A Guide to Effective Social Selling

Social selling as a concept has been around for a few years now yet no one really understands what exactly social selling is.

Social selling by definition is the practice of developing relationship laser targeting your prospects and engaging with them on social media.

It’s poles apart from social media marketing which is essentially running sales and promotions from your company’s social media. And from digital advertising where you run advertisements directly on a social media platform regardless of a social media presence. 

This is how it might sound like –

You open LinkedIn. Scrolled through some posts. 

After a few minutes, you find a post from one of your prospective users that you resonate with. 

You leave a comment on their post. 

The other person replies to that comment. 

You reply back. 

You DM them trying to take the conversation forward privately. 

They hit you back and you just developed a relationship. 

Did you know what just happened? 

You just did social selling.

A Social Selling Guide is a set of guidelines or recommendations for how to use social media platforms for sales and marketing purposes. It can be useful for businesses and sales professionals who want to learn how to effectively use social media to connect with customers and drive sales. Social selling guides often include tips and strategies for building relationships with potential customers, creating engaging content, and using social media analytics to track performance and improve results.

Elements of Social Selling

1. Creating relationships: Creating relationships on social media with your prospects & customers. 
2. Being visible among your target market: Being in front of your audience . through comments, DM’s & posting content presenting your brand as a thought leader in the industry
3. Delivering value to your target market: Delivering value by resonating with your target market via original, repurposed & UGC content. 
4. Establishing credibility: Establishing credibility by participating in relevant industry conversations. 

Why social selling? 

Now that you understand how social selling is different from all the other kinds of marketing strategies involving social media the question arises is it any good? 

Surely, it seems like a big investment of both time and resources since you need a dedicated team to personally find and engage with each and every one of your prospects. 

The answer is, a hundred times Yes!! 

Here’s why: 

Relatability Factor: 

If you have to sum up in one word, what makes a business a success in any era, it would be trust. 

Remember what you did the last time when you wanted to purchase a laptop? Most likely you dialled your best friend or a colleague or your neighbour and asked them for recommendations. 

Or you went on youtube, searched for a creator you trusted and went through their recommendations. 

It’s human nature to get your buying decisions validated from someone you trust. 

Now imagine, what if your salespeople had such relationships with your prospects. A scenario where your prospects trust your salespeople and value their opinions. 

When sales reps build relationships with prospects, it’s far easier to create brand loyalty. 

A report suggested that 77% people are more likely to buy from a brand that replies to their tweets. 

More Engagement, More Sales: 

According to reports by LinkedIn Sales Solutions brands that inculcate social selling as a part of their marketing strategy enjoy: 

• 45% more sales opportunities 
• 51% more chances of reaching their sales quotas.

The reason behind this is, more than 45 percent of the global population is on any given social media platform as of 2022. And the average buyer reports spending 20 to 40 percent after engaging with a brand on social media. 

From these numbers, the opportunity turns out to be massive. This is one of the reasons why social selling is on the mind of every marketer these days. 

Customer Expectations: 

It’s official, people buy from social media. 

A latest report from statista stated that 25% of Americans from ages 18 to 34 admittedly purchased from social media. 

After the pandemic, social media engagement has become a huge part of our lives and ignoring it now is nothing short of foolishness. 

Customers revealed that social media impacts their buying decisions, and they strongly lean towards brands who are a part of their routine.  

Which is the best platform for Social Selling?

Well it depends. Not unlike everything under marketing, there’s no one-fit-for-all when it comes to social selling as well. 

Mostly there are two factors that come to play while pinpointing the best fit platform for your social selling campaign, your target market & your social selling approach.  A deep research and analysis of each social selling media and platforms can help you to comprehend the Social Selling Guide in detail and take the necessary action.

Instagram: 

For most b2c companies, Instagram is a great tool to connect with prospects & customers and let them engage with your brand experience. 

What works on Instagram?

Engaging with your followers: On Instagram, your followers are your prospects. Comment on their posts, engage with their stories and reply to their comments & Dm’s instantly. The more you engage with them, the more you are likely to build a lasting relationship with your prospects. 

User generated content:  Entice your prospects to engage with your brand using giveaways, hosting events and promoting them to add media engaging with your brand. GoPro makes full use of UGC to create a relationship with their users. 

Twitter: 

Twitter is one of the most used platforms for social listening, query-solving and simply building a candid relationship with customers.

This is what Jetblue airways’ normal weekend on twitter looks like: 

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Source: Hubspot

What works on Twitter?

• Adding your existing customers to private lists and keeping a tab on their activity to comment & engage. Engaging with the current customers of your brand can be a great way to stay relevant and a talking point among people who already trust you. 
• The same thing can be done as you find prospective users on twitter. 

LinkedIn: 

It’s the platform for b2b marketers. You will find most decision makers from big to small companies here. If that’s your target market, LinkedIN is the perfect platform for your social selling. 

LinkedIn provides its users with a plethora of filters included with the LinkedIn search tool to find your prospective audience that matches your Ideal customer profile. 

What works on Linkedin? 

• Building Credibility: LinkedIn has some great features to help you showcase your credibility. If you have established relationships with your connections, requesting them for endorsements or recommendations can give you instant credibility. 
• Expanding Network: Using linkedIn’s extensive search tool, you can send a connection request to your target audience with a personalised message to kick start a conversation before you even connect with them. 
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator: It’s LinkedIn’s professional social selling tool that allows you to laser target your prospects and have personalised communications with performance tracking. 

Final Words

This is everything you need to know about social selling. In essence, it’s all about building authentic lasting relationships with your prospects and customers, and hopefully converting those to fruitful business outcomes. A Social Selling Guide introduces you to a host of elements that can help you to utilize the benefits of social selling to the fullest and make the best use of social media platforms.