In short, social selling is modern-day relationship-building. Rather than cold-calling leads, you can form connections with potential customers through social media.
Social selling is all about creating meaningful interactions by showcasing your brand as the solution to a problem. If your brand has a Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram page, chances are you are already social selling.
Why Social Selling Matters
Plain and simple, social selling gets your business results. According to LinkedIn Sales Solutions:
- 78% of businesses outperform those that are not on social media
- Businesses are 51% more likely to reach sales quotas when they prioritize social selling
- Businesses see 45% more sales opportunities than brands with a low social selling index
What is a Social Selling Index?
Initially introduced by LinkedIn in 2014, the social selling index measures how effective your selling efforts are. In other words, it determines how your profile ranks. If you are producing high-quality content and campaigns, your SSI should rank highly. If your SSI is low, you know which areas to prioritize your time and energy to obtain better results. The social selling index is a helpful optimization tool.
LinkedIn identifies four elements to effective social selling:
- Establish your brand.
- Identify your audience.
- Engage and grow relationships with your audience.
- Establish trust and loyalty.
Social selling allows you to create relationships with leads and prospects who already spend a lot of their time on social media. Users are interacting with brands daily. Through social listening, you can determine what people are saying about your business and your industry. This information means you can target an audience who already shows interest in what you do and genuinely connect with them at the right time—as a result, building trust and credibility amongst consumers.
With 4.2 billion people worldwide active on social media, the potential to generate sales is more significant than ever. Many of these users are using social media platforms to conduct brand research and are preparing to make a purchase.
Social selling is all about delivering value based on your target audience’s interest and willingness to engage. It is a great way to get a feel for what an audience likes and dislikes to increase your reach in the marketplace. Building strong relationships through social media will help you expand your network, improve lead generation and boost sales.
