6 Steps For Developing Your Social Selling Strategy
Success in sales really comes down to two things: expertly managing your team and exceeding quota. If only it were so simple. In the fast-paced and internet driven world of today, sales organizations are having to retool their tried and true methods of finding and engaging customers. These days, having an online presence is more important than ever. Social selling is one key way to engage customers online, but it must be strategic. The land of social media is littered with halfhearted attempts at selling by companies who just do not get it, but there is a science to it. Futher, sales needs to work with marketing. You must consider:
Things To Consider When Developing Your Social Selling Strategy
1. Social Media Listening
2. Identifying Your Audience
3. Following Up With Each Prospect
4. Finding Mutual Interest
5. Showing Your Expertise
6. Being an Authority Makes Selling Easy
Now that you know what to consider, let’s delve a bit deeper into these subjects to help you gain a bit more understanding.
Monitoring and Listening
The first thing you need to do when trying to build a successful social selling strategy is to work with marketing to listen to what your audience is saying. You need to make sure you are monitoring all of the major social media platforms to get a full grasp on what is being said. Once you start to get the vital information you need regarding your audience, you will be able to start using it to your advantage.
Identify Your Audience
The next thing you want to do during the development of your social selling strategy is to identify who your core demographic is. Again, work with marketing here. The more you are able to find out about who you are targeting with your social selling, the easier you will find it to have success. For example, there are certain industries and titles that are far more socially active than others – the data may surprise you. Neglecting to do this type of research will result in you lacking direction with your efforts and falling short of your social selling goals.
Following Up With Each Prospect
Once you have identified who your audience is, you can start looking for individual sales prospects. By taking a subset of prospects each day segmented by industry and title, you can go to their pages and see what they are saying. The information you can get from the prospect’s page can be invaluable as you move forward in your social selling campaign. In most cases, you will begin to notice patterns between the different prospects you are researching. These similarities are a good jumping off point in implementing the right strategy.
Finding Mutual Interests
Old school sales reinvented: another powerful tool you can use in your social selling strategy is the mutual interests you share with your audience. By doing simple things like retweeting relevant content from a prospects page or liking a particular piece of content, you will be able to show your company is relatable and involved in your social media pages. The mutual interests you share with your audience can be the catalyst you need to get them interested in what you are selling.
Show Your Expertise
Sales people today must specialize. Among the most important things to focus on is showing your expertise in your particular industry or topic. By showing your audience you are an authority in your field, you will find it much easier to win them over when trying to make a sale. Make sure you stay up to date on all developments in your industry and that you post about them on a frequent basis. The time you spend staying in the know will be well worth it in the end.
Being an Authority Makes Selling Easy
When you establish yourself as an authority in your industry, you garner a certain degree of trustworthiness. Being the go-to source for information about your industry can be a very valuable thing in the world of social selling. Try promoting original content on social media and sending it to your key prospects. By putting in the work to both research and get to know your audience, you will be able to achieve results.
The time and effort you put into honing your social selling technique will more than pay off in the long run. Utilizing all of the tools you have available to you is the only way you will be able to grow and expand your business.
