The new selling: social selling
No more than 10 years ago, the use of social media was mainly linked to the private sphere, to make new friends, keep in touch or have superficial conversations. Today, that has completely changed and most business leaders understand the potential of 'Social selling' in a professional context as well.
What is social selling?
Social selling is a sales method where social media platforms, such as Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube etc, are used to share information about your product, service or company with potential customers to arouse their curiosity and interest. A seed is planted in the minds of prospects, so to speak, with the aim of being able to connect with them and establish a line of communication through which a sale can eventually be made.
Incorporating social media as a sales channel is increasingly becoming a must.
Let's throw in some statistics:
- 98% of employees use social media for personal use.
- 80% of employees use social media for professional use
- 67% of buyers make a shortlist during their purchasing process based on online research, without personal contact with the seller
- 90% of the best-performing salespeople in B2B use social media to communicate with prospects and customers.
- 78% of social sellers have significantly better sales figures than their peers who do not use social media.
Therefore, the increasing importance of social media in the sales process cannot be overestimated! Not just in BtoC but certainly in BtoB too!
Survey shows that 98% of all B2B companies see great value in social selling, but only just over half have effectively set up a social selling programme. And so today, by properly integrating social media into their sales process, a lot of companies can still really make a difference.
Social selling is not just about adding new contacts to your sales list, but it is mainly about meaningful social interactions where you can convince the customer with content that your product or service is a reliable solution to his/her problem. More than closing the deal, social selling is about generating qualified leads. However, to realise its full potential, sales must be willing to invest time and effort in a trusting relationship with the prospect.
What are the differences from traditional channels?
Let us also be clear that social selling does not replace the more traditional ways of selling, such as face-to-face, email, phone, trade shows, networking, etc. It complements them, an additional channel to disseminate information, find prospects and communicate with them. An essential task of every salesperson remains researching where the buyer is in the buying funnel to then determine the best channels to reach them. However, research shows, especially in the post corona era, that social media has taken over the role of a lot of traditional sales channels. And will continue to do so in the future.
Some advantages of social selling vs traditional sales channels:
- The reach is usually greater than traditional channels, globally across borders.
- You don't need big budgets to achieve successes.
- Social media provides the opportunity to interact with the customer, enhancing engagement and prolonging its duration.
- It is easier to measure and analyze the success of campaigns.
The base of social selling
When a company wants to engage in social selling, there are 2 key aspects that need to be achieved:
1.Content
The core of social selling is creating relevant content. Content that buyers are looking for and that provides added value at various stages of their purchasing process. By sharing content, you build trust and establish a reputation as an 'expert in the field'.thought leadership). Your target audience will be interested in your opinions, information, and willing to listen to you to solve their problems.
2.Conversation
Conversations are the ultimate content. If you can get people to interact with you, a personal connection will form that goes beyond a typical seller-buyer relationship. You'll build a bond of trust , making it much easier to persuade people to buy from you. Sales naturally flow from the human connection, as a natural process. Social media platforms, in particular, are designed to facilitate such conversations.
Social selling aims to influence purchasing behavior by continuously creating value/content thereby building an integrity-based relationship that serves as the foundation to persuade people to purchase your products and services.
Sellent supports companies in setting up, expanding, and executing their social selling processes.
Contact us for more information!
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