Buying and selling have always been considered social activities. Before Facebook, Twitter, and every other brilliant corner of the internet lit up our lives: people always relied on cold calling and much other stuff to get things done.

Today, Social media has remained the latest HOT topic for B2B sales linking Social selling in the race. The question is: Is it a B2B buzzword or a certified sales strategy?

Well! Many people want to know what social media selling is all about. Does it really work, or is it just a trendy fad that is here for a few days?

In a nutshell: Yes, it does WORK EFFECTIVELY. When done correctly, it aids in the development of two crucial aspects of the B2B sales cycle: relationships and credibility.

Without a doubt, staying abreast of new sales tactics is difficult. But social selling is more than a term; and has been proven to raise corporate revenue by 16 percent. To my surprise, 75% of sales professionals do not use it as part of their entire sales plan.

Why is it that only a few sales reps are using social selling? 

For whatever reason, they may have heard of it but are not entirely sure what it is.

Well! We are here for your rescue. This blog will help you understand why to use social selling and how you can apply it to your sales strategies.

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What Is Social Selling?

The idea of selling socially seems very simple- It is a lead-generating strategy where salespeople actively connect with their prospects on social media platforms. As technology alters our perception of the social media world, B2B buyers have more connections and are more knowledgeable than ever before.

As 53 percent of B2B buyers now utilize social media platforms to analyze new tools and technology, it’s no wonder it is soon projected to replace telecoms in outbound sales. Reps establish long-term connections, communicate authority and credibility, and appear on the radars of decision-makers to drive ORGANIC sales through the use of social media.

The rapid development of Social media has been an impactful part of social selling’s adoption, and numerous stats shows that B2B buyers use social media as an essential component of their research process.

03 Reasons you Should Care About Social Selling

Here are 03 reasons why you should give it a try.

1- Easily Identify Your Target Audience 

First and foremost, it is your target audience that you are going to engage with, and social selling is the one opportunity that helps you identify your target audience. After all! It is of paramount importance that you can know the leads.

Or else, you know the drill, you will waste your valuable time pursuing unqualified leads and come up empty-handed. Leveraging social selling, you may get to know your prospects better on a personal level. It may reach out to an audience that is already interested in what you have to offer and truly engage with them, providing essential information when the moment is appropriate. Authenticity fosters trust, which in turn may lead to increased client retention.

2- Engages Your Audience

Social selling is a platform with opportunities that offer businesses to connect with new potential customers on Social media. It helps your sales staff to find leads who are already talking about your company, your rivals, or your industry by using social listening technologies.

So, how do you engage your target audience usually? What is the best way to engage your audience?

Since cold calling is already out of the game, Social selling has carved its way for B2B marketers.

Once you have the information on your target audience, you can reach out to them and engage them in order to convert them into paying clients. Apart from that, you may utilize social selling to interact with your present followers and expand the number of people who know about your business 

3- One-up Your Competitors

Considering the vast number of individuals who are now utilizing social media, the opportunity for companies to generate social sales is enormous. On top of that, over 70% of top sales professionals use social selling to generate leads.

That brings us to the point that even your competitors are on Social media. Can you connect the dots here? Well! When it comes to social selling, the idea is simple. If you do not use it to reach out to your audience, your competitors will definitely ace it.

Social selling’s influence is as clear as a crystal. Especially if you want to outdo your competition, it is no longer something you can afford to ignore.

Now that you know why you should leverage social selling, I think it’s time you should start implementing it as well. So how are you going to do it?

Well! Head on to our next section of the blog that will present you with Social selling tips.

Social Selling Tips & Best Practices

1- Shift Your Focus From Followers To Leads

No doubt, your initial focus would be to gain followers, but try to think practically. Is it possible for every follower to turn into your customer? No, right? 

Understand that Social media followers are not leads. A lead is generally someone you can call or email; someone who has given you such information. The purpose of your social media efforts should therefore be to turn these followers into leads. You must analyze What channel they use to find you? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or a mix of the three? How much time did they spend as a follower before becoming a lead?

Your followers require a means for you to measure the success of your efforts. You can see the clicks, conversions, and engagement data essential for determining which lead generation methods are succeeding and which should be left out using social media analytics.

