How to Leverage Social Media in Sales?

By thought-horizon | Aug 29, 2019

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As social selling experts, we are often asked the same thing by sales leaders who want to make it big on social media: “How EXACTLY do we leverage our sellers’ social media presence to foster more sales?”

Well, there are many nuances in any B2B sales organization such as the ratio of new businesses versus the repeated sales that they wish to acquire. Stripping away the differences, the basics of social selling are essentially the same and boil down to a list of similar topics:

1. Train Your Sales People and Keep Doing It

Train, train, train. Salespeople need to be proficient not only in the native social apps but in tools that interface with social media. Once they are on the right social media platform, they will have a better chance to reach their target audience. Things like CRM and how to log and create new leads efficiently from social media efforts as well as using LinkedIn Navigator to start a new lead campaign are the heart and soul of leveraging social. This training is not going to happen overnight. We suggest layering in the implementation of the new tools (Navigator/CRM social lead gen) and training refreshers overtime to get the most influential impact. In addition to that, once the salespeople are trained successfully, consequently they can reach their target audience effectively, and the chances of driving sales could increase dramatically. Therein, the salesperson could work with social media influencers. Influencer marketing is also a marketing tool and a technique; this could be an opportunity to drive sales to have influencers promote unique discount codes.

2. Content

Create and adequately distribute content to prospects via social media. If training is the heart and soul, content is the brain of any social selling program. You can identify prospects all day, but without something to say and a way to efficiently distribute that content, there will never be much success. The creation of content can be tough. Get a plan and a calendar and stick to it. Get help if you need it, but do not skimp on content, and make sure you know your buyer persona when you are creating it. Also, get efficient with distributing that content. Find a social selling tool that will automate and create a constant presence for your team online. Obviously, we are aware of the fact that when it comes to social marketing, you need to make the most out of the content created by other customers to drive sales. In addition to that, apart from posting on blogs or creating content on social media, you can always create bite-sized informational matters that would entice value to your social media audience.

3. Measure and Improvise

There is no point in creating a program that is not effective. Measuring how many new leads and engagements that are coming from social media is essential to success. This detail is easy to forget. By measuring the success of the content you produce, you can hone your skills to meet the needs of your target buyers on social media. The goal is to provide customers with the kind of information that’s going to tempt them to buy the product. Create valuable content which should be engaging your audience and should entice them into making a purchase. Market or promote your web content or blog posts on social media; you could create and provide the guides and how-to content as well.

4. Listen to Your Prospects and Engage

The idea is not just to shove the content pitch over to your prospect or to generate leads. Instead, it is about listening to what your prospects need and sharing relevant content accordingly. Follow them and make sure to publish creative stuff over time. That will help you appear in their newsfeed often and stay at the top of their minds, getting you a broader scope of discovery.

Take-Home Message

Social selling is an excellent way to generate leads but only if done strategically. If you have not yet leveraged the potential of social to drive your sales, let’s help you put that best foot forward. Get in touch with social selling experts at Thought Horizon to create a comprehensive program for your business.