Social Selling
Updated: July 11, 2024
Published: August 8, 2023
In a world where consumers are bombarded with sales pitches and advertisements at every turn, the art of social selling has emerged as a unique approach. It presents a powerful way for businesses to cut through the noise and connect with their target audience at a personal level.
When it comes to social selling, there's no platform quite like LinkedIn. With over 900 million members, including decision-makers, influencers, and key stakeholders, LinkedIn offers an opportunity for sales professionals to build relationships, nurture leads, and drive sales.
But how do you master the art of social selling on LinkedIn? What strategies and techniques can help you stand out in a crowded marketplace and close more deals? In this article, we'll explore key aspects of social selling on LinkedIn. We’ll share real-world examples of businesses that have successfully leveraged the platform to grow their customer base and analyze important takeaways from their success stories.
So, grab a cup of coffee, cozy down, and let's dive straight into the exciting world of social selling on LinkedIn!
Social selling is a sales and marketing strategy that uses social media platforms to generate leads and develop connections with potential buyers. LinkedIn social selling best practices don’t rely on traditional sales techniques; instead, they focus on social selling that emphasizes building relationships and trust over time. For that reason, it is often seen as a more authentic and effective approach to sales.
Social selling on LinkedIn involves leveraging the platform's professional network to connect with decision-makers and influencers, share relevant content, and build a strong brand that positions you as a thought leader in your industry.
Social selling is a powerful approach that offers numerous benefits to businesses looking to succeed in today's digital world. Notably, they allow businesses to:
When you engage with potential customers on a professional social media platform like LinkedIn, you can build stronger relationships with them than you can over traditional sales channels. Establishing a rapport and providing value through content and conversations enables businesses to build trust and establish themselves as reliable operators.
Social selling can help increase brand awareness by promoting your products or services to a broader and more nuanced audience. You can improve your visibility and market reputation by sharing relevant content and engaging with LinkedIn’s vast user base.
An effective social selling strategy allows you to identify and connect with potential customers on LinkedIn. Leveraging the power of LinkedIn's professional network can help you connect with decision-makers and influencers in your industry and guide them through the sales funnel.
LinkedIn’s ability to generate leads is supported by statistics. 56% of sales professionals use social media to find new prospects, according to HubSpot’s 2023 Sales Strategy & Trends report. Further, 69% of B2B marketers find LinkedIn the most effective platform for generating leads, as do 55% of B2C marketers.
Social selling lets you personalize your outreach and provide value in every interaction with consumers. Building stronger relationships and establishing yourself as a thought leader in your industry can help you differentiate yourself from your competitors and close more deals.
All this comes at a time when virtual selling is becoming more successful and lucrative than ever before. According to LinkedIn’s 2022 State of Sales report, just under a third of sellers (31%) reported closing deals over $500,000 without ever meeting the buyer face-to-face.
Monitoring social media conversations and analyzing engagement metrics helps you gain valuable information to inform your sales and marketing strategies. These insights into your target audience are fundamental in helping you better understand their unique needs and pain points.
As a sales professional, you can effectively leverage LinkedIn to build strong relationships with potential customers, establish yourself as a trusted advisor, and generate more leads for your business.
Here are six steps to help you get started:
Your LinkedIn profile is the first impression potential customers will have of you. Therefore, it's necessary to optimize it to reflect your professional brand. Start by selecting a professional profile photo and cover image because just having a picture raises the likelihood of your profile being viewed by up to 14x.
Use relevant keywords in your headline, summary, and work experience sections, and include examples of your successes and accomplishments. Make sure to keep your profile up-to-date and accurate, and don't forget to include your contact information so potential customers can easily reach out to you.
Here are some examples of real LinkedIn profiles to give you a better idea.
Source: Carolyn Shuster
Source: Zac Engler
To stand out among the crowd on LinkedIn, you must establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. This can be achieved by regularly posting relevant and insightful content, commenting on industry news and trends, and participating in LinkedIn groups related to your industry.
Share your perspectives and insights on relevant topics and suggest solutions to common challenges within your industry. Establishing yourself as a trusted advisor and expert in your field will help build credibility and attract potential customers to your profile.
It’s always a good idea to add some personality to your posts to help you stand out from the crowd. In Cognism's social selling webinar, LinkedIn wizard Daniel Disney offered his content formula for social selling success:
“You’ll need to find that sweet spot between personal and professional when sharing your content. People buy from people, they want to know you, so share personal stories every now and again but make sure they have meaning.”
Source: Daniel Disney
If you need further inspiration to get started, scroll through your feed for some LinkedIn message examples. Pay attention to the wording and formatting that makes the most sense for your brand and then craft your own relevant post.
Identify your ideal customer profile to effectively use social selling on LinkedIn. That means understanding the characteristics of customers who are most likely to benefit from your products or services. Consider factors such as job title, industry, company size, and location, and develop a clear understanding of the challenges your ideal customers face.
Don’t forget to leverage LinkedIn's search functionality to find the right prospects on the platform. Use the search bar at the top of the LinkedIn homepage to look for specific job titles, companies, or industries. You can also filter your results by location, industry, company size, and other criteria to narrow down your search.
LinkedIn Groups are another valuable resource for finding and engaging with potential prospects. Join groups related to your industry or niche and participate in discussions, share your insights and content, and connect with other group members who fit your ideal customer profile.
Let’s suppose you provide cryptocurrency-related services. By simply searching the keyword “cryptocurrency,” you’ll find numerous groups about the industry, each with thousands of members.
Once you have established a relationship with your connections, guide them through the sales funnel by offering demos or consultations. Use LinkedIn's messaging function to communicate and follow up with potential leads and track your progress using the LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
Referrals and introductions are also helpful when closing deals on LinkedIn. Ask satisfied customers or business partners to introduce you to potential prospects who fit your ideal customer profile. This can help you establish credibility with new prospects before making your first outreach.
One of the best ways to learn how to use LinkedIn effectively is to examine real-world social selling examples of successful strategies. Look for case studies and success stories from businesses in your industry or similar industries to see how they have leveraged LinkedIn to drive sales and build relationships with potential customers. Pay attention to the types of content they share, the frequency and tone of their outreach, and the strategies they use to build rapport and establish trust with prospects.
Once you've identified a few success stories, analyze the strategies used to achieve those results. Look for commonalities and patterns in how businesses engage with prospects on LinkedIn. For instance, find out whether they share a lot of educational content or focus on building personal relationships, or if they use a specific messaging tone or language style.
Finally, apply the lessons learned from successful social selling strategies regularly to your efforts on LinkedIn. Focus on the most relevant and profitable strategies for your business and your target audience and experiment with different approaches to see what works best.
Remember to track your results and adjust your approach to optimize your social selling strategy over time. By continually learning from successful social selling strategies, you can improve your sales performance and build stronger relationships with potential customers on LinkedIn.
Whether you are a sales professional, marketer, or business owner, it's time to start leveraging your social selling platform to achieve your business goals. You can achieve remarkable results and take your business to new heights with the right mindset, strategies, and execution.
Employee advocacy is a powerful tool to help boost your social selling efforts. By encouraging employees to share company content and engage with potential customers on social media, businesses can amplify their reach and establish a more authentic and trustworthy brand presence.
Need help getting started? Consider partnering with GaggleAMP. Our platform provides a range of features that can help businesses with their social selling efforts by maximizing the impact of employee advocacy. This includes the ability to create and curate content that employees can easily share on LinkedIn, as well as tools to track and measure the success of these efforts.
Request a free demo today to experience the incredible benefits of our employee advocacy platform.
Social Selling
Social Selling
Social Selling
