Simple Social Selling Secrets
Social selling is about integrating social media with traditional sales and marketing techniques while building, sharing and telling an engaging story to connect with Buyers. According to a recent Forbes.com article by Michael Brenner , social selling is about sales people building a strong personal brand and about growing social connections as a subject matter expert in your space, not as a salesperson.
Social selling really isn’t all that new. Successful salespeople have been using social selling techniques and utilizing social media to connect with their Buyers for years. According to a recent Q&A with Matt Heinz, CEO, Heinz Marketing, social selling will soon be integrated into mainstream marketing and sales, no longer a stand-alone term.
Social selling has been gaining more attention over the past year as B2B is seeing that this isn’t something that can be ignored. Additionally, it is something that is worth teaching as social is becoming the core of how our Buyers are looking to connect and learn about us today.
Secret #1 Get active
You can’t engage socially if you aren’t active on all the obvious social networks like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Foursquare, Pinterest, etc. It’s not hard to get started, just jump in and establish a profile. Do you need help in navigating social media best practices? I have always loved the Eloqua Social Media ProBook, it’s a great resource for social media beginners and those who might need a refresher.
Secret #2 Go to where your Buyers are
Seems obvious, but if you wait for them to come to you it’s probably not going to work. The beauty of social selling is that it enables you to honestly engage and interact with your Buyers and potential Buyers in real-time. Find what sessions they are attending at an event, follow them on Twitter, connect with them on LinkedIn. Go where they go professionally.
Secret #3 Share
Now that you have your social profile, start to engage and build your social selling acumen. Is a prospect or key company active on a blog or community site looking for advice? Offer your advice on any topic you might be familiar with, not just your “selling space” – and don’t be self-promotional. Had a great experience with a vendor or service? Share your thoughts. Don’t keep good content to yourself, share it, promote it.
Secret #4 Bring it home
Establish your personal brand, socially. You can and should let your personality shine through via your social media life. Remember, people buy from people. If you are engaging with someone, it is because you have something in common, business-wise or other. It’s ok to let people know you have a life. It’s not all business all the time.
Secret #5 Keep it going
Once you successfully establish yourself socially, build connections and start to engage, keep it coming. Social selling is not about one and done. Remember, it is about telling an engaging story, getting involved, sharing content, sharing ideas and connecting with your Buyers. This doesn’t happen with one tweet or from responding to one blog as building a relationship takes time, but it is worth it. Keep it up.
Author: Erika Goldwater @erikawg is Director, Marketing for ANNUITAS.
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