Sourcing Leads from Rented and Owned Networks ->

That’s exactly right, Bronto Benny! Just like we discussed in the previous section, your networks can be used to attract people, engage people, and close business.

Let’s discuss rented networks and owned networks - what they have in common, how they’re different, and ultimately, how they help you drive revenue in a non-transactional, community-led manner!

Rented Networks

Rented Networks are any platform or network of people that the company does not own, but can temporarily use to reach its audience.

Over the years, social media has moved away from being the low-level marketing function we hand off to the most junior employee. Today, it is an integral part of a brand’s marketing motion.

A strategic social media presence impacts buyers throughout the entire marketing funnel, from raising awareness and educating them, to helping close new business. Beehiiv, Plot, and Semrush are great examples of companies that do this well.

1. Lean into the communities around you. Consider the sellers in your own organization. Do any of them have an online presence or following that is relatable to what your brand offers? Use these communities to your advantage to enhance relatability and trust in your brand.
2. As social media marketers, we can often be too preoccupied with brand awareness and attention. Use social media as a tool to create business impact by showing how your product solves real problems. The people who engage on business-impact content are often much warmer leads.
3. Share the story of your brand. Involve your audience in the development of your product. Create emotional connections and build trust through genuine relationships with people. Listen well and build what the community needs. This strengthens engagement and, ultimately, loyalty.

Here are some best practices and activities you can start doing today to drive warm, sustainable revenue through rented spaces like social media:

Engage quickly and engage often. In sales there’s a phrase called speed-to-lead that describes how quickly a seller responds to a hot lead that either comes inbound or responds to outreach. If you’re a social media marketer, have the same speed-to-lead mindset. The bar is extremely low for how brands engage with their audiences. When a brand engages back with someone in mere seconds, your prospects notice and helps them feel noticed!

Consistency in tone. Consider your brand’s tone across all communication channels. Is it consistent from LinkedIn to how you communicate in sales emails? Does your brand tone resonate with your target audience? If it resonates, it will be more engaging and memorable.

Collaboration between departments. As a social media marketer, you need to be able to collaborate across all departments. Be able to have conversations with individual contributors and executives alike. Whether it’s about brand consistency or collaborating on a particular sales deal, your ability to be a connector will help you reach your north star of driving warm, sustainable revenue.

Casual vs. corporate branding. Consider how your brand communicates with its audience. Using a casual tone as if you’re speaking with a friend can break down barriers and present your brand as a more personable figure. If your audience doesn’t take to the informal tone, Christina suggests leaning all the way into a unique, corporate voice.

What does success look like? For Christina, success is when prospects book demos from a positive interaction and not because of a transactional, impersonal experience.

Final thoughts. To drive warm revenue from rented spaces like social media, you need to be building and maintaining trust with your audience. Find ways to make your brand personable through having fun, engaging quickly, and engaging often.

Owned Networks

Owned Networks, on the other hand, are any space where a brand has control over the platform and the community, like Salesforce’s Trailblazer community, the Atlassian community, and even Commsor’s own community for GTM professionals, The Herd!

Creating owned spaces like online communities are vital to creating warm, sustainable revenue. These spaces are where your brand has the opportunity to build trust and create value for the networks around your business before you ever ask for anything of them.

When done well, your company’s community can serve as a moat around your business. If you build a community that establishes itself as the central spot for knowledge, conversation, and relationships, your business becomes extremely difficult to replicate! You can copy software and ideas, but you can’t copy relationships.

Creating a value-driven community. Be the platform that serves as a hub for resources and knowledge that is tailored to your ICP. Provide helpful resources that your ICP can keep coming back to for different jobs they’re already doing. Remember, people buy from those they trust, and learning and education is a vital way to build trust. Your buyers already have plenty of places to talk with their peers. If you build a space that provides value and conversation, you’ll have a winning combination!

Building an engaging community. Reciprocity is paramount. Engage with members by offering help, responding to questions, and sharing resources. Let’s be candid: if your main goal is to squeeze revenue from the community, you should avoid building the community in the first place. Your community is a space for learning and relationships! Selling irresponsibly and erratically in a community will destroy the trust you’ve worked so hard to build in a matter of no time.

Keep track of interests, goals, and ideas that people share in common, and then find ways to connect them with others in the community! Identify your superusers and leverage their expertise to create content, start conversations, and keep others engaged. “It’s about engaging in a regular conversation like you would in person, not acting like a template,” Josh remarks.

Driving revenue through the community. Create deeper relationships and build members’ networks by finding ways to collaborate. These relationships often result in people asking how they can help you. As a marketer who is responsible for capturing leads, it may be tempting to ask for a meeting at that moment, but it’s important to think beyond the short-term revenue opportunity. Consider asking the person if they know anyone who is looking for the solution you offer. It strengthens each party’s network, can result in revenue, and preserves your relationship with that community member.

As a marketer, you are responsible for capturing leads. It may feel like you’re not doing your job well when building a community because it doesn’t always return immediate financial value. But remember, if you’re building a sustainable community, you’re building the foundation for future revenue in the years to come. As for the short term, remember that people are curious and they’ll eventually want to see what your company does, perhaps opening an opportunity sooner than you expected.