Have you heard of social selling? It literally means using social media to find and connect with sales prospects for your business.

We are seeing tech-savvy youngsters use social media more and more, so any seller who wants to capitalize on this vast market should definitely get into social selling.

Let’s clarify first. Social selling is different from social media marketing. It’s also different from social media advertising.

With social selling, you connect with your prospects and engage with potential leads on social media. There is a relationship-building aspect that is just not present with cold emailing and bombarding targets with ads.

Each interaction with prospects is meaningful, presenting solutions to potential problems that prospects and leads may have. This is better than traditional advertising because social media users can connect your brand to a concrete situation that they are actually facing.

For example, a skincare brand can engage in social selling when they present their product as a solution to skincare damage and safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women. On the other hand, social media advertising just puts your product out there as a good one.

In fact, you could already be engaged in social selling without knowing it!

If you are actively engaging with your audience on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, that’s already social selling in its most basic form.

Let’s take a look at how you can further leverage social media for social selling. 

1. Actively engage with your audience

To properly leverage social media, you have to know your audience. Who are your followers, what are their interests, and what problems do they face to which your business can present solutions?

Make sure your posts strategically target these concerns. You want your brand to be one of the first things they think of when they have concerns about your products.

You have to go beyond blindly highlighting your products’ best features. You have to listen to what is going on with your audience and know what they are talking about.

You need to actively participate in your audience’s interests and position your marketing to be relevant to these topics.

Remember, social selling is an active form of marketing that does more than just traditional advertising. If you want to leverage social media properly, you have to be “in the know” for your audience. 

2. Deliver things of value in your posts

Your audience should see you as a contributor of value. This means that your opinions should be authoritative, something that people actually look forward to hearing from.

For example, a business engaged in selling headphones and listening earpieces might want to post articles or videos about enjoying music more. They could answer questions like, “What should you be looking for when buying your next set of headphones?”

By establishing yourself as an industry authority, you increase your value in the eyes of your audience. Constantly assess your business through the eyes of your buyers and ask yourself what you can do to further increase your credibility.

The goal is to create meaningful content that your followers will appreciate, even if it does not directly lead to increased sales.

Your social contributions should not be too “sales-y.” Try to be genuine about your efforts to contribute valuable insights, and the sales will come. 

3. Build meaningful relationships with your audience and prospects

Meaningful relationships go beyond being a product seller. One of the goals of social selling is to nurture your relationship with your prospects over a long period.

It does not always have to be with the expectation of getting something in return.

There has to be a two-way relationship. For example, if a follower shares something on his timeline, post it to your network to give them a boost. People generally appreciate helpfulness, even if it comes from businesses.

Social selling involves genuine, meaningful connections. This is a long-term play, so just do things that your audience would really appreciate, even if it’s not related to sales.

Likability is one of the most underrated aspects of growing one’s brand. Your business is more than just the products you sell. The way your customers perceive you and react to you is also one of the more significant parts of your branding. 

4. Monitor your competitors

Whether you like it or not, your top competitors are most likely already engaged in social selling. It would be good to get a feel for how your competitors engage with their customers to see the most relevant talking points in your industry.

Maybe your competitors are addressing a need that you are overlooking. By assessing how your competitors in the same industry engage in social selling with their own audience, you allow your own business to cover more ground.

You also give yourself more opportunities to stay relevant in your industry.

The more you know about what others are saying about you, your competitors, or your industry in general, the better you can position yourself to stay in the loop.

Additionally, by keeping yourself informed about what your competitors are delivering to their audience through social media, you can also have a clearer picture of what exactly you should prioritize when you’re social selling.

As you can see, social selling is not as straightforward as traditional selling. It’s all about increasing value in the eyes of customers, hoping that the increased value will lead not just to mores ales but to more long-term customers.

Companies engaged in social selling outsell their competitors who aren’t by as much as 78%.

You would be doing your own business a disservice by not engaging in social selling. Genuine connections with your audience also capitalize on the network effect. If your direct audiences trust you sincerely, they are more likely to recommend you to their circles.

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