8 foolproof techniques to succeed with Social Selling

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As sales experts know, cold calling is on the way out. In fact, 90% of decision-makers say they never respond to cold calls, while 76% say they are open to having a conversation on social media. If this is true, why not use social selling ?

On social media, there are fewer gatekeepers to get through and the wealth of data available throughout the process makes it easier to identify valuable prospects and improve conversion rates. By leveraging social media to engage with prospects directly, social selling has been proven to generate new leads, foster relationships, and improve overall productivity.

1. Focus on your personal brand
A personal brand is the impression your salespeople want to give others about your business. It's a way to differentiate yourself from more generic competitors within your vertical.

In the book ‘Be Your Own Brand’ written by David McNally and Karl Speak, the two marketing specialists define a personal brand as “a perception or emotion, held by someone other than you, that describes the total experience of being in a relationship with you.”

For example, real estate mogul and current President of the United States, Donald Trump uses his last name on his buildings and various products as a method of personal branding (i.e. Trump Tower, Trump Steaks, Trump Hotels). At one time, these brands were synonymous with luxury, which was the personal brand Trump was aiming for.

In another example, contact center Nice In Contact recently experimented with personal branding. The organization trained select salespeople to use LinkedIn for social selling techniques, such as sharing content and engaging with prospects under a personal brand. The company then compared the success of its social selling push to other sales groups that were not active on social media.

After 6 months of experimentation, the brand found that sales reps who used LinkedIn to cultivate a brand increased revenue per sale by 122%.

2. Adopt social listening
By now, most businesses understand the reach of social media and the importance of having an online presence. When done right, social media can be used to generate leads and create new interactions.

Having a presence is only one part of the equation. Listening to what your customers are saying, with attentive ears, is another part. Few (but increasingly more) companies are actually practicing “social listening.”

social listening

Social listening is more than just responding to comments or questions about your brand or product, it’s about taking the time to explore what customers are talking about on social media platforms in order to tailor your messaging to their comments and requests and provide solutions.

More specifically, social listening gives brands the opportunity to:

Create a unique and personalized customer experience
Control brand reputation by addressing negative and positive comments
See which products are resonating with a customer
Listen to the opinions of influencers on the channel they dominate
3. Monitor prospects
There are now a number of tools, such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator , that help people monitor sales prospects.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator harnesses the power of LinkedIn’s network of over 610 million users to help sales professionals generate more opportunities through social selling. On average, sales leaders on social see:

45% more opportunities created
51% more likely to achieve quota
80% more productivity
4. Be active in groups
The best way for sales professionals to get in front of customers is to be in the places where they are conducting their product research. Social media groups are for just that – a place where prospects ask questions, gather information, and take next steps. This of course also means that they are a great source of leads and prospects.

First, your team will need to define which groups your target audience is active in. Popular places to start include:

Reddit
Facebook Groups
LinkedIn Groups
Through social media groups, your team can find out what questions your customers are asking, broadcast content to help them solve their problems, and actively learn and provide resources about the products and services they are specifically requesting.

Remember, customers are researching before they buy, so by joining social media groups, you become part of their research phase as a point person. The lesson here is that promoting company content is important, but it’s important to show that your salespeople aren’t just interested in self-promotion, but are also there to provide value.

social-network-groups

If your team can't find a group that meets their needs, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but rather an opportunity. Have your team start a group that discusses the exact problems customers are displaying. Departments can come together to create and curate meaningful content for your prospects and potential customers.

5. Align yourself with Marketing
When it comes to creating industry-related content, the weight doesn't have to fall entirely on the shoulders of the sales team.

Marketing departments work hard to create high-value content to make salespeople’s jobs easier. The problem is that many organizations experience a misalignment between marketing and sales. That is, your salespeople may not be aware of the marketing team’s arsenal of content.

One way to streamline this process is through technologies like sales buy cell phone number list enablement tools. These tools make it easier for salespeople to search for content based on topics, categories, tags, or milestones in the customer journey.

Aligning sales and marketing is more than just an organizational change. It has a direct impact on top-line growth.

6. Use social media to capture leads
Social media can be used to attract new leads, help close more deals, and generate additional revenue for a business. Numerous studies show that revenue increases significantly for businesses when they use social media to generate leads.

Examples of lead generation activities include:

Facebook Ads
Google Ads
Social media contests
Additionally, adding calls to action on your profiles is a great way to attract new leads. Every new customer who clicks “Sign Up” can be counted as a new lead.

7. Monitor with Analytics
Marketers can also track the success of social media content using analytics sites like Google Analytics . For example, conversion funnels can be set up to help measure how users actually move through your website. You can see how a consumer entered your site and what their subsequent actions were. For example:

Destination URL: A user visits a specific page
URL duration: A user spends a certain amount of time on one of your pages
Pages per session: A user visits a preset number of pages
Event: A user performs an action on a tracked item using JavaScript
google-analytics

Important events include:

Shopping
Form submissions
Email List Subscriptions
Resource Downloads
These milestones can help your team determine where leads and revenue are coming from. Additionally, it allows visibility into which pieces of content or social posts are resonating most with your audience and ultimately converting leads into business at the highest rates.

8. Actively respond to your customers' questions or needs
Responding to reviews, both negative and positive, is a proven way to improve sales and revenue. Think of it as brand management.

Where word of mouth in its traditional form can reach 8-10 people, word of mouth in the digital age can reach millions. Moreover, reviews are a key part of the buyer’s journey. Therefore, it is crucial that your sales team and your company pay attention to them.

Encourage sellers to be proactive and aware of their company's online reputation to control the message and turn a negative response into a positive customer experience.

According to a TripAdvisor study, hotels and bed and breakfasts found that by responding to negative online reviews, they received 17% higher engagement and, as a result, were 21% more likely to receive booking inquiries.

While having a social media presence may seem like a task for the marketing department, and while there are marketing techniques involved, it is increasingly important for sales reps and teams to be fluent and active in the process.

Providing your team with a solid understanding of what is required for social selling will help your business increase leads and close more deals. More importantly, it will enable your salespeople to be proactive and solution-focused.