Over the last few years, we've witnessed many industry evolutions and fads, but none have been as significant as the way buyers and sellers are now engaging digitally. When it comes to meeting modern B2B buyers in 2022, that meeting is happening on social networking platforms.
Buyers leverage social networking sites to connect with peers and stay updated on industry trends. Brands need to be present on these platforms. However, we can't stop there. We must engage in a concerted social selling effort that embraces the role of both the sales and marketing departments to sell more moving forward. This post will provide tips and B2B social selling examples to help your company do that.
How can social selling help your business?
Social selling can help businesses increase brand awareness among current and future buyers, connect with prospects, customers, and influencers, establish your brand as authoritative and empathetic, and facilitate real-world conversations to build relationships and bonds.
According to LinkedIn, 84% of B2B Buyers will use social media at some point in their decision process. However, they aren't using social media as they would Google. Buyers don't go to LinkedIn to buy things. They go there to connect and stay informed.
To be successful on social media, your sales team needs to focus on:
In 2022, your sales team needs to be perceived as peers and trusted advisors.
The best way to position your sales team as trusted advisors on social networking sites is by having them share valuable content and engage with customers, prospects, and influencers. When buyers run across information from people known to them (i.e., your sale reps) rather than content posted by your company, buyers are:
Additionally, only ~1% of the people on LinkedIn post regularly. You can capitalize on this by encouraging your sales reps to post just two or three times per week. Posting valuable information will put them in an elite group of power users, making them and your company stand out over your competition.
Build a content plan for your sales reps that provides information that will benefit their prospects. Good content will keep them top of mind. Consider the things your best customers know about your brand, service, and value proposition, that if other prospects knew, they would want to do business with you too. Examples include:
Video Resource: Watch this on-demand webinar replay to learn more about building a social media marketing plan for your business.
Buyers are looking for advisors, not sellers, somebody they can trust. According to LinkedIn, the top 3 reasons buyers decide to reach out to sellers are:
Check out our Digital Selling Action Plan Guide for starting a social selling program. In the guide, you will find:
Social selling doesn't grow your pipeline. Relationships are what grow your pipeline. Social Selling is a tool to establish relationships. Relationships come from trust. Great salespeople are already great at building trust. As marketers, we must equip them to translate their skills onto social channels. To build trust in social networks, sales reps need to focus on these four goals:
The 3x5 digital selling process is a guide for your sales representatives to help them find and develop valuable relationships with prospects on LinkedIn. It consists of three actions to be taken five days a week, creating structure and consistency.
Step One- Connecting with 5 New Contacts: The average buying committee has >5 stakeholders on the buyer's side. This step will encourage sales reps to have as many connections within target accounts as possible. Have reps send requests to:
Step Two - Sending Direct Messages: Sending DMs to five contacts daily will strengthen and develop solid relationships. Reps should keep it casual and conversational.
The goal should be to nurture knowledge and offer something of value. An example might be to share a link to an article or video the prospect may find interesting.
Step Three- Engage with social posts. Commenting on five posts daily will extend a salesperson's awareness by making them part of a more extensive conversion. These engagements need to be meaningful. A simple like or a comment like "great post!" won't cut it. Reps should add their perspective, expand on the topic, or ask a question. Comments are a great place to "nurture with knowledge," but NOT a place to be self-promotional.
All in all, the 3x5 process should take approximately 30 minutes a day. This allows your sales reps to grow their networks organically and open your brand to many new and exciting contacts and opportunities.
Remember that the main focus of a successful social selling program is to build trust and relationships instead of closing sales. A little daily effort can go a long way. Consistency will make a difference in your sales team's social selling efforts. The sale will only come later, when the prospect is eventually ready, with a trusted history of helpful content from your reps.
Reps can no longer hold on to old tactics in this digital revolution and expect to win anymore. As marketers, we need to help sales reps embrace the new way buyers buy today. Those that do are the ones who are going to sell more moving forward.
Vende Digital can help you launch a digital selling program for your business. Contact us today to schedule a complimentary Discovery Meeting. We'll review your digital footprint and provide fresh ideas and actionable insights. Contact us today and let us show you how to grow your B2B traffic.