8 ways to sell on social media and convert more
Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2024 10:15 am
How to sell on social media? This is a frequently asked question by our clients.
Let's not kid ourselves. Generating leads and converting more sales is the challenge of any company. Gone are the days when the sales team spent a lot of time making cold calls.
If you are thinking about how to be more inbound and use social media to convert more sales, this post is for you.
What is social selling?
Social selling occurs when salespeople use social media to find and engage new leads. The sales team uses social media to provide value to prospects by answering questions, addressing feedback, and sharing content throughout the buying process. From awareness to consideration, until a prospect is ready to buy.
Social selling is a new way of selling in digital media.
selling on social networks or social selling
While the traditional sales model involves cold calling, sales demos, and qualified leads, the new way of B2B sales means using social media to reach out to potential customers, educate them on how your company can help them grow their business, and nurture them through content.
The growth in social media usage has been a major factor in the adoption of social selling. Several studies point towards the B2B buyer using social media as an important part of their research process.
Accenture’s State of B2B study finds that 94% of B2B buyers conduct some form of online research before making a business purchase, and 55% conduct online research for at least half of their purchases.
And what channels do B2B buyers use for research?
Yes, social media.
An IDC investigation has found this:
91% of B2B buyers are now active and engaged on social media
84% of senior executives use social media to support purchasing decisions
75% of B2B buyers are significantly influenced by social media
It’s not just a change in the B2B buying process. The age of B2B buyers, and more importantly, decision makers, has also changed.
A study by Google and Millward Brown Digital found that 46% of decision makers are now aged 18-34 (up from 27% in 2012), which happens to be the heaviest social media users.
b2b decision makers
We can expect this pace to continue, with millennials (buyers aged 18-34) taking a majority share in the near future.
So what are the benefits of social selling?
How can social selling grow your business?
Jamie Shanks of Sales for Life shared his key gambling data taiwan findings from a social selling study of over 45,000 sales reps and 200 companies. What he found was this: for every $1 invested in social selling, the ROI is $5.
This means that for every dollar invested in social sales, it resulted in a return of five dollars.
In addition, Aberdeen Group published a study on the impact of social selling.
The study found that when you look at all of the sales KPIs—quota attainment, renewal rate, and forecast accuracy—all of these metrics were better when sales reps used social media, as shown below:
sell more social media
Source: su
The research also found that sales reps who use social selling find 45% more opportunities on average. Plus, social selling helps top companies achieve a 16% revenue gain year-over-year. That’s four times better than companies that don’t use social selling!
The key findings are clear:
Sales reps sell more when they use social media.
The challenge here is that only 1 in 4 sales reps know how to use social media for sales.
So how can your business adopt a social selling strategy? Here's what you need to know.
8 ways to sell on social media
Social selling is ultimately about building relationships. But before you build them, you need to make sure you choose the right network. Then, you can build new relationships, provide value to potential customers, and continually nurture them.
1. Choose the most relevant social network
It's easy to get caught up in the next big social network. But the real winners of social selling are the salespeople who are active on the same platform as their potential customers. This is the foundation of social selling success.
That’s why fashion retailers excel on Pinterest and why B2B sales people generate leads from LinkedIn. So where do you start? You begin by identifying the social networks that match your potential customer:
social media demographics
While YouTube and Facebook have the highest engagement of all age groups, Forrester Research has found that decision makers primarily use Twitter and LinkedIn.
So, if you sell products that appeal to teenagers, you should use Facebook and Instagram. And if you sell products or services aimed at businesses and decision-makers, use LinkedIn or Twitter.
2. Follow the right Twitter users
To build your network, you can use a tool like Followerwonk .
Followerwonk lets you search for Twitter profiles by topic or keyword. And that gives you a ranked list of the top Twitter users. For example, you can start your search with “CRM,” “Sales,” and “Marketing.”
By using Followerwonk, you can follow multiple Twitter users quickly instead of visiting and requesting to follow each individual profile, which can be time-consuming. Or, you can export the list of users and then filter to the most relevant profiles.
3. Create a “wish list” of companies and follow them
Small and large businesses can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Through company profiles or accounts. By following these businesses, you can keep up to date with company news, such as when they win an award (you can send them a “Congrats!” message) or when they ask for product recommendations.
Create a wish list of 10-20 “dream” companies that are active on social media. And start following them today. Like, retweet, and engage with their status updates whenever possible. Remember, build relationships.
4. Get instant notifications when prospects join LinkedIn
Using LinkedIn’s “saved search” allows you to create a search based on your ideal customer profile , and then LinkedIn will notify you every time a new record matches that profile.
To do this, perform a search using the LinkedIn search field found at the top of the platform when you log in. Enter the criteria that matches your ideal client profile, such as job title or industry, and then click the search button.
At this point, you'll find that the results will return people you're already connected to. To remove your first-level connections, scroll down to the Relationship box (left side of the page) and 2nd Connections.
Second-level connections mean you know someone in common, which makes it much easier to introduce yourself to a potential client.
Next, scroll to the top of the page and on the right hand side click “Save Search.”
LinkedIn will ask you to name your search (example: “VP Sales Second Level Connections”) and then set how frequently you want to receive notifications (weekly or monthly).
5. Join and participate in LinkedIn groups
LinkedIn has over 400 million users. As a platform, LinkedIn offers you opportunities for networking, referrals, etc. One of LinkedIn’s biggest advantages lies within groups – there are currently over 1.8 million groups.
According to LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth, only 16% of all LinkedIn users have joined 100 groups. To find a group, search for a topic of your expertise. Remember, don't try to blend in with other salespeople here, as your job is to sell your product. What you want to do is share knowledge and expertise with potential customers.
If your ideal client is a small business owner, look for small business-related groups.
If you provide customer service tools, find and join groups dedicated to customer service managers.
6. Connect with potential clients on LinkedIn
As you start contributing to groups, you'll see more people view your profile. When someone views your profile, send them an invitation to connect.
When you send a LinkedIn invitation request, try changing the default message from “I’d like to connect with you on LinkedIn” to something like “Hi, thanks for viewing my profile. Would you like to connect on LinkedIn?”
This is a great way to start a conversation with a potential client who has shown interest in what you do. Another way to connect with potential clients is to reach out to people in the same group.
7. Contribute to existing conversations about your brand
Corporate Visions found that 74% of buyers choose the sales rep who adds value first during the buying process.
This is where you start, adding value.
To add value, implement a social listening strategy and start responding to what people are saying about your brand. The role of a community manager is crucial here.
You can do this by using Twitter's search feature, which allows you to see who is talking about you or your company.
On the Twitter search results page, you'll see the different conversations happening around your search query. Scroll through the feed and start interacting with users by simply retweeting or liking their posts, or responding to suggestions and questions they ask.
By contributing to these conversations, you add value to a network of prospects and put your name on their radar.
8. Provide value by sharing relevant content
More than 50% of B2B buyers look for information about products and services on social media. What is the most popular type of content they seek out? The answer is white papers, with 49% of B2B buyers consuming white papers when evaluating a technology purchase.
However, this doesn't mean you can't share any other type of content if you have yet to create that whitepaper.
Today, 60-70% of content in B2B organizations isn’t being used. If conversations they conduct ask for information on best practices, share a blog post from your company . If a LinkedIn group is discussing product recommendations, you can share a product demo video or podcast.
There is no limit to what you can share if the content adds value to the conversation. However, there is no faster way to lose interest from a potential customer than by sharing irrelevant, self-promotional content.
Now it's your turn!
Brands are on social media. But they want to sell more, to convert followers into customers or potential customers. I hope that the 8 ways we shared today can help you. Although we must remember that selling on social media involves: adding value and building relationships with the right audience. If you need us to accompany you in this task, we will be very happy to do so here .
Let's not kid ourselves. Generating leads and converting more sales is the challenge of any company. Gone are the days when the sales team spent a lot of time making cold calls.
If you are thinking about how to be more inbound and use social media to convert more sales, this post is for you.
What is social selling?
Social selling occurs when salespeople use social media to find and engage new leads. The sales team uses social media to provide value to prospects by answering questions, addressing feedback, and sharing content throughout the buying process. From awareness to consideration, until a prospect is ready to buy.
Social selling is a new way of selling in digital media.
selling on social networks or social selling
While the traditional sales model involves cold calling, sales demos, and qualified leads, the new way of B2B sales means using social media to reach out to potential customers, educate them on how your company can help them grow their business, and nurture them through content.
The growth in social media usage has been a major factor in the adoption of social selling. Several studies point towards the B2B buyer using social media as an important part of their research process.
Accenture’s State of B2B study finds that 94% of B2B buyers conduct some form of online research before making a business purchase, and 55% conduct online research for at least half of their purchases.
And what channels do B2B buyers use for research?
Yes, social media.
An IDC investigation has found this:
91% of B2B buyers are now active and engaged on social media
84% of senior executives use social media to support purchasing decisions
75% of B2B buyers are significantly influenced by social media
It’s not just a change in the B2B buying process. The age of B2B buyers, and more importantly, decision makers, has also changed.
A study by Google and Millward Brown Digital found that 46% of decision makers are now aged 18-34 (up from 27% in 2012), which happens to be the heaviest social media users.
b2b decision makers
We can expect this pace to continue, with millennials (buyers aged 18-34) taking a majority share in the near future.
So what are the benefits of social selling?
How can social selling grow your business?
Jamie Shanks of Sales for Life shared his key gambling data taiwan findings from a social selling study of over 45,000 sales reps and 200 companies. What he found was this: for every $1 invested in social selling, the ROI is $5.
This means that for every dollar invested in social sales, it resulted in a return of five dollars.
In addition, Aberdeen Group published a study on the impact of social selling.
The study found that when you look at all of the sales KPIs—quota attainment, renewal rate, and forecast accuracy—all of these metrics were better when sales reps used social media, as shown below:
sell more social media
Source: su
The research also found that sales reps who use social selling find 45% more opportunities on average. Plus, social selling helps top companies achieve a 16% revenue gain year-over-year. That’s four times better than companies that don’t use social selling!
The key findings are clear:
Sales reps sell more when they use social media.
The challenge here is that only 1 in 4 sales reps know how to use social media for sales.
So how can your business adopt a social selling strategy? Here's what you need to know.
8 ways to sell on social media
Social selling is ultimately about building relationships. But before you build them, you need to make sure you choose the right network. Then, you can build new relationships, provide value to potential customers, and continually nurture them.
1. Choose the most relevant social network
It's easy to get caught up in the next big social network. But the real winners of social selling are the salespeople who are active on the same platform as their potential customers. This is the foundation of social selling success.
That’s why fashion retailers excel on Pinterest and why B2B sales people generate leads from LinkedIn. So where do you start? You begin by identifying the social networks that match your potential customer:
social media demographics
While YouTube and Facebook have the highest engagement of all age groups, Forrester Research has found that decision makers primarily use Twitter and LinkedIn.
So, if you sell products that appeal to teenagers, you should use Facebook and Instagram. And if you sell products or services aimed at businesses and decision-makers, use LinkedIn or Twitter.
2. Follow the right Twitter users
To build your network, you can use a tool like Followerwonk .
Followerwonk lets you search for Twitter profiles by topic or keyword. And that gives you a ranked list of the top Twitter users. For example, you can start your search with “CRM,” “Sales,” and “Marketing.”
By using Followerwonk, you can follow multiple Twitter users quickly instead of visiting and requesting to follow each individual profile, which can be time-consuming. Or, you can export the list of users and then filter to the most relevant profiles.
3. Create a “wish list” of companies and follow them
Small and large businesses can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Through company profiles or accounts. By following these businesses, you can keep up to date with company news, such as when they win an award (you can send them a “Congrats!” message) or when they ask for product recommendations.
Create a wish list of 10-20 “dream” companies that are active on social media. And start following them today. Like, retweet, and engage with their status updates whenever possible. Remember, build relationships.
4. Get instant notifications when prospects join LinkedIn
Using LinkedIn’s “saved search” allows you to create a search based on your ideal customer profile , and then LinkedIn will notify you every time a new record matches that profile.
To do this, perform a search using the LinkedIn search field found at the top of the platform when you log in. Enter the criteria that matches your ideal client profile, such as job title or industry, and then click the search button.
At this point, you'll find that the results will return people you're already connected to. To remove your first-level connections, scroll down to the Relationship box (left side of the page) and 2nd Connections.
Second-level connections mean you know someone in common, which makes it much easier to introduce yourself to a potential client.
Next, scroll to the top of the page and on the right hand side click “Save Search.”
LinkedIn will ask you to name your search (example: “VP Sales Second Level Connections”) and then set how frequently you want to receive notifications (weekly or monthly).
5. Join and participate in LinkedIn groups
LinkedIn has over 400 million users. As a platform, LinkedIn offers you opportunities for networking, referrals, etc. One of LinkedIn’s biggest advantages lies within groups – there are currently over 1.8 million groups.
According to LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth, only 16% of all LinkedIn users have joined 100 groups. To find a group, search for a topic of your expertise. Remember, don't try to blend in with other salespeople here, as your job is to sell your product. What you want to do is share knowledge and expertise with potential customers.
If your ideal client is a small business owner, look for small business-related groups.
If you provide customer service tools, find and join groups dedicated to customer service managers.
6. Connect with potential clients on LinkedIn
As you start contributing to groups, you'll see more people view your profile. When someone views your profile, send them an invitation to connect.
When you send a LinkedIn invitation request, try changing the default message from “I’d like to connect with you on LinkedIn” to something like “Hi, thanks for viewing my profile. Would you like to connect on LinkedIn?”
This is a great way to start a conversation with a potential client who has shown interest in what you do. Another way to connect with potential clients is to reach out to people in the same group.
7. Contribute to existing conversations about your brand
Corporate Visions found that 74% of buyers choose the sales rep who adds value first during the buying process.
This is where you start, adding value.
To add value, implement a social listening strategy and start responding to what people are saying about your brand. The role of a community manager is crucial here.
You can do this by using Twitter's search feature, which allows you to see who is talking about you or your company.
On the Twitter search results page, you'll see the different conversations happening around your search query. Scroll through the feed and start interacting with users by simply retweeting or liking their posts, or responding to suggestions and questions they ask.
By contributing to these conversations, you add value to a network of prospects and put your name on their radar.
8. Provide value by sharing relevant content
More than 50% of B2B buyers look for information about products and services on social media. What is the most popular type of content they seek out? The answer is white papers, with 49% of B2B buyers consuming white papers when evaluating a technology purchase.
However, this doesn't mean you can't share any other type of content if you have yet to create that whitepaper.
Today, 60-70% of content in B2B organizations isn’t being used. If conversations they conduct ask for information on best practices, share a blog post from your company . If a LinkedIn group is discussing product recommendations, you can share a product demo video or podcast.
There is no limit to what you can share if the content adds value to the conversation. However, there is no faster way to lose interest from a potential customer than by sharing irrelevant, self-promotional content.
Now it's your turn!
Brands are on social media. But they want to sell more, to convert followers into customers or potential customers. I hope that the 8 ways we shared today can help you. Although we must remember that selling on social media involves: adding value and building relationships with the right audience. If you need us to accompany you in this task, we will be very happy to do so here .