Written by Sean McPheat | 
I have spoken many times on this blog about how the sales process has changed, and that the modern day buyer now makes their purchasing decisions in a completely different way to their predecessors. Modern day buyers are much more sales savvy than before, and are able to find out everything they need to know to help them make a purchasing decision before they’ve even contacted a potential supplier or spoken to a sales person.
The sales landscape is changing, and sales professionals and indeed, Sales Courses need to move with the times in order to stay on top. Talking you through all of the ways in which the sales process and the modern day buyer has changed, and explaining how you need to change the way you approach a sale with the modern day buyer in order to close more sales, could be very time consuming – so instead I thought I would give you a quick visual tour through the complexities of the modern day buyer’s behaviour and show you the effect the Internet and social media has had on the traditional sales process.
Our infographic below will give you a whistle stop tour of how the Internet has changed the way that people buy, and show you exactly why we as sales professionals need to change the way that we sell.
We also run a very popular Social Selling Training programme that can help you to improve your skills further.
Make sure to check out, our full portfolio of Sales Training that we offer to gain better knowledge and skills in the workplace.
Top 5 Concerns Of Marketers:
2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Social Media Examiner found top 5 concerns of marketers: effective social tactics (92%), engagement ways (90%), measurement of ROI (86%), identifying ideal prospects (86%), and social management tools (86%).
Websites Are Passé:
A 2015 State of Content report by Adobe highlight key websites facts as follows:
39% – People stop engaging with a website if it takes too long to load.
38% – People stop engaging with a website if the content/layout is unattractive.
67% – People with 15 minutes to consume content would rather read something beautifully designed than something plain.
88% – People multiscreen and use an average 2.42 devices at the same time.
7% – Business owners prefer investing in new or improved websites.
2013 IMN Inc. research found top five B2B content marketing tactics: social media content (92%), eNewsletters (83%), website articles (81%), blogs (80%) and in-person events (77%). Generally 82% of marketers curate marketing content and 45% of content is produced ad-hoc. Only 49% of U.S. companies now have formal content marketing strategies in place.
2016 CMO Council research found the following key statistics:
65% – Images, infographics, videos and illustrations are essential tool for communicating brand’s story.
60% – Infographics use will increase in 2016.
46% – Photography is critical to marketing and storytelling strategies.
27% – System for aggregating, organizing and managing the marketing visual assets.
According to LookBookHQ, almost 60% of marketers reuse blog content 2-5 times and mostly generate “snackable” content based on media assets. A record 78% B2B businesses use blogs. Only 62% B2B and 51% of B2C companies optimised blog content for mobile SEO. Research shows that infographics are liked or shared 3X more on social media platforms than any other types of content. According to eConsultancy research, 74% of marketers who used targeted personalization strongly agreed that it improved customer engagement.
As per Google’s 2017 research outcome, 50% of 18 to 34 year old YouTube subscribers would drop what they’re doing to watch a new video by their favourite creator or channel. A record 67% of users watch YouTube on a second screen while watching TV at home in prime-time. Also 85% of adults (ages 18-49) consume content on multiple devices at the same time which help marketers to reach 56% more adults using YouTube ads compared to prime-time broadcast television.
A 2016 study of 14,000 respondents by Collective Bias found the following key statistics,:
30% – Purchase is based on reviews from non-celebrity influencers or bloggers.
70% – Millennials prefer product endorsements from “peers” rather than celebrities.
60% – In-store shoppers influenced by social media and blog posts results in10X more purchases than celebrity endorsements.
A 2017 VisionCritical study found the following key statistics:
89% – Companies are competing mainly on customer experience. By 2020 the purchase experience will be valued more over product and price.
86% – Buyers will pay more for a better customer experience. Customer service issues than product or price will persuade customers 4X more to turn to a competitor.
84% – Customer-centric companies focus on the improving mobile customer experience.
82% – CIO are focused on developing technology for creating better mobile experiences.
70% – Buying experience is based on how the customer feels they are treated.
2015 State of Marketing report from Salesforce found the following key statistics:
71% – Marketers believe mobile marketing is core to their business.
68% – Companies are now using mobile marketing as a strategy.
58% – Marketers had dedicated resources (team) for mobile marketing.
52% – Mobile app technology is most critical for creating a cohesive customer journey.
34% – Marketers are trying marketing automation in 2016.
70% – Marketers plan to increase their social media ad spend in 2016.
33% – Marketers say subscribers read emails on a mobile device at least 50% of the time.
80% – Businesses say email is tied to primary source of revenue.
73% – Marketers say email is core to their marketing strategy.
42% – Companies actually send welcome emails.
63% – Marketers use e-newsletters.
72% – Email marketers rate email loyalty campaigns as “effective” or “very effective.
33% – Marketers admit e-newsletters campaigns somewhat effective or not effective at al.
3% – Marketers rated their demand gen campaigns as effective.
2018 IBM study found the following key statistics:
49.1% – Of all emails are opened on mobile devices.
