A good sales rep knows the value of LinkedIn and uses it for prospecting, connecting, networking, and finding engaging content to read and share. But it can be really tough and time consuming to keep up with the growing spider web of networks, groups and discussions, and social media sharing might not always seem like the most productive way to spend your time.
And anyone in marketing knows how hard it can be to get other members of the organization to actively and diligently share content on social media. No matter how many tactics you’ve tried, you know your engagement isn’t as high as it could be and you simply cannot figure out how to get others to craft or even just click posts to share from their own accounts.
Enter Elevate, LinkedIn’s new content sharing app that claims it will change the way companies engage with their networks. A strategic move by LinkedIn to compete with other social sharing apps (and other companies), Elevate seems to bridge the gap between sales and marketing when it comes to social sharing. Understanding that sales reps are competitive by nature, Elevate uses incentives to increase utilization. Elevate provides tangible benefits to sales reps by way of profile view insights and other statistics; according to the results of LinkedIn’s private pilot, for each six pieces of content that are shared by an individual, on average, that individual receives six profile views and makes two new connections. This creates a win-win for sales and marketing alike.
Marketing also reaps the benefits by way of brand recognition, increased page visits and more. LinkedIn reports that when an employee shares content, on average its employer results in six job posting views, three Company Page views, and one Company Page follower. It takes the pain out of employee engagement while still growing your company’s social presence.
Content marketers are cautiously optimistic about Elevate, understanding of its benefit but unsure of its adoptability by sales teams. It can be difficult to introduce a new tool to a large, spread-out team, especially those who may be technology-averse in the first place. But from what we know about activity-based enablement, putting engagement and sharing tools where sales reps are already working increases their adoption and usage rates. For instance, some solutions (like Seismic) are available directly within Salesforce and other CRMs, allowing sales reps to share content within an opportunity, contact or other object. Simply eliminating the need to access another tool may seem like a miniscule time saver, but the convenience really pays dividends and increases engagement overall.
The bottom line is that if LinkedIn is able to deliver the right value to sales teams and can get them to adopt Elevate, the social sharing tension between sales and marketing teams will diminish.
