Social media’s changed how businesses reach and sell to people online.
If you’re only cold calling and doing outdated marketing, you’ll probably have trouble meeting your goals. Get better at selling using social media.
What is Social Selling?
Social selling uses your social networks to find the right prospects, build genuine relationships, and ultimately, crush your sales goals. It’s not about being that annoying sales rep who’s always pushing their products. That’s a surefire way to get ignored or blocked.
Engage with potential customers in an authentic, helpful way. Share valuable insights, listen to their challenges, and position yourself as a trusted resource and problem-solver. Take your networking skills from conferences and events and apply them to the digital world.
How Does Social Selling Differ From Traditional Sales Methods?
Traditional sales methods like cold calling and generic email blasts push a ebook, product or service onto a prospect. Social selling, in contrast, builds relationships and provides value to potential customers through social media interactions. It’s a more authentic, personalized approach that puts the customer’s needs first.
Why You Can’t Ignore Social Selling
You might think, “I don’t have time for social media, I need to focus on hitting my numbers!” But if you’re not incorporating social selling into your strategy, you’re already falling behind.
Today’s buyers are savvier than ever. They do their own research, seek out recommendations, and often make decisions before they engage with a sales rep. Studies show that 70-80% of the buyer’s journey happens before they reach out to sales.
Participate actively in online conversations and provide value upfront, or miss out on huge opportunities to influence and engage potential customers early on. In today’s hyper-competitive landscape, you can’t afford to do that.
The benefits of social selling speak volumes:
- More qualified leads filling your pipeline
- Shorter sales cycles as you build trust and rapport faster
- Stronger customer relationships and loyalty
- Greater brand visibility and credibility in your industry
- Deeper insights into your buyers’ needs, challenges, and priorities
Social selling isn’t optional. It’s a must-have if you want to thrive in the modern sales era. Yes, social selling does require an investment of time, but it can make your overall sales process more efficient. Building relationships and trust with potential customers upfront means more qualified leads entering your pipeline. That translates to less time wasted on uninterested or unqualified prospects and shorter sales cycles overall.
How to Succeed at Social Selling, Step by Step
You’re bought in on the why, but how do you put social selling into practice? Break it down step by step.
Your Personal Brand Is Your Most Valuable Asset
First, let’s talk about your personal brand. This isn’t about becoming an Instagram influencer or tallying up vanity metrics. Position yourself as a credible expert and valuable resource in your space.
Start with the basics. Optimize your social profiles (especially LinkedIn) with a professional headshot, compelling headline, and summary that showcases your unique value prop. Highlight your key accomplishments and skills, but also let your personality shine through.
Your brand goes beyond your profile. It’s the content you share, the way you engage with others, and the overall reputation you build. Consistently share relevant, insightful content that addresses your buyers’ pain points and needs. Inject some personal flair and authenticity. People connect with people, not faceless brands.
But, how can I balance my personal brand with my company’s brand on social media? Align your personal brand with your company’s brand and make them complement each other. Share a mix of your own insights and perspectives along with content that showcases your company’s expertise and offerings. Follow any social media guidelines your company has in place, but let your own voice and personality come through.
Authenticity is key in building trust with potential customers.
Focus Your Efforts on Your Ideal Buyers
Sales reps often make the mistake of trying to be everything to everyone with social selling. They blast out generic messages to anyone and everyone, hoping something will stick. Focus on quality, tailored engagement, not spray-and-pray tactics.
Define your ideal buyer persona with crystal clarity. What industries are they in? What specific roles do they have? What are their biggest goals, challenges, and pain points? The more specific you can get, the better.
Find and connect with the right people on social using that deep understanding. Use LinkedIn’s advanced search features as a goldmine for this. Set up saved searches for your key criteria and dedicate time each day to identify and engage with high-potential prospects.
Personalize your outreach. Reference something specific from their profile or a recent post they shared. Ask a thoughtful question or share a resource that could help them. Make it all about them and the value you can provide, not about you and your quota.
So, how can I find the right people to connect with on social media? Create a detailed profile of your ideal buyer persona.
- What industries do they work in?
- What job titles do they hold?
- What challenges are they facing?
Use this information to guide your searches on social platforms like LinkedIn. Look for people who match your criteria and engage with the content they share. Join relevant industry groups and participate in discussions to expand your network and get on the radar of potential prospects.
Focus on Providing Value, Not Just Making Pitches
You’ve made the connection. Congrats! But now what? Many reps drop the ball here. They go straight into pitch mode, frantically trying to set up that demo or push for a sale. That’s the quickest way to turn off your new prospect and undo all the trust-building you’ve done.
Focus on providing consistent value and deepening the relationship instead. Comment on and share their posts, but go beyond the generic “Great post!” Offer your unique take, ask thought-provoking questions, or share complementary resources that add to the conversation.
