Key Tools:
- 78% of social sellers outsell peers who don't use social media
- Social selling refers to using social networks to connect, interact and build good relationships with your prospects
- Choosing the right platform for your social selling depends on your target buyers and your selling tactics
With nearly half of the world's population using social media platforms, you would be losing many customers to your competitors if you don't implement effective social selling in your business.
Many of your potential customers are likely to be active on one of the social networks. And if you are not actively building solid relationships with them on social media, your business will miss out on good deals.
LinkedIn Social Index shows that 78% of social sellers outsell peers who don't use social media. This is because old sales techniques like cold calling are becoming outdated and less effective, while social selling guarantees better sales lead generation.
This blog post will cover what social selling is and the best practices to implement for your business so you can remain relevant against competitors.
Table of Contents
What is Social Selling?
Social selling refers to using social networks to connect, interact and build good relationships with your prospects.
Social selling is a sales technique effective in generating sales leads. Salespeople put in the time and effort to engage their target audience on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
By connecting with your prospects on social media, you will understand their needs or pain points and how best you can help them solve their issues with your products.
Social selling examples
Social selling is not simply social media advertising or marketing. We’ll cover some examples here to get a better idea of what social selling is.
- Say you sell baby products like bathtubs, cribs, etc.
- One day, you come across a pregnant woman on Instagram who says she needs recommendations on baby essentials.
- Then, you use the opportunity to interact with her post or send a private message to recommend a list of baby products must-have.
- She receives your message and is grateful for your kind gesture. She checks your profile and sees that you are a supplier of baby products.
- You interact with her frequently and tell her how you can be of help for her needs.
As you can see from this scenario, social selling isn't selling ads on social media or sending your followers a broadcast message of what you are selling. Instead, it is a gradual building of good relationships with your prospects.
Related blog: How to Sell on Instagram in 2022
What Are the Best Social Media Platforms for Social Selling?
Choosing the right platform for your social selling depends on your target buyers and your selling tactics. There is no ideal platform for social selling.
People use different social media websites in varying ways. So, your approach to social selling and your target customers are factors that should determine the medium to use for social selling.
With this in mind, here are three popular social networks and practical guidance on how to social sell on them.
Twitter is a great medium to start social selling. First, you can create Twitter lists of your potential customers to monitor their tweets and replies. Then, you can reply to them with solutions when necessary, which is a great way for building relationships and for your personal brand.
Also, you can do the same for your existing customers. For example, create a Twitter list for them so you can monitor their content, reply to, or like their tweets. While you do this, ensure that you stay relevant and that your interactions are meaningful.
Facebook is a social media platform with millions of users. So, you can connect with your potential buyers among these large communities of Facebook users and engage them frequently.
Ensure that your profile is well-optimized and contains all the information about your brand. Also, regularly post relevant content, encourage constructive criticisms, reply to your followers and engage them often.
LinkedIn is the largest professional network and is an excellent place to start social selling. You can begin by first establishing a professional brand by creating a neat and professional profile. This step includes your profile picture, headline, summary, and other necessary information.
Also, you should focus on connecting with the right prospects. First, surround yourself with people who are likely to be interested in the products and services. Then, engage your audience by sharing relevant content, replying to their comments, and commenting on their posts.
4 Reasons You Should Use Social Selling
Social selling can help your business establish relations and help you remain relevant amongst your competitors. We’ll take a deep dive into why you should use social selling and how it can help your eCommerce business.
1. Helps your business establish relationships
Since the pandemic, more people have shifted their interactions and networking online. So, thousands of people are active on different social media platforms every day. For this reason, it is only reasonable that you also consider taking your brand online, where you can engage more people.
Social selling creates the opportunity to reach out to a larger audience that might be interested in your products and services. Plus, it helps you learn more about their needs, challenges, opinions about your competitors, and how you can solve their problems.
The more you establish good relationships with your prospects, the easier it will expand your social reach. Those you have built relationships with will also be valuable tools to help reach out to new customers
2. Your customers already engage in social buying
There is no doubt that more brands are making many social sales considering the sheer volume of social media users globally. Many people spend a lot of time on social media and are likely to purchase most of their needed items. So, if your potential buyers are actively purchasing items via social networks, it is better you also take your brand there.
