How social selling has grown along with social media
Social selling was a novel idea a decade ago, and there were far fewer people on social media. Today, many articles detail the importance of social selling, and just about every company posts to LinkedIn, Twitter and other platforms. The landscape has changed, and you need to be aware of those changes as you engage in social selling. Here are the three main changes we’ve observed over the years.
Widespread adoption of social media
Social media usage has risen dramatically in the past few years. A quick look at the statistics puts this into perspective. Can you imagine that the number of social media users worldwide has increased over 150%, from 1.4 billion in 2012 to 3.6 billion in 2020?
What this increase means for your business is simple: It enables your business to connect with a more significant number of prospects and gain an even larger following. Unfortunately, there is also a downside: Today, it’s more challenging than ever to create one-on-one personal relationships. Regardless of that fact, strong relationships are key to social selling success, as they lead to conversations and meetings, which are the foundation of your revenues.
The novelty of receiving a message through a social media platform has worn off, meaning enterprises are warier of companies cold-calling them through social media and are less likely to respond than they were in the past. Additionally, they can afford to ignore messages because they receive so many.
But there is a solution to the problem: To break the ice with prospects through social media, work to differentiate your business from others that are simply cold-calling people. When messaging a prospect you are genuinely interested in, address their business and industry specifically in a personal, warm manner.
Predetermined social selling strategies
Social selling has undergone an automation of sorts. Tools and procedural guides have been created to optimize the process. These materials can make social selling more accessible for businesses, encouraging them to use it. It’s great that social selling has grown to the point where so much advice is available, but you should be wary of counting on these planned strategies too heavily.
Many businesses expect that a set plan will lead to set returns, but it’s not that simple. The truth is you need to customize your social selling strategy to your business plan and brand. To maximize ROI from social selling, you must adapt your strategy based on what works best for your business.
Enhanced expectations for employees
Employees now enter the workforce with a stronger understanding of working social channels. While this is a positive development, you must ensure to properly manage your employees to not play it too safe.
Turn failures into learning opportunities by addressing what went wrong and how they can improve. Speak frankly with them about how creativity and flexibility can improve social selling, then give them freedom and encouragement to occasionally deviate from any “best practices” that they’ve learned.
What these changes mean for your business
Embracing social selling has its pros and cons. Increased social media usage opens your business up to bigger networks and more opportunities. On the other hand, focusing on social media makes it more challenging to convert those connections into meetings. Predetermined strategies increase the total deployment of social selling but may cap ROI by reducing flexibility and creativity. A better-educated workforce presents more talent and opportunity but may overemphasize doing it by the book.
Still, social selling is more important than ever. Salespeople who consistently outsell their peers and the skyrocketing number of social media users represent a market too large to ignore. Don’t hesitate to use social selling because of the new challenges it presents. Instead, commit to overcoming those hurdles.
Be personal and specific in your social media messaging, constantly adapt your social selling strategy to suit your business, and effectively manage your talent to encourage this crucial flexibility. These actions will help you maximize the ROI you earn from leveraging social selling.
How are you working to adjust social selling’s evolution? What differences in social selling do you notice from back in the day to now? Let us know in the comments below!
Photos by Daniel Öberg on Unsplash; Annie Spratt on Unsplash; Beau Carpenter on Unsplash; and Shannon Ferguson on Unsplash