Look for natural opportunities to take the conversation further, but always lead with a give-first mentality. Introduce them to someone in your network who could help them solve a challenge. Invite them to an upcoming industry event or webinar your company is hosting. Always think “how can I help?” vs. “what can I get from this?”
(But, I have a question): When can I tell when it’s the right time to make a sales pitch? Let the sales conversation unfold naturally. If you’ve been consistently providing value and building trust, prospects will often reach out to you when they have a need or are ready to learn more. Look for buying signals, like a prospect asking about specific product features or mentioning a relevant challenge they’re facing. When in doubt, err on the side of providing more value before going for the ask.
Play the Long Game with Social Selling
Social selling requires a long-term approach. You can’t expect to connect with someone on LinkedIn and have them signing a contract the next day. Building real, trusted relationships takes time and consistency.
Show up regularly, provide value, and be a genuinely helpful resource. Over time, you’ll build a reputation as someone who truly cares about their success, not just making a quick buck. That’s when everything falls into place.
When the time is right and they have a need that fits your offering, you’ll be the first person they think of. Not because you’ve been hounding them with sales messages, but because you’ve built that trust and credibility over time.
The relationship doesn’t end when they become a customer. Continue to engage with and support them. Share their successes, provide ongoing value, and look for ways to help them achieve their goals. Turn them into raving fans who will gladly sing your praises and refer you to others.
When can I see results from social selling?
Social selling takes time to build relationships, establish your credibility, and see a real impact on your pipeline and revenue. Many reps start to see an uptick in qualified leads and conversations within a few months of consistently implementing social selling tactics. Stay persistent and keep providing value, even if you don’t see immediate results.
Tips for Making Social Selling a Daily Habit
This all sounds great in theory, but how do you make it happen day-to-day, especially with a packed schedule and endless to-do list? Here are a few practical tips:
- Block out dedicated time for social selling activities each day, even if it’s just 20-30 minutes. Treat it like any other critical sales activity.
- Use a content calendar to plan your posts in advance. Aim for a mix of educational content, industry news, personal insights, and occasional promotional posts.
- Set up social listening alerts for key phrases, hashtags, and accounts. Stay on top of relevant conversations and identify engagement opportunities.
- Track your key social selling metrics like connection growth, content engagement, InMail response rates, and how many conversations are turning into real pipeline and revenue.
- Get your whole team on board. Share best practices, celebrate wins, and encourage every customer-facing rep to make social selling a part of their daily habits.
Want to measure the success of your social selling efforts? Track key metrics like the size and growth of your network, engagement on your posts (likes, comments, shares), InMail response rates, and the number of social-sourced leads and opportunities in your pipeline. But the most important metric is revenue. How many of those conversations and relationships are translating into closed deals? Use a CRM to track the source of your leads and measure the impact of social selling on your bottom line.
How Can I Keep Up With the Latest Social Selling Trends and Best Practices?
Follow thought leaders and influencers in the sales and marketing space on social media. Read blogs and articles from reputable sources like LinkedIn’s Sales Blog, HubSpot, and SalesHacker. Attend industry conferences and webinars to hear from experts and connect with other sales professionals.
Tap into the knowledge of your own network. Ask your colleagues and connections what’s working well for them in their social selling efforts. Video is becoming increasingly important, so look for ways to add more video touchpoints. Send personalized video messages to prospects or create an educational video series showcasing your expertise.
AI and automation will also play a bigger role in helping you identify the best prospects, serve up relevant content, and streamline your processes. But don’t worry. The human element of social selling is still critical. No bot can replace the trust that’s built through genuine human connection.
Use the power of employee advocacy. When your entire organization aligns around social selling and shares valuable content and insights, your reach and impact can be incredible.
What if I’m Not Seeing Results From My Social Selling Efforts?
Make sure you’re giving it enough time. If you’re consistently implementing the tactics outlined in this guide and still not seeing traction after a few months, reassess.
- Are you targeting the right people?
- Is your messaging relevant and compelling?
- Are you providing enough value in your interactions?
Seek feedback from your manager, colleagues, or even trusted prospects on what you could be doing differently.
Experiment and try new approaches. The beauty of social selling is that you can constantly iterate and optimize based on what’s working and what’s not. Stay persistent, stay agile, and keep putting in the work. The results will come with consistent, strategic effort over time.
How to Become a Social Selling Superstar
Changing up your sales approach can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re already stretched thin. But the cost of not adapting to your new buyer is too high. The good news? With the right mindset and a commitment to providing real value, any rep can become a social selling superstar.
Having the perfect profile or posting the most clever content isn’t what matters. What matters is showing up consistently, leading with empathy and a genuine desire to help, and always putting relationships first.
Success won’t happen overnight. But with persistence and heart, you’ll build a powerful network of prospects-turned-customers who trust you, respect you, and will gladly do business with you again and again.
Ditch those outdated tactics, capitalize on the power of social selling, and take your sales game to a whole new level.