The Number One Thing That Drives Results With Social Selling

B2B companies increasingly use social selling to try and reach users on their preferred communication channels. But what are the social selling strategies that drive real results, and where should we meet users? Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter? We spoke to Cameron Brain, CEO and Founder of Everyone Social, on the Playmakers Podcast, to try and find out.

What IS Social Selling, Anyway?

Everyone’s Social provides employee advocacy solutions to large B2B organizations. Around 50 percent of its users are, in fact, using the platform for sales. We started by asking the obvious question: what IS social selling, and how does it help businesses reach their revenue goals?

“For us social selling would include of course the use of various platforms LinkedIn, Twitter. It depends on where you are in the world, but really it’s just the idea that in this day and age an increasing number of the people – prospects or clients – are online. They are participating in discussions on these social channels, and that’s an opportunity for you to be there. We can develop and progress relationships online. It doesn’t have to be exclusively the domain of in-person meetings,” says Cameron, on the podcast.

Which Social Media Platform Should I Use?

Many business leaders have already seen real results come of social selling strategies. However, on methods and medium, things start to get a little murky. So we asked Cameron what he thinks about each of the social media platforms – and which is best. The answer is, perhaps, not straightforward.

“Many of our clients use LinkedIn Sales Navigator. This is basically like a Pro version of LinkedIn where you have team connect features and greater visibility into prospecting. But it also depends on where you are in the world in terms of where your sales people are. It depends who you’re selling to, and the behaviors of those prospects and where they live,” said Cameron.

Different Social Selling Tactics, Based on Geography

He adds that in some regions of the world, use of social media platforms might differ:

  • In Japan, Facebook will be used mainly for professional purpose
  • In Asia, some B2B companies will go to platforms like WeChat
  • In Europe, professional platforms like Xing are gaining ground

The Future of B2B Social Selling

Looking into the future of social selling, Cameron thinks that companies need to master this field if they are to reach their prospects where they are. Managing advertising campaigns on social media might be a function of Marketing rather than Sales, however the sales representatives should always work to create a relationship via social media as well.

“Every company needs to get a very good handle on the kind of behaviors of the people that they’re trying to sell to. Calling works particularly well for certain industries and doesn’t really for others. In our world of having to connect with a relatively small number of executives in very large companies, social selling has proven to be a very effective kind of component of our overall strategy,” concluded Cameron.

Listen to the Playmakers Podcast to get more tips and tricks about social selling!

 

 

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