest banking, financial, non-banking mortgage broker in New Zealand.
Ben Lai
So let’s start with Fonterra. So, prior to working with you what was what was their situation like?
Shane Chand
So in the case with Fonterra, they are obviously the biggest dairy company in the world. They do $17 billion transaction and Fortune 500 really. So for me to have reached out to get through the layers and reach the head of digital would have been next to impossible. And so the way this conversation started was the developer got in touch with us because they had a need to go to a SEO specialist.
Now this all happened when we put a piece of content out on an algorithm update that had happened a few days prior. So the developer had gone through a few other digital marketing agencies saying what sort of content they put out, they get an idea of content leadership, and they really recognized us as the ones that were leading the charge. And that’s amazing. So thought leadership, content leadership made it easy to gain the trust from the developer.
Shane Chand
And that recommendation to the developer, the head of digital at Fonterra, led to this relationship. So two years in, you know, we look after their brands, we’ve got Tip Top… We got Anka… We got Mainland, So for us as a small agency, this would have been next to impossible to try and knock so many doors and, and get there. So and it’s the same thing with Squirrel Mortgages as well. Inbound lead from the digital marketing manager that came through, you know, as an agency owners business owner. I myself, get about 10, you know, spam emails a day, every 24 hours that I have to push him a junk mail. So that’s the level of noise and cutting through that noise is inbound and content marketing strategy allows.
And that’s where SEO complements sales. Just purely looking at raw data suggests that 57%, of leads coming through, SEO will lead to conversion or will lead to an inquiry within 24 hours. So the phone call of someone who is in store, and although that’s just raw statistic to this day that you can’t argue against… It’s just the way that sales process… The way that I see you and you know, your expertise coming in, is once the lead comes through, how do you manage that? That the conversation changes from trying to sell your expertise to be consulting, and showing how you can add value. So I guess that’s the best way that you know our two fields of expertise complement each other.
Ben Lai
Absolutely. And so, therefore, the sales department and the marketing departments really have to talk to each other. And one of the complaints that sales people have all the time is a well, what’s with the quality of these leads? Right? And that’s why they need to talk to each other. And yeah, make sure that there’s a mutual understanding.
Shane Chand
Absolutely, I think the quality of the lead is a good conversation. And a lot of time arises because, you know, you don’t have a strategy in place in terms of digital marketing. If you have a spray and pray approach, you’ll get leads of varying quality. And that’s not to say that you don’t get you know, spam leads or low quality leads by organic. But, you know, the statistics based on pure raw statistics, and my own experience, having done, you know, over over 100 campaigns, is it’s having a strategy in place. You know, far supersede the spray and pray approach. The ROI tracking that goes behind it, and you have a much happier sales team in the end.
Ben Lai
Yeah, absolutely. And so thank you for your perspective, Shane, and I think that’s… You’ve really highlighted how much SEO Complements Sales. You know, if you want your people to be less frustrated with the leads that they’re getting, and potentially even retain more of your salespeople, you got to get your digital strategy right and have your sales people talking to the marketing people so that they can coordinate with each other. So if you’re looking for more advice on all things digital, make sure you look up Shane on DigitalSquad.com.au, I’ll leave the address below. But what are your thoughts about the challenges about coordinating marketing with sales? Leave a comment below. Don’t forget to like and subscribe, and we’ll see you at the next video!
