6 Ways to Sell on Social Networks and Boost Your Online Business
Sales teams, marketers, beginner entrepreneurs, everyone who has an online business wants to know: how to sell on social networks?
Important channels for building a relationship with the consumer, few people know how to work with social media to generate revenue for their business.
What is social selling?
There was a time when a few calls were enough for a prospect to schedule a show or close a sale.
It is safe to say that, nowadays, no one likes to be bothered with salesman calls. This is a work with the days counted.
Given this new reality, how to reach the consumer and generate more leads?
Through the social sale.
Social selling is about using social media to meet and interact with potential new customers.
In short, marketers use social media to deliver value to their target audience by delivering relevant content throughout the buying process – from awareness to decision making.
While the old sales model used to be about cold calling, the new form of B2B sales focuses on using social media to reach new leads, educating them on how your business can help them and stimulate them through qualified content.
Growing use of social media has been a big reason why finding out how to sell on social networks has become a business priority.
An Accenture study on the state of B2B found that 94% of B2B buyers conduct some degree of online research before making a purchase.
And what channels do B2B buyers use for search? Social media.
In an IDC survey, the following data were collected:
- 91% of B2B buyers are active and involved in social media.
- 84% of senior executives use social media to support their buying decisions.
- 75% of B2B buyers are significantly influenced by social media.
And the change is not only in the B2B purchasing process, the age of buyers has also changed.
A study by Google and Millward Brown Digital found that 46% of decision makers are now aged 18-34, which coincidentally is the largest demographic group of social media users.
If these reasons are not enough to convince you about why to sell on social networks, we have some more interesting data.
– 8 Sales Techniques to Boost Your Business
The Aberdeen Group released a study which found that all KPIs, like quota attainment, renewal rate and forecast accuracy, showed better results when sales reps used social media.
The survey also found that sellers who use social selling find, on average, 45% more opportunities.
Norder to stay competitive and sell on social networks, check out 6 strategies you can start implementing today.
6 Ways to Sell on Social Networks
Sell on social networks is all about building new relationships, providing value to potential customers, and cultivating leads.
But, first of all, you need to know the different social networks well and understand how to use their resources.
1. Choose the most relevant social network for your business
Signing up on social networks is easy, but the secret of social selling is to be active on the same platform as your potential customers.
This is the basis for selling on social networks successfully.
That’s why clothing and decoration sell well at Pinterest, for example, and B2B salespeople get leads on LinkedIn.
So start by identifying the social networks where most of your audience is.
While YouTube and Facebook have most of all age groups, Forrester Research found that decision makers mainly use Twitter and LinkedIn.
So if you’re selling products to a very young audience, focus on Facebook and Instagram. To sell products or services aimed at companies and decision makers, focus on LinkedIn and Twitter.
– How to promote your business on Instagram
2. Receive notifications when potential customers join LinkedIn
Use the LinkedIn Search feature to create a search based on your ideal customer profile. So, every time a new subscription matches this profile, LinkedIn will notify you.
Doing this is simple: use the search field at the top of the page when you sign in. Enter the criteria that match your ideal customer profile, such as job title or industry, and click the search button.
At this point, you’ll discover that the first few results will show people you’re already connected to.
To remove your top-level connections, scroll to the Relationship box (left side of the page).
Second-level connections mean that you know someone in common, which makes it much easier to be introduced to a potential customer.
Then scroll to the top of the page and on the right side click “Save search”.
3. Join LinkedIn groups
With nearly 700 million users, LinkedIn offers networking opportunities, professional references, and more.
One of the biggest advantages of LinkedIn is its groups formed by people who share the most diverse interests. Currently, the platform has more than 1.8 million groups.
To find a group that can help you sell on social networks, look for a topic related to your niche.
If your ideal client is future college students, for example, look for groups related to universities.
When you start contributing to groups, you’ll find that more people will see your profile, and when someone does, send them an invitation to connect.
Tip: To sell on social networks you need to stand out, so avoy ready messages.
When you send an invitation to LinkedIn, try changing the default message to something like, “Hello, thank you for viewing my profile. Would you like to connect on LinkedIn?”
This is a great way to start a conversation with a potential customer who has shown interest in what you do.
4. Contribute to the conversation about your brand
Corporate Visions found that 74% of buyers choose the sales rep who first adds value during the purchase process.
To do this through social networks, start answering what people are saying about your brand, either in the comments or reviews.
You can do this using Twitter’s search function, which allows you to see who is talking about your product / service.
On the Twitter feed search results, you’ll see the different conversations that happen around the topic searched.
Scroll through the feed and begin to interact with users simply retweeting or liking their posts or responding to suggestions and questions they ask.
By contributing to these conversations, you add value to a potential customer and put your name on their radar.
– Facebook Groups: Advantages for Your Business
5. Provide value by sharing relevant content
More than 50% of B2B buyers are looking for information about products and services in social media.
So you have a great opportunity to sell on social networks by creating promotional content for your product / service, based on what people are already researching.
Among the most popular content types on the networks, we can highlight the following:
- “How to do” posts
- “Why” posts
- Motivational content
- Digital flipbooks
- Lists (rankings)
- Videos
Now, there is no limit to what you can share as long as the content adds value to the customer.
There is no faster way to lose public interest than to share irrelevant and self-promotional content.
– How to Sell Your Online Courses on YouTube
6. Use social media platforms for direct sales
You can use your pages on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to sell your products / services directly to your visitors.
Few people know, but consumers can complete the purchase without leaving these pages.
However, make sure you do your homework and understand the limitations and benefits offered by each platform before you start selling your products there.
The Social Commerce survey, carried out by All iN | Social Miner, showed that Instagram is preferred by those who use the networks to search for products (62%), followed by Facebook (61%), Google Shopping (61%) and Whatsapp (37%).
Use Social Networks to sell your online courses
There’s no doubt that sell on social networks is an economical way to get more leads and increase your revenue.
These 6 marketing tips will help you find and connect with potential customers.
But keep in mind that the best results come when you focus on delivering value to your audience and building relationships.
Creating these bonds takes time, patience and constant nurturing to see results.
Social selling is not a single activity, it is something that should be used in conjunction with existing sales prospecting techniques.
While it may be difficult to get started, especially if you are new to social networking, the benefits outweigh the challenges.
One thing is certain: prospects, customers, and competitors use social media to do business. So you also have to be there.
– 5 tips to sell online courses using social media
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