Buying and selling products online is a social activity that involves many interactions, whether it means being recommended a product by a friend or neighbor or simply asking the opinion of an employee working in your store prefer.
Today, much of the customer acquisition and sales process takes place online, which can be an even more difficult challenge for those who sell. The opinions of other consumers play a major role in what people buy and why they do so. So in this context of hyperconnectivity, how is it possible to use this situation to your advantage?
Social selling allows you to interact directly with potential prospects through social media. This is a great tool for customer acquisition, and that is why you should consider using it in your marketing strategy and looking into how to do it.
Social selling: how does it work?
What is social selling?
As mentioned in our introduction, social selling is a customer acquisition technique that offers a salesperson or company a way to interact with potential customers through social media. Social selling takes both time and effort, but in short, it involves reaching people on social media who need the services or products you offer.
For example, if you work for a company that installs windows and doors, you will be on social media to find people looking for these services. Maybe you follow someone on Twitter or Facebook who just opened a storefront in need of repairs?
Maybe you are following someone who bought a new house recently and needs to change their windows? One social selling strategy would be to send a message to these prospects and recommend your services. Depending on how your potential client reacts, this could create an instant connection or require a bit of back-and-forth to follow up on appointments.
Social networks are a great place to connect with your target audience and build business relationships. This isn’t as simple as texting someone point-blank, so read on for specific information on how to use this technique to your benefit.
The mechanism of social selling
Social selling works in a similar way to inbound marketing. It comes down to building stronger relationships with current customers and building a network of contacts with a target audience. As you might have guessed, the goal of social selling is to increase your sales.
It would help if you focused on finding ways to generate meaningful conversations and using that as a tactic to move forward with a sales process. It should happen organically over time, rather than all at once.
Your sales team should approach this by participating as much as possible on social media platforms, including sharing compelling content to connect with people. This content should be a mix of promotional and non-promotional content. This will give you visibility, which will be reflected in your sales.
These points should be part of the main goal of your social selling strategy:
- Create and build relationships;
- Improve your visibility in your target market;
- Define your brand to your audience;
- Offer valuable products and services to your customers;
- Establish your credibility.
Behind these objectives are the performance indicators of your marketing strategy. It’s critical to understand the various ways in which social sale can benefit those facets, such as:
Referral traffic: These are the people who find their way to your website through your social media presence. Your efforts to generate attention to your brand through social media should directly impact this aspect.
Direct traffic: If traffic to your site has improved, this can be a clear sign that your social selling efforts are succeeding in giving you more visibility and building brand awareness. It is also suggested to have a strong and memorable brand image; enough people are inclined to type your name in search engines.
Exposure: The content that you make available and that you share with your audience will be the face of your brand and will therefore offer you a way to grow. Using social media can allow you to cover communication and connection channels that you might not have heard of.
Tips for exploring social selling
Social selling is not second nature for everyone. Because of this, you might need some tips or tricks on how to find sales opportunities using this strategy. Even if you offer the most efficient service or the best product on the market, your sales may not directly reflect this situation.
In most cases, your sales’ success will depend on your ability to make a connection between your brand and consumers, both from a practical and an emotional standpoint. With today’s technology, a company has many options at its disposal to increase its presence and that of its brand. Because of social media, it’s easy to get in-depth information about potential consumers that will help drive sales to you. These include:
- Who to target according to their interests;
- Connections resulting from your consumers or customers;
- What happens in real-time, including sales or product trends and how these can impact your business;
- What the clients are whining about and how you can help.
With access to most, if not all of this information, it will be easy to create an elaborate and emotional sales pitch that appeals to these potential consumers’ needs and wants. Make sure this speech is written in a familiar tone and is not all about selling.
Social selling can also help you find ways to outsmart the competition. Several online resources enable you to track competitions via social media. Consider turning on Google Alerts for specific brand names, products, or people you are competing with. Join consumer groups on LinkedIn that are relevant to your field and analyze them for key insights.
Follow influencers in your business whether you use Twitter or Instagram. Finally, search the forums to spot recurring questions and assess how your product can answer them. Understanding the right approach to take and the care taken in each message sent is essential for success.
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