According to HubSpot’s new State of Inbound 2015-2016 report, only 8% of sales reps consider social selling a priority.
At the same time, it’s become an accepted fact that salespeople must establish themselves as trusted advisors and provide value to their prospects to be successful.
Social channels are one of the best places to disseminate information to a wide audience, as well as perform targeted outreach through mentions and direct messages. It seems that a logical outcome of the shift from “Always Be Closing” toward “Always Be Helping” would be a gravitation toward social selling.
So why is there a disconnect when it comes to adoption?
“Salespeople too often treat social platforms such as LinkedIn or Twitter as additional channels on which to spam prospects,” HubSpot chief revenue officer Mark Roberge writes. “Instead of cold calling 30 prospects, they’ll send 30 cold direct messages on LinkedIn and call it ‘social selling.’ ”
Social selling is more than using social channels as another form of outreach. Luckily, there are plenty of resources available to help reps who are unsure how to get started. The infographic below from LinkedIn outlines the six steps of setting up a social selling campaign:
- Set up your foundation by demonstrating value.
- Build your network by connecting with prospects.
- Find the right people using Advanced Search.
- Engage prospects with insights by sharing content.
- Build strong relationships by researching buyers.
- Measure and optimize by tracking engagement and results.
For even more insights into how salespeople, sales leaders, and marketers can use social channels to sell, check out the infographic below.
