Over 30 million business pages now exist on Facebook alone, not to mention, the other five dozen or so, social media sites. Most businesses we come across are just hobbyists – hacking away at their computer all day long versus going out and interacting with their potential customers. But there are some successful corporations making a strong impact with their customers. Can your business realistically use to feed your own sales funnel?

The typical sales process includes multiple ways of prospecting that provides you with enough information to contact them later. This can include a random collection of business cards, asking an existing client or prospect for a list of people to call, trading contact information in exchange for some small token of value, or obtaining a list of “your” target market, just to name a few. Sales training often includes multiple ways to to collect a name, email address and/or phone number.

Once the target information is in your database, you get to use this information to push them through your sales funnel. This process is flawed from the very beginning, because everyone knows that these contacts aren’t really your target market and there’s only a four percent chance of turning any one of these contacts into a closed transaction.

The use of social media feeds the search engine tools and has the ability to bring your organic search, that is an unpaid sponsor spot, higher up the search pages. When you search for your business name, no doubt your website comes up, but you can also see any comments or listings on other sites you participate in such as Facebook, Meetup, and LinkedIn.

If you search for certain keywords, such as customer service, you will find the businesses who are using social media will be ever-present on the search pages. This is where the roles are reversed and customers are finding their way into your sales funnel. Customers are also looking for prospects. Your business is a prospect for a customer. Social media can feed your sales funnel with customers who are looking specifically for you!

Everyday, customers are searching the web for computer training, customer service, and how to use social media. If your company isn’t feeding the social media sites, you are letting your sales funnel go hungry.