3. Your competitors likely use social selling
You should also use social selling because your competitors actively sell their products on social media. So, you are not doing your business any favor by keeping it away from social networks; you are only losing potential customers to your business rivals
4. Social selling is proven to work
Social selling works for businesses. It works effectively in generating sales and boosting revenue. More companies are reaching their sales targets because they sell on social media. In addition, several studies have proven that social selling is a valuable tool to close deals.
4 Social Selling Tips for Your Business
Whichever social network you choose for your business, the following tips are essential to keep in mind.
1. Establish your personal brand
Before you start social selling, you need to let people know that you are an expert or professional in your field. And a way to achieve this is by providing valuable content to your audience.
You can do this by creating relevant content or sharing content written by others that aligns with your brand. Also, be professional in all interactions and let people know that you are a trustworthy brand.
2. Social listening & build the right relationships
Social selling is not about reaching a large audience that is not aligned with your brand or interested in your products. So, you need to target the right prospects and build the right relationships.
Also, it is good you listen to what people are saying about you, your brand, and your competitors. You can use this information to know what their pain points are and how you can be of help.
3. Be authentic to your brand
You need to build real and meaningful relationships with your prospects. And you cannot achieve this by sharing automated content or sending generic responses.
You should take time to have human interactions with your prospects to build a good rapport.
Also, ensure that your tone, style of communication, and the content you share on social media platforms align with your business and goals.
4. Be consistent
Consistency is vital for any business. You might not see results overnight, but you have to keep showing up.
Some of your audience might not be interested in your products yet, but do not give up. Instead, keep engaging them, sharing helpful content, and offering help, even if it doesn't directly promote your sales.
Social Selling Tools for Your eCommerce Business
You can use many tools to help you create an effective social selling strategy. Some of the most effective tools for your business include the following:
- Hootsuite Inbox: Hootsuite Inbox helps keep all your brand's social media conversations organized. Also, you can use it to filter content by date, message type, assignment, or social network. You can assign messages to a team member, and they will receive an email notification. Hootsuite Inbox allows you to save replies that you can send to common queries.
- Hootsuite Amplify: This is another social selling tool from Hootsuite that helps businesses extend their social reach. It allows employees to share company content - updates, campaigns, or announcements.
- Salesforce: Salesforce provides you with Customer Relationship Management tools that you can use to amplify your social impact. Also, you can use it to identify new sales pitches on social networks and view and create customers' cases.
Consider using the above tools to help your business grow and boost sales.
Power Your Social Selling Business with Easyship
Social selling is a valuable sales technique for every business. And the effectiveness cannot be overemphasized. So, to get more sales opportunities and reach your sales target, you should consider social selling your business.
By now, you should know how you can use social media as a tool to boost your sales. Also, you have learned why social media is essential and the crucial tips you need for your business to thrive on social media platforms.
While you are working on building a professional brand and engaging your customers on social networks, you should know that Easyship is your go-to brand for seamless and effortless shipping and delivery.
When you start your social selling, you will need a shipping company to deliver your products to your customers. Easyship users enjoy the best available and cheapest shipping rates with features such as the following:
- Easyship Shipping Rates Calculator: Access high-volume discounts from major couriers. Plus, get instant access to delivery lead times from premium shipping couriers for faster shipping
- Optimized Store Checkout: Offer your customers more shipping options with real-time shipping rates at checkout. Easyship always shows the cheapest, fastest, and best value shipping options at your store's checkout
- Easyship Branding Suite: Easyship provides a delivery experience consistent with your brand. Add your logo and advertising materials to your packing slips, landing pages, and tracking emails
Ready to ship? Sign up for a FREE Easyship account and get instant access to high-volume discounts for your social selling business
Social Selling FAQ
What is the definition of social selling?
Social selling refers to building solid relationships via social networks as a sales technique.
Why is social selling important?
Social selling is important because it increases a brand's visibility on social media. And as a result, it leads to more sales and more income for your business.
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