Stats indicate that over 90% of business's use social media in some way, shape or form; this is what makes marketing on social platforms such a goldmine for businesses looking to discover leads quickly, whether that is B2B or B2C. Here's how businesses are utilizing social media and social selling to reach their sales objectives.

What is social selling?

Social selling, while relatively a new marketing term, is essentially the art of connecting with leads and building a rapport with prospects with the vision that they'll progress down the sales funnel in due time.
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How to develop a social selling strategy

Social selling is nothing short of an art form with outstanding results - if applied correctly. Here are a few pointers on how to develop a social selling strategy that'll promote relationship-building with the right prospects in all the right ways.

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Focus on thought leadership

Thought leadership is making known your knowledge or expertise in a specific area. It is, in fact, building credibility with an audience through knowledgeable insights, unique ideas, and different perspectives in your/their industry.

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Make those valuable connections

Prospecting is the logical next step. Once you have achieved a certain level of 'visibility' online, you can then go about reaching out to and connecting with leads who you believe might benefit from the interaction. Thought leadership gives you a competitive edge because leads are already exposed to your brand. With facts in hand, they might even approach you before you make the first move.

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Be prepared to listen

It's sales 101 to know what the pain points of your audience are. This is where social listening comes into play, by becoming involved in critical conversations online and offering solutions, guidance, advice, and even an expert opinion if the occasion calls for it.

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What social platforms to use

Now that you've got your content in hand and content strategy in place, you might be wondering which is the best social media platform to use for B2B lead generation. LinkedIn comes out on top for B2B marketers. There's also engaging on popular channels, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok if you want to cast the net wide.

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Social selling on LinkedIn

Taking the first step to social selling on LinkedIn can seem intimidating, especially if you're unsure of where to begin. The recipe for success is relatively simple:

Focus on optimizing our profile so that it reads like you're in the business of offering solutions, making recommendations, giving guidance, etc.

Be cognisant of who you are targeting so that information shared is of relevance to them.

Stay present and engaged with connections and prospects. Utilize your position as a thought leader to offer valuable information willingly. Your audience may well do the same in the spirit of reciprocity.

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How well are you performing?

It's always helpful to have a measurement tool on hand to measure how effective your social selling strategy is. If LinkedIn is your primary form of engagement, then it would be worth your while to check out this free tool: the LinkedIn SSI or LinkedIn Social Selling Index tool. To summarize, a score of 75 and higher means you are doing your job well and meeting the right metrics, essentially ticking the boxes below:

• Your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date and contains relevant company information.
• You are reaching out to the people you should be connecting with, i.e. leads with the highest probability of becoming viable prospects.
• Your content is valuable and is worth sharing.
• You are building and nurturing relationships with the prospects you have connected with.
  

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At the end of the day, networking is a critical component in any business's growth. Social selling is the engine that spurs on your marketing, sales, and lead-generation efforts to bigger and better things. It can get to be rather technical, especially if scalability is high on your agenda. Hence, why you would need the applicable workflows in place to ensure your outreach process is, indeed, a viable one. If you're unsure of whether you'd be hitting the nail on the head with your current social selling and outreach tactics, the team at HANGAR49 is here to help with a proven formula to build sales pipeline and ignite B2B growth for your company. You can get hold of our outreach specialists here.