Why social selling is one of today's most popular sales techniques and how social selling strategies can help you close more deals.

1. Why social selling is one of today's most popular sales techniques and how social
selling strategies can help you close more deals.
The Best Social Selling Practices You Need to Know
You’ve Probably Heard Of “Social Selling,” But What Exactly Is It? Put Another Way, Social
Selling Is a Sales Technique That Combines Traditional Sales Methods with Modern Digital
Tools. At Its Core, It’s About Using Social Media Networks to Reach and Engage Potential
Customers in Meaningful Conversations.
By Utilizing Social Selling, Businesses Can Precisely Identify Potential Leads and Build Trust-
Based Relationships with Them Through Popular Online Platforms. That Said, It’s Important to
Note That Social Selling Isn’t Just About Posting on Social Media Platforms. There Are Best
Practices to Follow to Ensure Your Efforts Are Effective.
Let’s Look at Some of The Best Social Selling Techniques and Strategies to Get Ahead.
What Is Social Selling?
Social selling is an innovative lead-generation technique created to assist salespeople in forming
connections with potential buyers via social media platforms. Some also say it is a sales and
marketing strategy that combines traditional sales methods with the power of social networks.
Utilizing the process of “social listening,” salespeople can understand what their target market
discusses online. This knowledge helps them create meaningful conversations that resonate most
with their audience and foster authentic relationships through engagement.

2. By utilizing social selling, customers and companies can transcend the typical transactional
experience of sales, resulting in more authentic relationships with prospective buyers.
Through the power of social media, salespeople can now foster relationships with their top
prospects in a much more intimate manner. This has created an incredibly personalized one-to-
one experience beyond what’s possible on the internet alone. Furthermore, this online connection
can lead to face-to-face meetings and even closed deals when managed appropriately and
quickly.
4 Major Benefits of Social Selling Tools
By leveraging social selling, sellers can experience these four critical advantages for their
professional or individual brand.
1. It builds trust
Trust is the foundation of any productive transaction or sale, as customers prefer to work with
someone, they believe in. By connecting with them and strengthening your relationship with
them on a deeper level through conversation, you generate an atmosphere of mutual trust that
encourages customers to feel safe doing business with you.

3. This can be accomplished using social media networks like Facebook and Instagram, as these
platforms help create a community where people are welcomed regardless of their size or stature.
2. It Yields Long-Term Results
Social selling isn’t just about getting a one-time sale. It’s about establishing a long-term
relationship with your customer. By consistently and continuously nurturing relationships with
prospective customers, it solidifies bonds that will continue even after they become paying
clients.
3. It Amplifies Your Reach
Social selling through social media platforms can expand your network and increase your
potential reach exponentially. It will even help you develop relationships with customers who
may have yet to find out about you through traditional marketing tactics.
4. It provides insights into your customer base
Companies that actively pursue social listening and conversation with their customers gain
valuable insights into what drives them. Social selling is a sales tool and an invaluable market
research method.
Interactions from social selling can provide companies with important information about
customer desires and interests—even without significant sales results. This information can be
employed to create more targeted marketing plans, devise new product designs, or refine product
descriptions for maximum appeal.
How Does Social Selling Work Across Various Platforms

4. Considering the multifarious approaches to social selling—as people use diverse platforms in
varying ways—it is essential that your methods are adjustable and tailored to the particular
platform you’re utilizing and the prospect.
To this end, here’s some valuable advice on executing social sales successfully across various
major networks.
1. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
LinkedIn is the leading B2B social selling platform, with half of all buyers using it as a resource
to determine what they will buy. In other words, if you don’t have much time or energy to
dedicate to your social selling campaign, this should be your go-to outlet. Remember these
guidelines while using LinkedIn to make the right impression on potential buyers and customers.
Step 1: Build Credibility
Social selling should never come off as impersonal; your prospects should feel a sense of trust in
you. Word-of-mouth is the best way to achieve this. Check out groups in the same industry as
your prospects and add value to the conversations. Also, keep your profile updated with relevant
job titles, company names, descriptions, and/or awards.
When it comes to social selling, understand who you’re targeting. Check whether you have
customers with whom you have excellent relationships. And if you see someone, request that