2- Serve Before Selling

Putting in the work and developing a relationship with consumers before trying to sell to them is particularly beneficial in the digital era when two-way communication between businesses and customers has become a priority. Everyone benefits when you shift your focus from improving your bottom line to improving the lives of your customers.

The idea is to Serve first & Sell second. 

Just because they may have opted in or showed some interest does not imply they are saying, “Please sell me stuff.” Serving before selling entails freely giving up essential knowledge. If you want to achieve this, you must solve issues and come up with answers. In other words, if your first thought is, “What can I do for you?” instead of “What can I offer you?” then you are on the correct route.

After all, long-term success comes from building trust, establishing a genuine relationship, and prioritizing your customer’s requirements.

Choose The Most Relevant Social Network

Salespeople engaged on the same platform as their potential clients are genuine winners of social selling. It is the cornerstone for social selling success.

Every social network has its own unique style. You need to know where your audience spends the most time and, most importantly, where the most content interaction occurs in order to choose which platform is best for your business.

For instance, When it comes to B2B marketing, LinkedIn is the most successful site for generating B2B leads. And that is how B2B sales can benefit from social selling. Therefore, you must take advantage of this. Meanwhile, Facebook is ideal for B2C since it allows you to build a Business Page, which you can use to engage with prospects without appearing to be spamming their personal space with promotional offers.

Keep Up With The Competition

Social selling is considerably more advanced than you would imagine. It is not just for engaging with prospects, it is also an excellent way to acquire competition intelligence.

Since finding out what your rivals are doing and how they have changed their methods over time is crucial in sales, social listening can alert you when a competitor changes their approach on their website or extends their product catalog. In this way, you may learn from the triumphs and mistakes of other businesses and incorporate them into your own approach.

PowerAdSpy can be the true ally that offers the great option of searching by the name of certain businesses or even famous people endorsing certain brands. Consider following a business and comparing its ad strategy to yours. That would help you reach more people and convert more customers to your company. 

With PowerAdSpy, we will show you how to identify the best-performing competitor’s advertisements quickly and easily.

1- First and foremost, use your login credentials to access the PowerAdspy dashboard.

2- On the left side of the screen, you’ll see a number of various ad networks. You can choose any network.

3- If you pick the Facebook ads option, you’ll see random advertisements running in the Facebook ads.

4- You may use the search bar at the top of the dashboard page to discover related advertisements from your competitors.

5- In addition to these options, you may search for advertisements based on search terms, filters, and landing properties, or you can seek ads that contain a certain brand or advertiser.

6- In addition to geolocation, age, gender, language, and ad position (top or bottom), PowerAdSpy allows you to filter the advertising based on image size.

7- Once you’ve finished configuring your settings, click on the Explore icon to begin exploring.

There you have it! With a few mouse clicks, you will have the most effective display ad campaigns in front of you.

Share Content To Build Trust & Loyalty

Your firm may brag about delivering excellent service or showcasing some outstanding characteristics of its product. But is it worth it if your prospects do not necessarily trust you? Of course not! 

So If you want to win the confidence of potential consumers, utilize social media to offer proof that will support your promises.

If you have existing clients, you may share their success stories and feedback. You may post links to your success stories on your website. Alternatively, you may build your own unique pictures that include a photo of your client or their logo, as well as a brief explanation of the outcomes they obtained with your aid.

One of the primary reasons social selling is such a game-changer for B2B sales teams is because it gives a richness of context that allows them to personalize every pitch, proposal, and post to specific pain areas.

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Final Thoughts

Is it tempting now that you have read through all of the Social selling ideas, the Social selling definition, and the Social selling importance?

I’d say, good for you!

On top of that, PowerAdSpy is here for you, which will manage your social media presence more efficiently. The dashboard allows you to produce and schedule content, identify related conversions, interact with your audience, and more from one place. Today is your chance to try it for free.

While sales have always been a social activity, social selling breaks tradition and shifts the focus away from the old conventional methods. These five social selling strategies can help you identify and engage with prospects on LinkedIn and Twitter, the platforms where decision-makers may be found. However, the best results from social selling occur when you make it your primary objective to offer value to prospects and create connections.

I hope this blog was helpful and answered all your doubts. If you have any recommendations, comment down below. I would love to hear from you.