What is social selling?

This lets you grow your network and provides valuable information on trends in your industry that could help you be more successful in sales or recruiting.

Welcome to Social Selling

The fundamentals of building a business through social networks you’ve likely heard all about it and even understand how important it can be, but do you know what it takes to make social selling work for your company? This informative guide gives a brief history of social Selling and explores what it means for businesses and brands.

Social Selling involves using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram to create a professional presence. An excellent way to remember social Selling is by thinking of social networking as marketing—but better.

Need to Know #1 – How Social Selling Works

So What is Social Selling Anyway? Many people are confused about what social Selling means, so let’s get a few things straight. Social Selling has been around for more than 20 years, but it was often used to describe exactly what it sounds like salespeople networking at events. Today, however, social Selling involves much more than calling your friend in the morning and asking her if she knows anyone who might be interested in buying your product or service. It’s become a broad catch-all phrase that defines using social media platforms and software tools to engage with potential customers and build relationships with them through their networks.

Need to Know #2 – Why Social Selling is Important

Social Selling isn’t just important to your business; it’s essential to succeeding in today’s business world. All successful business relationships are built on trust, and with more businesses operating online, social Selling has become an integral part of building trust with customers. Social Selling becomes a must-have tool when you add networking platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook into your marketing strategy (which you should). The benefits are numerous: because everyone trusts their networks for product information, you’re leaving money on the table if you’re not using social media or email to market your product or service.

Achieving Success in Social Selling

Many strategies and techniques can help you achieve success in social Selling. Here’s a list of three effective methods. First, always use professional language on your social media pages and networks. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social platforms should be used as methods of communication with prospects and clients—not to advertise your latest sale or advertise products outside of your industry vertical. Second, expand your network by connecting with new people online. Don’t build only one social profile; create profiles on multiple social networking sites and build relationships with people inside and outside your company. Make sure to connect with everyone who contacts you, even if it seems like they will never buy anything from you. Third, give more than just sales pitches on social media—use keywords such as best practice instead of a sales pitch to get noticed by more potential customers online.

Building Your Business Brand Through Social Selling

How can it benefit your business? In short, social Selling is marketing on social media. But simply tweeting links to blogs or shouting out product offers isn’t enough to establish trust and rapport with your followers. A successful social selling strategy requires you to engage with people by adding value before asking for anything in return. It doesn’t happen overnight—building relationships takes time—but if you approach social media to build your brand rather than just another platform for promoting your products, it will serve as an effective tool for growing clientele and extending your reach.