5. they provide their endorsement or recommendation on your profile. It will help solidify your
authority and influence among new contacts.
Ensure that the abilities you receive endorsements for apply to prospective customers, not just
future employers. A potential customer may not be interested in hearing that you’re experienced
with particular software (unless it’s something they want to purchase), but an employer surely
would.
Step 2: Discover Connections
LinkedIn provides multiple approaches to identify potential prospects—individuals that may
derive value from your product or service. Use LinkedIn’s search feature to find skills, job titles,
businesses, or even industry-related topics relevant to your ideal customer profile (ICP) and
those who have shared connections with you. Leveraging this information, you can use this
established relationship by sending a connection request and initiating conversations.
Step 3: Join Groups
Joining LinkedIn Groups is a great way to solidify your connections, as this initiates discussions
that enable you to showcase your knowledge and experience in a particular field.
2. Twitter
After LinkedIn, Twitter is another powerful social selling tool for B2B salespeople. Specifically,
the platform’s Lists feature enables you to pay attention to content from specific accounts or
groups. If you’re looking to bolster your sales strategy with Twitter lists, these three steps are
essential:
Step 1: Find Prospects
To expand your prospect pool, search for potential customers or leads on Twitter and add them to
a private list. This will prevent competitors from seeing who you’re targeting, but those on the
list won’t know they’ve been selected as prospects. It’s a win-win situation. Monitor the content
posted by your private list and interact when necessary. But don’t get too friendly, given that you
don’t have a preexisting connection with them.
Step 2: Network with Existing Customers

6. A strong connection with existing customers is essential to making new sales. Utilize Twitter lists
to keep up-to-date on their activities, such as what they post and the conversations they’re
following. This can strengthen relationships or even open doors for new opportunities.
You can list your current customers publicly, but make sure you didn’t sign a non-disclosure
agreement (NDA) or are in an industry that requires confidentiality.
That way, potential consumers can glance at the existing brands that have already done business
with you and gain valuable insight into your services. Additionally, don’t just like their tweets for
the sole purpose of being polite; rather, comment when there is genuine value to be added.
Step 3: Monitor Competitors
Monitoring competitors also helps you stay ahead of the game. Create a Twitter list that includes
your competitors and other industry experts or influencers in your field. Analyze their content to
identify areas where you can improve your services and differentiate yourself from them.
Additionally, watch for changes in their strategies so that you can adapt yours accordingly.
3. Other Platforms
Undoubtedly, there are many other social media networks to browse, including Facebook, which
has almost ten times as many users as LinkedIn. Still, typically, sites such as Facebook,
Instagram, and Reddit aren’t the best choices for sales-related activities. On these platforms,
most users refrain from engaging with business issues, as they’re intended for discussing social
issues and connecting with friends and family.
14 Best Social Selling Practices That Work

7. There are so many excellent social selling practices out there, but if you’re looking for the most
effective methods that will help you see results quickly, here are some of the best:
1. Ensure Your Social Media Profiles Are Up-To-Date, Professional, and Authentic
Before initiating your social selling strategy, refine and update your social media profiles,
whether on LinkedIn or Facebook. Prospects are unlikely to respond if they see an outdated or
incomplete profile, or if their profile picture is blurry or unprofessional.
An excellent first impression is of utmost importance on social media. It’s also essential to be
genuine and trustworthy to attract and engage a larger base of followers. We recommend you use
a picture displaying your professional side and reflecting the real you.
Include brief details about who you are professionally at your company with links to where
people can learn more about it. Also, describe your role there and the major projects or initiatives
you’ve been involved in.
2. Connect with your prospects
Once your profile is updated, start connecting with potential prospects. Be sure to research the
companies and people you are connecting with and send a personalized connection message
before sending one.

