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Before we sink our teeth into gaining more customers with social selling, we’ll try to understand what it is, and how it works. Social selling involves searching out, connecting and engaging with potential customers on social media.

It’s not regular social media marketing; with social selling, the focus is on building a relationship with people you’d like to become your customers. Instead of pitching your products and services to them, you’re sharing stories and useful information, and liking and commenting on their own posts.

This approach adopts some of the steps that buyers would usually take when they’re hunting for a product online, especially on social media. They don’t just put up a post on their walls demanding that businesses sell to them. They search for providers of the product they want to buy, whether using search terms or hashtags related to the items they want to purchase. When a salesperson uses social selling, they’re also reaching out to customers, instead of simply waiting for these customers to come on to them.

Why Social Selling?

Many entrepreneurs live by the “always be pitching” mantra. They’re talking about their business to anyone and everyone who fits the mould of ‘next possible client’. And it’s not a bad thing per se.

The problem is, you may develop a notoriety amongst people as someone who simply wants to sell things- someone who’s more concerned about taking cash out of people’s pockets than you are about adding value to their lives. The implication? They’ll avoid you like the plague. This is as true on social media as it is for in-person meetings.

Social selling offers you a way to become more to a would-be customer than just a salesperson. When you ‘like’ and share their posts, contribute insightful comments and post quality stuff on your page, you’re creating a bond with them that could make selling easier.

For one thing, your interactions will present your brand as having a human feel. Your followers will get the impression that there’s a really good-natured, helpful person (or persons) running the business on the other end of the web from them. Most people prefer this to the cold, robotic email, phone and social media pitching that characterizes much of basic marketing.

Besides humanizing your brand, social selling also convinces your target audience that you regard not just as probable buyers, but as humans with needs. If they see that you’re answering their questions and cheering them on, they’ll take to you more easily than they would if you merely talked to them about how awesome your product is.

How to Do Social Selling

Here’s a stepwise guide to doing social selling the right way:

  1. Put your social media pages in order

Because social selling leverages social media, you’ll have to be present on social networks as a first step. If you’re already there, you might want to optimize your pages on the channels you’re using. Make your profile reflect the skills and capabilities that prospective customers may be looking for.

Share material that will interest the type of clients you’re seeking to attract. These may include insightful articles, videos and infographics, as well as picture-backed case studies. Tell your startup story, offer advice, and organize interactive sessions.

In a nutshell, make your social media page as professional and pleasing to the eyes as you can, and as may be appropriate for the sector in which you operate.

  1. Reach out to prospects

As we’ve already said, social selling is an active approach to promoting your brand on social media. The first part of this activity is finding individuals and businesses you want to become your clients. Have a list of these prospects, and follow them on social media (or send them a request to connect).

  1. Share helpful content

This is a sure way to catch the attention of your target audience and keep them interested. This applies across all social media channels: Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Such content could range from how-to articles to opportunities, and valuable information about the industry in which your clients operate.

This is where the process of value addition begins. If you keep up with this, you’ll find that over time, your followers will think of your brand as one which provides value; they’ll be more open to buying your products because they’ll expect it to add value to their lives, just like you’ve done with your social media posts.

  1. Engage

Like. Comment. Share. That’s how you engage on social media, and get the attention of the people you’ve connected with.

We tend to know who gives our social media posts the biggest number of likes or leaves the most impressive comments on our pages. And this, in part, explains why you should get active on your potential customer’s pages. When they see that you’re answering their questions, and commending their posts, they’ll want to look you up.

Join groups in which your type of clients are likely to be found, and contribute your expertise there, by answering questions related to your industry. This will give you greater exposure amongst your ideal market and elicit inquiries about you and your business. You could even get requests to connect with other members of the group.

There are a few things to note here. First, it’s advisable that you offer your comments if you have something really significant to say. Don’t overdo your responses, especially with respect to frequency. Likes are good too, but you should not be using it excessively either. Maintain a healthy balance between being supportive of your customers and maintaining a slight professional detachment, so your target doesn’t think of you as some sort of stalker.

It’s also important to keep this balance when you send direct messages to contacts.

  1. Keep at it

Social selling isn’t a one-off thing. You’re building a relationship with every post uploaded, each comment made, and every message sent. The best way to make it work is to keep doing it. These efforts mount one atop the other, to form a foundation of familiarity and trust that makes the actual selling much easier.

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This article was first published on 19th November 2018

ikenna-nwachukwu

Ikenna Nwachukwu holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He loves to look at the world through multiple lenses- economic, political, religious and philosophical- and to write about what he observes in a witty, yet reflective style.

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