Social Selling Tips

What is Social Selling?

Social selling is the art of using social media to find, connect with, understand, and nurture sales prospects. It’s the modern way to develop meaningful relationships with potential customers so you’re the first person or brand a prospect thinks of when they’re ready to buy.

Social selling is not just about gaining access to contacts but about building relationships and listening for the right moment to join the conversation so you can present yourself as a solution to a problem.

Who is Using Social Selling?

These days? Just about everyone, INCLUDING YOUR COMPETITORS.

You would be mistaken to think of social selling as a ‘trend’ that’s likely to disappear anytime soon. It won’t. In fact, given that it’s largely free to use, and extremely simple to reach far and wide, it’s arguable that social selling could be THE best way to reach potential customers.

A Few Social Selling Tips

• BE PERSONABLE — Just because social selling is done online, does not mean there’s no personal touch. Don’t just ‘like’, but also reply to your customer’s comments, Do so, with language that reflects you actually hear them. Avoid using cookie-cutter responses or chat bots.
• LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING — Pay attention to what gets posted and what people are conversing about on your social media pages. This is a valuable opportunity to learn not only about likes/dislikes, but gain an understanding about customer needs/wants, as well as potential problems you may be able to solve with your goods/services.
• PROVIDE VALUE — As tempting as it may be, Social Selling is not about pitching product . This doesn’t mean you can never mention your goods/services, but if you come across too “sales-y’, it can be a quick way to run people off. Your goal should be to contribute valuable information that can help establish you as an expert in your field. Write posts that share important knowledge, but don’t be afraid to share relevant posts from others as well.

As a final tip, use multiple social media platforms. You may find that a large segment of your customers gravitates towards a particular platform, but don’t get too narrowly-focused that you miss out on potential new customers. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram (to name a few) can and should be leveraged to engage your customers.

Originally published at https://blog.sandboxcommerce.com.