8. 3. Join relevant online communities or forums, such as LinkedIn groups
Joining relevant communities enables you to join the conversation about topics that are
meaningful to your target prospects. You can join groups on LinkedIn and other platforms that
follow trendy industry topics.
Besides, joining these groups will give you invaluable insight into their needs and how to meet
them better. You can also initiate meaningful conversations if you want. However, avoid
promotional comments and unsolicited sales pitches.
4. Post Content That Builds Your Personal Brand and Credibility
Strengthen your presence on social media and build trust with your customers by sharing
compelling, original content. Share helpful articles related to the industries of those you want to
contact. These tactics help create an impact on your audience and promote engagement. You can
ask your followers to jump in and get the conversation going by engaging with you in the
comments.
5. Track Comments
If you see posts with high engagement, explore the comments section and join the discussion. By
browsing your prospects’ comments, you can gain insight into their perspectives and preferences.
This can help you decide what type of content to share with them.
6. Share Success Stories
Consumers are more likely to trust individuals they can relate to. This is why testimonials from
satisfied customers are important to win over prospects. If your customers have a positive
opinion of your product or service, sharing their success stories on your social media channels
will help build relationships with those who might still be on the fence.
Furthermore, demonstrating the success of your existing customers is an effective way to create
credibility and increase engagement among prospective buyers.
7. Be Consistent
Although dedicating an entire day to social media may not be the most productive way to spend
your time, you should maintain regular posting and engagement. Nurture your connections by
following up with leads you have already connected with.

9. Congratulate them when they move to new roles or businesses, and interact with their content
across social media. Even if it doesn’t promote your product directly, be available for guidance
and assistance whenever necessary.
8. Monitor engagement
Monitoring your social media engagement metrics, such as likes, shares, and comments,
effectively shows what content connects with your audience. Take cues from what works best so
you can consistently convey the most relevant material to your audience.
9. Seek referrals
If you’ve identified certain stakeholders that you’d like to connect with, take a quick moment to
review their LinkedIn profiles and see if there are any mutual contacts. You can always ask your
mutual connection for an introduction, which will help you access those valuable leads.
10. Know when to take your conversations off social media platforms
If you aspire to close the sale, eventually, you’ll need to bridge your established connections on
social media into a more tangible setting. After selecting an authentic relationship with your
prospect through various online platforms, suggest hopping on a call or meeting in person so the
conversation can continue without digital distractions.
By being more aware of your prospects’ difficulties and circumstances, you can gain valuable
insight to help close the deal.
11. Start Blogging
Even though sales representatives don’t have to blog to be successful on social media, it can still
serve as a useful tool for drawing qualified buyers. By blogging, you can earn industry respect
and provide value-adding content that showcases your knowledge and thought leadership
capabilities.
Make sure your clients and prospects are exposed to your most popular shared content. Your
social selling campaigns won’t be successful if the right people don’t see your content. Use
targeted campaigns to ensure maximum visibility for the content you create. Of course, you
shouldn’t be aggressive.
12. Align with Your Marketing Teams

10. Most people overlook the importance of aligning social selling campaigns with marketing teams.
But this can do more harm than good. By combining the marketing and sales teams, social
selling has the potential to be incredibly successful.
For instance, sellers who create resonating content may utilize it across various channels and
reach a larger audience when the marketing department provides advertising support.
13. Don’t be a robot!
The golden rule of social selling is to always act like a human. People appreciate it when you
sound natural and casual, so don’t be afraid to inject some humor or light conversation into your
posts. Also, avoid using the same exact phrases repeatedly, as this will make your interactions
appear robotic.
Instead, add variety to the words you use and your communication style to make them more
appealing to a broader audience. Reposting content without actually reading it, commenting on
it, or verifying its relevance will make you look like a robot—and that’s not good.
14. Post Regularly and Avoid Low-Quality Content
Posts and content that aren’t regular or helpful will be a major red flag to your followers. Make
sure that posts are scheduled regularly and that they provide value to readers. Post only quality
content. Quality content matters when it comes to social selling, so always double-check before
posting anything online. Spend time creating valuable content and thinking of ways to share it
with your target audience. Anything else would be akin to spamming your followers.
Conclusion
There you go—these social selling tips can take your brand promotion to the next level on social
media and create loyal customers while increasing conversions. All that’s required is the right
approach, dedication, and consistency. So, get out there and craft a comprehensive social selling
plan with these concepts in mind—and let success follow.
What are your top tips for successful social selling? Share them with us in the comments.