How can social media help increase a distributor sales

How can social media help increase a distributor sales

In my article on “How B2B Distributors Can Increase Sales”, I covered the different strategies that can be used to increase distributor sales with retail stores. On the other hand, many articles have been written how stores and manufacturers can increase their sales by leveraging on social media; but very little has been said about social media and wholesale operations. Are they incompatible? In this article, I will explore the use of social media in the wholesale dimension and how it can result in an increase in distributor sales.

Traditional distributor sales and marketing strategies

A wholesaler or a distribution center buys products from manufacturers or suppliers in large quantities and sells them at wholesale prices to retail stores and commercial establishments. Under this model, the sales process takes place with face-to-face meetings between distributor sales people and store managers or chain category managers. The differentiating factors of this model are the delivery time and accuracy, product quality, in-store promotions and events, seasonal discounts and customer service. Investment in marketing is very limited.

Why social media in a distributor sales strategy?

The growth of ecommerce in recent years worldwide is common knowledge. In the United States, social shoppers increased from over 60 million in 2019 to an estimated 97 million by 2022, according to Statista. This is why many companies in several sectors have engaged in both direct-to-consumer (B2C) and wholesale (B2B) marketing to diversify markets, minimize risk, or expand their business goals. But if that is not enough to convince you, 60% to 70% of B2B buyers, according to the source, browse existing social media conversations as part of their research process. Even more, Gartner’s Future of Sales research shows that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur on digital channels. This is because 33% of all buyers desire a seller-free sales experience – a preference that climbs to 44% for millennials.

How to develop a social strategy to increase a distributor sales

The figure below illustrates the sales cycle of a distributor sale.

The reason why many distributors have not incorporated social channels into the sales process is because the end user does not buy from them, but from the stores. But even though they do not buy directly from you, it doesn’t mean that they cannot be influenced to buy your product from the store. To achieve this, you must expand the “know your customer” principle to include the end user dimension. If you can understand why a consumer chooses to buy one product over another, then you can design a social campaign aimed at showing the consumer that your products are what they want and lead them to buy it.

There are several publications on the steps to develop a social campaign with up to 20 steps. In the reminder section, I will guide you trough the four basic steps you need to take to develop a successful social campaign.

Define a goal-oriented approach to your sales

To increase your sales by leading the consumer to buy your product, your main goals cannot be lead generation, but rather these:

• Create brand awareness.
• Implant the image of your company in the minds of your followers.
• Generate positive comments.

Work closely with your top clients to measure the impact of the campaigns on your store sales, and combine campaigns with in-store events.

Select your social platforms

It is commonly assumed that the social media platforms used by wholesale buyers are different from those used by consumers, but according to Statista, the top five social media platforms used by B2B companies worldwide were Facebook (89%), LinkedIn (81%), Instagram (72%), YouTube (57%), and Twitter (54%). However, in my experience, YouTube is one of the most successful at catching the attention of buyers of consumer products and especially food products.

Create the content

Once you have selected your platforms and designed your communication strategy based on consumer insights, you need to start developing content. These are some of the basic rules:

• Visuals have become a vital part of social media marketing as they drive more engagement, shares and likes. Therefore, you need to create images and videos to reach your audience.
•  Start developing videos for your YouTube channel at the highest frequency you can afford.
• Based on the comments received on the channel, take pictures of the video with excerpts from the script and post them on other social networks.
• Try to make the content relevant. For example, if you distribute food products, post recipes and make videos of food preparation or in-store tasting.
• Post pictures of your product at the store stand.
• Share relevant content from other sources that go in line with your goals.

Promote the content

If you decide to promote some of your content, it is very important that you define the target audience, since not all your followers will be the target of the specific product you want to promote. Think about the age, background, ethnicity, habits, zip code, etc., of the ideal consumer for your product. For example, if you are promoting a tasting you have in a certain zip code you will want to target persons living in or closer to that zip code.

I hope this article on warehouse technology has been helpful to you. I will continue to post information related to warehouse management, distribution practices and trends, and the economy in general. If you are interested in this article or want to learn more about Laceup Solutions, please subscribe to stay updated on future articles.

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