8 Ways to Sell More on Social Media
Internet Marketing Agency in Houston
Social selling is ultimately about building relationships. But before you build them, you need to make sure you choose the right network and grow your audience. Then, you can build relationships, provide value and nurture leads.
Let’s dive right in!
Choose the most relevant social network
It’s easy to get caught up in the next big social network, but the true winners of social selling are sales people that are active on the same platform as their potential customers. This is the foundation to social selling success.
It’s why sales people in fashion excel on Pinterest and why B2B sales people generate leads from LinkedIn.
So where do you start?
You start by identifying the social networks that match your potential customer:
While Facebook has the lion share of all age groups, Forrester Research has found that decision makers primarily use Twitter and LinkedIn.
So if you’re selling products that appeal to teenagers, you should use Facebook and Instagram. And if you sell products or services aimed towards businesses and decision makers, then use LinkedIn or Twitter.
Follow the right Twitter users
To build your network, use a tool like Followerwonk.
Followerwonk allows you to search Twitter profiles by topic or keyword and that provides you with a list in order of top rated Twitter users. For example, you can begin your search with “CRM”, “Sales” and “Marketing”.
By using Followerwonk, you can follow multiple Twitter users quickly rather than visiting and requesting to follow on each individual profile, which can be time consuming. Or, you can export the list of users and then filter through to the more relevant profiles.
Create a wish list of companies and follow them
Do you ever dream about signing a mega-brand as a new client?
I know I do.
Well, it doesn’t have to be just a dream.
Small businesses to large corporations can be found on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn through company profiles or accounts. By following these companies, you can keep up to date on company news, such as when they win an award (you can send them a “Congrats!” message) or when they ask for product recommendations (you can send them an invite to a demo).
Create a wish list of 10-20 dream companies that are active on social media and start following them today. Like, retweet and engage with their status updates whenever possible. It might not be a dream for much longer!
Get instant notifications when prospects join LinkedIn
Using LinkedIn’s Saved Search feature you to create a search based on your ideal customer profile, and then LinkedIn will then notify you each time a new sign up matches that profile.
To do this, perform a search using the LinkedIn search field found at the top of LinkedIn when you login, enter the criteria that matches your idea customer profile, such as job title, or industry and then click the search button.
Join and participate in LinkedIn groups
LinkedIn has more than 400 million users.
As a platform, LinkedIn provides you with opportunities for networking, referrals, etc.
One of the biggest advantages on LinkedIn lies within groups – currently more than 1.8 million groups.
According to LinkedIn expert Wayne Breitbarth, only 16% of all LinkedIn users have joined 100 groups.
To find a group, search for a topic of your expertise. Remember, you’re not looking to mingle with sales people here, as their job is to sell their product. What you want to do is share knowledge and expertise to potential customers.
If your ideal customer is a small business owner, then search for groups relating to small businesses.
If you provide customer service tools, search and join groups that dedicated to customer service managers.
Connect with potential customers on LinkedIn
When you begin to contribute to groups, you will find that more people will view your profile.
When someone views your profile, send them an invitation to connect.
When you send an invite request on LinkedIn, try to change the default message from “I’d like to connect with you LinkedIn” to something like “Hi, thanks for viewing my profile. Would you like to connect on LinkedIn?”
This is a great way to start a conversation with a potential customer that has shown an interest in what you do.
Another way to connect with potential customers is to reach out to people in the same group. Here’s a template I use for connection requests.
Contribute to existing conversations about your brand
Corporate Visions found that 74% of buyers choose the sales rep who first adds value during the buying process.
This is where you come in – adding value.
To add value, start by listening and responding to what people are saying about your brand. You can do this using Twitter’s search function, which allows you to see who is talking about you.
Provide value by sharing relevant content
More than 50% of B2B buyers seek out information on products and services on social media.
What’s the most popular type of content they seek out?
The answer is white papers, as 49% of B2B buyers consume white papers when evaluating a technology purchase.
However, this doesn’t mean you cannot share any other type of content if you have yet to create a white paper.
Today, 60-70% of content in B2B organizations is not being used. If the conversations you engage in ask for information on best practices, share a blog post from your company blog. If a LinkedIn group is discussing product recommendations, you can share a webcast or product demo video.
There is no limit on what you can share providing the content adds value to the conversation. However, there’s no faster way to lose interest from a prospect than sharing irrelevant and self-promotional content.
Source: SuperOffice
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