According to Adobe, digital advertising spend is set to grow from USD 83 billion in 2017 to over USD 129 billion by 2021. Dedicated Media (2013) report found that native ads are viewed 53% more than banner ads, generates up to 82% increase in brand lift and result in an 18% increase in purchase intent compared to display ads. In addition 32% of consumers share a native ad with friends and family compared to just 19% who shared banner ads.
VisionCritical research shows that 43% of social media users have purchased a product provided 50% of such purchases occur within 1 week and 80% of purchases occur within 3 weeks after ‘Sharing’ or ‘Favoriting’ it on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Visual content is more than 40X more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content. This is why 51% of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content compared to 42% of B2C.
2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Social Media Examiner found the following key statistics:
90% – Social media is important ((86% of B2B organizations).
81% – Integrated social media marketing with traditional marketing to increase website SEO.
68% – Effectively analyse company’s social media activities.
59% – Marketers have at least two years of social media marketing experience.
49% – Social media marketing is the most difficult type of marketing to crack.
41% – Capable to adequately measure the social media ROI.
40% – Social media marketing has gotten more difficult for them.
Benefits Of Social Media Marketing: Increase exposure (89%), traffic (75%), loyal customers (68%), marketplace insights (66%), leads (66), SEO ranking (58%), partnerships (55%), thought leadership (54%), sales (51%) and reduction in marketing expenses (50%).
Top 7 Social Media Platforms:
Facebook (93%), Twitter (76%), LinkedIn (67%), YouTube (53%), Google+ (49%), Instagram (44%), and Pinterest (40%) were the top seven platforms used by marketers.
Overall Top 7 Most Important Social Media Platform:
Facebook (55%), LinkedIn (18%), Twitter (12%), YouTube (4%), Instagram (4%), Google+ (3%), and Pinterest (2%)
B2B Top 7 Most Important Social Media Platform:
LinkedIn (40%), Facebook (37%), Twitter (15%), YouTube (4%), Instagram (2%), Google+ (2%), and Pinterest (2%)
B2C Top 7 Most Important Social Media Platform:
Facebook (66%), Twitter (11%), LinkedIn (7%), Instagram (5%), YouTube (4%), Google+ (3%), and Pinterest (2%)
Top Social Media Platforms Marketers Increasing Use Next Year:
Facebook (67%), YouTube (63%), Twitter (61%), LinkedIn (61%), Instagram (57%), and Pinterest (42%)
Overall Top 7 Most Important Social Media Platform Marketers Want To Learn:
Facebook (73%), LinkedIn (61%), Twitter (59%), YouTube (58%), Instagram (55%), Google+ (48%), and Pinterest (45%)
Paid Social Media:
Facebook ads (87%), Google ads (39%), Twitter ads (18%), LinkedIn ads (17%), Pinterest ads (15%), Instagram ads (12%), and YouTube ads (12%)
Time Spend On Social Media Marketing:
6 hours or more each week (63%), 11 or more hours each week (39%) and more than 20 hours each week (19%).
Facebook:
90% – B2C brands use paid Facebook ads.
63% – Plan on increasing use of Facebook and YouTube.
61% – B2B plan on increasing Facebook efforts, compared to only 57% of B2C.
52% – B2C marketers feel marketing to be more effective, compared to only 38% of B2B.
46% – Marketers feel like their Facebook efforts are working.
40% – Marketers don’t know traffic details in the past year.
35% – Marketers aren’t sure about marketing effectiveness.
LinkedIn:
18% – B2B SMB marketers are using LinkedIn ads while it uses 75% of Facebook ads.
76% – B2B marketers are likely to plan on increasing their use compared to 52% of B2C.
Twitter:
80% – B2B marketers are using Twitter compared to 75% of B2C.
Youtube:
71% – Businesses with more than 100 employees use YouTube.
Instagram:
33% – B2B companies are on Instagram.
63% – B2C marketers are more likely to increase investment compared to 48% of B2B.
Pinterest:
47% – B2C more likely to increase activities compared to 35% of B2B.
Snapchat:
5% – Marketers are using Snapchat.
16% – Marketers plan on increasing activities.
28% – Marketers want to learn more capabilities.
Commonly Used Types Of Content:
Visuals (74%), blogs (68%), Videos (60%), Live video (14%), and Podcasting (10%)
Most Important Content For Marketers:
Blogging (38%), Visual (37%), Videos (21%), Live video (2%) and Podcasting (2%)
Marketers Plan To Increase Content Use:
Videos (73%), Visuals (71%), Blogging (66%), Live video (39%), and Podcasting (26%)
Content Forms Marketers Want To Learn More About:
Videos (66%), Visuals (65%), Blogging (65%), Live video (50%), and Podcasting (40%)
Content Republishing By Marketers:
Facebook (32%), LinkedIn (25%), Other (8%), Medium (4%), other media outlet (4%).
Here are some further ways to help you with your social selling:
• How Digital Influence Will Impact Your Sales
Happy Selling!
Sean
Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Training
Updated on: 19 November, 2012
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