What Is Social Selling, Benefits, Tips, and More

If you’ve hung out around marketing experts or people working in that sector, you’ve probably already heard the word “social selling” going around. And even if you haven’t, you probably will soon. And no, before you go there, it’s not the same as social media marketing or social media advertising. So, what is it?

Social selling is an innovative sales technique that is set to replace the old, boring practice of making cold calls and praying that people don’t hang up on you in the first few seconds. It is a method that allows businesses to grow potential leads, engage with them, hook them, and generate sales on social media.

Also, this practice isn’t only suitable for marketing execs. Namely, people from many other sectors can use it to boost their overall sales. So, if you’re liking it so far, stay with us and learn more about social selling, its benefits, and more!

What Is Social Selling?

Social selling is a type of sales method. Businesses can do it by using their social media accounts to connect with potential prospects. Once you find your potential prospects, you then try to establish a connection with them and turn them into potential leads. Doing all of that can help you boost your sales significantly.

Another way we can describe social selling is as “a modern way of building relationships.” Sometimes, you won’t be able to turn a potential prospect into a lead on the first try. But that’s okay. The relationship you built with that person can help you in the future.

Namely, when that person wants to buy a service or product similar to yours, you’ll be the first solution that pops into their mind. So, social selling can help you build longer-term relationships that last for years.

Social Selling Benefits

By using this sales method, your main goal is to build long-lasting relationships with people. Of course, your other primary goal is to boost sales. However, there’s much more that this sales method can offer.

1. Improve Your Brand Visibility

This sales method requires businesses to take their social media more seriously. All of the company’s profiles need to be updated and polished. In turn, it makes a company’s social media presence much more appealing and attractive. So, it’ll catch people’s eye and increase the number of people that notice a brand online.

Also, if you do social selling right, much more people will see your posts on social media, increasing your brand visibility and popularity.

2. Boost Website Traffic

As your brand visibility increases, so can your website traffic. That’s because more people will search for your business online. And more website visitors will usually result in more sales.

So, ensure that your website is always up-to-date. Also, optimize it for SEO so that it ranks higher on Google and other search engines.

3. Faster Sales Cycles

Social selling makes communicating with potential customers much easier and faster. You won’t have to beg people to listen to your pitch anymore. Also, you’ll be able to show them immediately what you offer, so you won’t waste your or their time.

And once the customer sees what you offer, the chances of you closing the sale faster are much higher. That’s because the potential buyer has already seen your products and services and can make up their mind quickly.

4. Build Long-Lasting Relationships

With social selling, you can learn a lot about your potential customers without even talking with them. Namely, you can visit their social media profiles and get a glimpse into their daily lives and find out what they like and don’t like.

So, when you contact them later on, you’ll already know how you can help them. Also, you’ll be able to create a better sales pitch, tailored to the specific customer you’re targeting.

All of the back and forth you do with customers on social media allows you to build a more personal relationship with each customer. In turn, this will result in long-lasting relationships and turn new customers into loyal ones.

Tips for Successful Social Selling

Like with any other marketing or business strategy, social selling is also only effective if you do it right. With that said, we’ll share a few tips with you in this section so that you can start selling the right way.

Use the Appropriate Social Media Platforms

Deciding which social media platforms you’re going to use to boost your sales depends a lot on your target audience. For instance, if you’re targeting gamers, you should use platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and Discord. On the other hand, if you sell beauty products, you should focus on Instagram and Pinterest.

So, to find which social media platforms are best for you, you’ll need to define your target audience first. Then, you’ll be able to pick the most beneficial platforms for your business.

Once you decide where you’re going to sell, the next thing you need to do is learn how the users and the platform function. For example, TikTok users like funny marketing campaigns that don’t look like they’re selling something. Also, they like short-form content as opposed to long-form.

Social Listening

Social listening is the practice of monitoring what people are saying about you online. To do this, you can use third-party social listening tools. The tools will allow you to see what people like or don’t like about your brand, enabling you to improve your products or services and sell more.

Also, with social listening, you might find a perfect moment to contact a potential customer and start a conversation with them.

Consistency Is Key

Once you start social selling, ensure that you continue to do it for a while. You can’t just do it once and then move on to the next task on your to-do list. Doing that won’t give you the results you need - higher sales and better customer relationships.

To be consistent, you can create a timetable that tells you and your team how often you’ll use your social selling strategies. For example, you can pick a day of the week dedicated to it. You can even pick two days. Whatever you do, just make sure you don’t overdo it.

Publish Relevant and Engaging Content

If you want your social selling strategy to be successful, you’ll need to pick what you post carefully. You can’t just post a story or two on Instagram and call it a day.

For example, you can post how-to guides that help people learn how to use your products or services. Also, you can post customer success stories that talk about how you helped them with your products or services. In addition, you can share your awards, recent updates, employee success stories, and other similar things that are directly related to your brand.

Social Selling vs. Traditional Selling

In the table below, you’ll find some of the key differences between the two selling methods.

• Finding Leads - The social selling method finds leads by using professional social media platforms and connecting with people on social media. On the other hand, the traditional selling method involves buying lead lists to find leads and is characterized by limited personal contact with customers.
• Customer Relationships - Traditional sellers have limited data records and outdated contacts that don’t provide any important information on their potential customers. On the flip side, social sellers have access to updated information that the customers themselves share directly. So, social selling can build real connections, while traditional selling is superficial at best.
• How it Works - Social selling works by using warm and personal introductions and close communication with customers. In contrast, traditional selling relies on cold calling and pushing the same sales pitches to hundreds of people.

As you can see, the two sales methods are very different from each other. And in this day and age, social selling is much more relevant and effective. No one wants to sit through long sales pitches on the phone anymore. Instead, they want something fun, something that will pique their interest while also not wasting a lot of their time.

Last Words on Social Selling

From this article, we can clearly see that social selling is one of the best sales strategies that businesses can use. It is ideal for current times and uses things that people like the most to sell - social media. It’s not that people absolutely adore social media, but they use it on a daily basis, making it an integral part of their lives. And with social selling, you can insert yourself into people’s daily lives seamlessly and connect with them.

By following the tips we shared in this article, you’ll make sure that you’re social selling strategy is effective and done right. So, don’t hesitate to use our tips as a helping hand and don’t be intimidated to develop and implement your own social selling strategy.

In addition to our tips, you can also use social selling tools and get inspired by some examples that show how companies create successful strategies!