Social selling: what it is and how LinkedIn helps you Optimize it.

 

LinkedIn is a popular platform for professionals and experts in their fields. Let’s call it a business networking platform—which it is. I’m sure you’re also on LinkedIn. If you’re involved in sales and interested in increasing your figures, this is your cue to join the site. But you can’t join it without having stable plans in place, right?

Especially since we’re focusing on the selling aspect. That is why we are here. To help you drive sales through social selling, through LinkedIn.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented online service that operates via the website and mobile apps.

Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development and allows job seekers to post and apply for jobs.

I know what you’re thinking. What does this have to do with my sales? How is LinkedIn the best place for me? What does this have to do with social selling? Read on.

What is Social Selling?

This is a sales strategy that focuses on building a relationship with potential prospects. In other words, social selling is a process where you use your social accounts on social sites to establish a relationship with your prospects by connecting with them. This way, you are able to get an opportunity to engage with your prospects and also practice another sales technique called “social listening”.

Social Listening

Social listening, on the other hand, is a technique where you monitor your audience’s activities (posts, likes, interests) or engagements on their social sites/channels. Social selling is equally important because it helps you have an idea of what your prospects might resonate with, and you can then provide them with more of what they like.

This allows you to build an active relationship with your audience and show how matched your interests are. While using social selling, having relevant content will make your prospects recognize you as an expert and make them trust you. Don’t forget that at the center of every relationship (personal and professional), trust is the holding pillar.

Why LinkedIn?

Because LinkedIn is one of the most effective social sites for selling. With over 850 million users in more than 200 countries worldwide, LinkedIn appears to be the best platform where you, as a sales professional, can use social selling to get connected to your prospects and engage them in a discussion.

Here’s a whooping fact. More than 95% of all traffic to B2B blogs and sites comes from Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and others but the staggering fact is that half of the traffic comes from LinkedIn!

How to use LinkedIn to optimize your social selling

1. Make your profile stand out

– Your LinkedIn profile picture:

Your profile picture is one of the things which draws your prospects closer to you. Having a clear picture of yourself helps them trust you or build trust in you and what you offer. Remember, you get no chance to make a second impression. Make the first one count and you’re one step closer to having your prospects trust you.

– Headline:

This is another first impression. You should use your headline as another opportunity to tell your audience what you’ve got. Your headline should be well crafted to be able to tell your prospects about what you do.

This should be connected to what you do, never attempt to write a catchy headline that doesn’t resonate with your craft. To come up with a good headline, we advise that you check out profiles in your field and use their headlines as a template to create your own.

– Summary/About:

Your summary is a chance to speak about yourself. Write your “why’s,” in your summary. Why your skills are important, why your prospects should listen to you, and why you’re passionate about what you do. Don’t be too professional, don’t be too personal, and strike a balance. If you have no idea how to create a good summary, you can check your feed.

– Experience and Skills:

In the lower region of your profile, you’ll find where to input your experience and skills. Make sure to fill in the right details. Avoid lying about your skills or your experiences. Not just any experience or skill, make sure that your input are relevant to what your profile says. Make sure they are relevant to your services or products.

 

2. Stay Active

Just like every other social platform, the need to stay active is important. Make sure to connect with other people who are related to your craft. Your colleagues, your industry, the leaders in your craft, etc.

Don’t just be self-centered, focus on other people’s posts. Make sure to engage on their posts, this could be in form of likes, comments, and even share. You can share posts that are related to what you do on your timeline. But do not plagiarize, give credit to the real writer.

3. Put up your content

Re-sharing other people’s posts don’t cut. Put up your content. This will also boost the trust of your audience in your products and services. Again, make sure those posts see related to what you do.

4. Don’t forget LinkedIn Groups

Perhaps, this is one of the most underrated avenues for social selling. But the thing is, when you join a LinkedIn group, it is not a space for constant advertising. Become an active member. Constantly contribute to posts related to your field. Through this, prospects who are interested in what you offer will get connected to you, and there, chances of increasing your sales can be promised.

5. Show, don’t tell

This phrase isn’t only limited to writing. Show your testimonials, and show your customers’ reviews. This induces FOMO (fear of missing out) and will likely draw your prospects. When they see the fact that others have used it, it makes it easier to get them to trust you.

 

LinkedIn tools for social selling

1. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

This tool was created by the social platform to connect buyers to sellers—to connect you to your prospects. It uses an advanced algorithm to help you find the best prospects for your services. It also provides sales insights and many more. This took is one of the best things to start.

2. ContentCal

Getting a good scheduler might be a pain in the neck, this is where ContentCal comes in. This app allows you to easily plan your content, approve them, collaborate, and even publish your content across multiple platforms. This will help you have a simple workflow and not just a simple workflow, but also an efficient one.

Other tools you should check out:

Bottom line

Every brand wants to increase its sales figure. Knowing how and what to do will go a long way in helping you achieve this. Social selling is a good way to build a trusted relationship with your clients and even get new customers. Social selling is not an easy task but knowing the steps included in it will help you.

Tagged