Social Media Selling
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Social media selling is a set of techniques sales people develop to achieve remarkable results using Social Media. By using Social Media and social selling to find influencers and prospects we speed up customer acquisition, reduce the cost per lead and accelerate sales efficiency.
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Social Media Selling
- 1. ! ! ! ! Social Selling within sales! By Rupert Heather for Connectors Marketplace! ! Social Selling is a set of techniques sales people develop to achieve remarkable results using Social Media. By using Social Media to find Influencers and prospects we speed up customer acquisition, reduce the cost per lead and accelerate sales efficiency. ! ! Using Social Media for profiling, prospecting, networking and engaging we increase Social Selling opportunities and capture more business. Social Media lead generation helps sales people target new prospects, increase social influence and reduce the sales cycle. ! ! Social Media for sales efficiency ! ! Social Media is a vital customer acquisition platform for any forward thinking business. For vast numbers of global consumers social media is the driver of digital experience. It’s now virtually impossible to ignore the impact of Social Media for sales. ! ! Many organisations and indeed sales people themselves don’t know where to start when it comes to Social Selling. ! ! The main reasons is that the move to Social Selling is viewed as a wholesale change that requires ditching long established and often profitable traditional techniques. That is simply not correct. ! ! Social Selling should augment traditional techniques; it’s a reiteration of the sales process for the digital era. Organisations who embrace it, as part of their overall sales & marketing mix, continue to benefit. ! ! ! Social Selling facts and figures! ! 72% of B2B buyers use social media to research a purchase. (Demand Gen, 2014) ! ! 71% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals. ! ! 61% listed the vendor’s reputation as an industry thought leader as being influential ! ! 57% browse existing discussions to learn more about a topic before purchasing. ! ! (Source Invesp, 2014) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
- 2. ! ! Behavioural Change! ! The key to successfully implementing a Social Selling programme is to understand the business need and ensure buy in at senior management level. By sponsoring social selling activities at executive level there will be a clear focus on adoption. ! ! By encouraging the involvement of key stakeholders we give guidance and encouragement to our sales teams. It’s important to acknowledge all tactical and strategic implications and to align sales & marketing functions. With an understanding of the drivers of user engagement and a commitment to providing the necessary tools & resources, we can quickly embed a culture of Social Selling. ! ! It’s natural that sales people who have little Social Media experience will lack confidence in Social Selling. That’s why its essential to have a structured approach to the establishment and development of a Social Media presence. Building a strong foundation from the beginning is vital. ! ! ! The Foundations of Social Selling Success! ! ! 1. Determine how to connect with prospects! ! Knowing the client base is one thing but we should also understand their social media behaviour.! Once we have established that our prospects use social, we should identify which platforms are best to connect with them. There is a tendency to employ only the most poplar channels; Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn. ! ! Serious considerations should be given to finding the right social mix. Facebook is primarily a B2C tool, LinkedIn a professional network, whereas Twitter is both mainly a listening tool for all types of sales. Use Twitter to gather social selling intelligence and LinkedIn to build influence with prominent individuals within organisations. Increasingly sites like Pinterest and Instagram are becoming important for lead generation. Age and gender and prominent influencers of Social Media behaviour. ! ! 2.Establish a credible professional brand! ! Take the time to create engaging personal profiles and provide sufficient information about yourself. Prospects should have a fair idea of who you really are. Use relevant descriptions and hashtags. Be yourself. ! ! Choose graphics and images carefully and think about they project your brand. Be consistent and remember that people buy from people not faceless organisations.! ! Have a concise and meaningful communications strategy. Create content and share links to insightful pieces. Think about the problems your consumers are trying to solve and answer them. ! !
- 3. ! ! Move to the front of the buying cycle and engage with buyers early. Offer unique or advanced expertise. Be viewed as an industry expert, the source of most relevant and useful information. ! ! ! 3. Build strong relationships! ! ! It might seem obvious but social media is precisely that, social. Put time and effort into nurturing connections. Dialogue gives us a voice by increase connections and establishing our identity.! Being active in on-line communities & forums, entering discussions, driving interest, publishing content, creating controversy and amusement are all great ways of building relationships without appearing to be selling. The more we know about our prospects and leads the more we can devise engagement techniques. ! ! Always be helping prospects to succeed by collaborating to make life easier for them. By helping, providing insights and gaining trust we position our solutions for when they are ready to commit. ! ! ! Relationship building tips! ! •Always be informed on target account updates! •Focus on suitable companies & people! •Be insightful / provide value! •Establish common ground! •Use proximity! •Leverage mutual connections! ! ! ! ! 4. Storytelling for sales! ! Storytelling helps us target personas and create a sense of purpose and place through a narrative. Storytelling is about creating connections. There aren’t set rules just guidelines to help us frame our narrative for greater affect. It can take many forms but the basic principles are the same. ! ! • Keep buyer profiles in mind! • Understand where they are in the purchasing cycle. ! • Know their concerns ! • Ground the story! • Create purpose ! • Understand the target audience! • Use buyer’s language ! • Understand conventions! • Make stories amazing ! • Define success ! • Look for reactions & understand them! ! 5. Emotional connections! ! Consumers who are emotionally connected to a brand are more loyal. Emotional connections which are formed over time are stronger and more persistent than quick wins. !
- 4. ! ! ! Social media is the most effective platform we have for establishing emotional connections with our prospects and leads. By creating unique experiences, brands can draw consumes into their culture & values. Social media allows consumers to feel they are being given priority access to brands. ! ! By establishing emotional connections, we prime consumers to enter the buying process. We then devise strategies to funnel consumers towards the actions we consider valuable! ! ! The Social Selling process ! ! 1. Establish criteria to search for prospects! 2. Create a personal brand ! 3. Optimise channels! 4. Connect with prospects! 5. Build relationships! 6. Engage in conversation ! 7. Problem solve! 8. Share great content! 9. Influence! 10. Convert ! ! ! Implementing Social Selling practices is a must for forward thinking companies. Using Social Selling techniques to find influencers & prospects, reduce the cost per lead & accelerate sales efficiency is the best way to utilise the potential of Social Media. ! ! ! ! ! ! The Author: Rupert Heather is chief content contributor at Connectors Marketplace. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !