Before talking about social selling, I'll share some figures with you. You should know that digital transformation has changed the way people buy, particularly in B2B (business to business).
More than 90% of professional buyers start their buying process with an internet search and recommendations on social media.
You should also keep in mind that more than 60% of the purchasing decision process is complete before buyers get in touch with a salesperson.
This practice doesn't replace traditional methodologies, but it's essential that you adopt it today.
The 4 Pillars of Social Selling
Social selling is based on 4 pillars:
1. Personal Brand
It's about shining on social media and making yourself a thought leader. Getting recognized as an expert or specialist within your industry.
This way, your personal brand will help you attract customers and prospects and maintain a consistent presence on social media.
2. Content
Without content, it wouldn't be possible to run an effective social selling strategy, much less build a personal brand.
Valuable content will help you get recognized as a specialist within your industry. This content will help your future customers make a purchasing decision.
3. Tools
You need digital tools to implement an SS strategy, such as a CRM (Soho, HubSpot, Salesforce, etc.). Content curation tools will allow you to gather content from the web without wasting time searching.
There are several free tools; I recommend ScoopIt. Other types of tools include those specialized in social selling, such as Sociabble, and of course social networks.
The main network is LinkedIn, but if your target audience is in other countries, it's important to consider the networks used in those countries.
For example, if your target audience is in France, I recommend using the social network Viadeo, or if they're in Germany, you could use Xing. Then select the tools you'll use for your SS strategy.
4. Strategy
Each social seller's strategy is personal. Everyone creates and defines their own strategy based on 3 points:
- Trigger selling: listening and monitoring your prospects' activity on social media.
- Insight selling: supporting your customers and prospects throughout the entire buying process.
- Referral: if your customers are happy with you and already see you as a thought leader, they will very likely recommend you to others who need your product or service.
As I mentioned earlier, social selling doesn't replace traditional techniques; it's an essential complement in today's context of digital transformation.
To start a social selling strategy, you need to get trained, stay informed, and read articles or texts on this topic to avoid beginner mistakes.
Get Better Results With Social Selling
Social selling isn't about copying the traditional methods of cold calling or mass email sends. It's about personally working with your prospects one-on-one.
Don't forget that it's a methodology for winning over your customers/prospects; however, you need to be patient, since it's a long process from the start of your strategy to the moment you begin to see results.
With your daily efforts over the medium to long term, you'll see much better results than with traditional techniques.
@MancillaConseil
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