Why is social selling a better approach for winning clients?

The way social selling differs from cold selling strategies isn’t just because it focuses on building client relationships before a sales meeting. Whether it’s cold calling or cold emailing, you usually have just one chance to make your case. That’s why these calls and emails are often stuffed with overwhelming sales information and an urgency that just puts people off.

Social selling gives you multiple opportunities to touch base with your clients. Instead of an email that might end up in their spam folder or a call that gets declined, social selling puts the focus where your prospects care the most: on them.

You have the chance to learn more about what your prospects actually need and they have the chance to have all the questions they need answered to commit to the sale - in a time and environment that works for them.

The main issue facing social selling today is that attention spans are shrinking due to social media distractions. So, while you have less time to make an impression, social selling gives you more opportunities.

What makes a strong social selling strategy?

It doesn’t matter what your business sells or who your clients are, every successful social selling strategy can be built on four main pillars. 

1.  Clear communication: It’s almost like people are programmed to instantly tune out when they hear a sales pitch. So, ditch the pitch! Be clear about what you’re selling, who it’s for and why it matters - but keep all of this focused on your prospects. Share the tangible results and use relatable examples that put your offer into context.
2.  An optimised profile: Your profile should tell your prospects everything they need to know to start a conversation with you. But again, this isn’t about listing product/service features or explaining your role. The Featured section in particular is a great place for testimonials, social proof, reviews and landing pages that provide more detail of your service.
3.  Consistency and engagement: Trust is built over time so you need to show up for your prospects consistently. The easiest way to do this in the beginning is to post 3 times a week, on the same days at the same time. Make these posts a mixture of education and entertainment with a sprinkle of promo for your offer.
4. Timing: What happens in the first 30 minutes of these posts is crucial to their success. The comments section is particularly powerful so your posts should be directing people to engage here and you need to be there too. Reply to comments, share more context on the topic of your posts - just show up for your prospects!

How to build your own social selling strategy

Once you’ve got those basics down, you can start building on this strategy to fit your business specifically. Maybe you’ll start a newsletter or an engaging how-to video series. The success of social selling relies on consistency and value. Starting with these basics will help you learn more about your audience and tailor your strategy to connect with them specifically.

If you want to skip the guesswork, DM the PINAKL team on LinkedIn. Our managed service will help build the basics of your social selling strategy and gain the insights to forge stronger connections with your ideal prospects.