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(Part 2 of 3)

Part One of this three-part series covered the importance of due diligence and key elements necessary for successful cold email outreach.   Part Two will discuss cold prospecting through social selling.

Social Selling utilizes LinkedIn, Twitter, and Meta channels such as Facebook and Instagram to gain visibility, earn salesperson credibility, deliver value, and establish relationships that ultimately enhance networking and identify sales opportunities.

In CSO Insights, a survey found that nearly half of all B2B buyers investigated, researched, and looked online and in social media for solutions before contacting any salesperson. (1) This means that buyers spend only 5-6% of their time speaking to someone in sales when making a purchasing decision. (2)

It’s no surprise then that nearly 90% of top-performing sales professionals use social selling as their number one sales strategy. (3) Sadly, while 98% of B2B companies recognize the value of social selling, only 49% have implemented a social selling program. (4) Furthermore, only 53% of salespeople indicate that they desire help succeeding with social selling. (5)

In today’s B2B world, prospects are savvier than ever when performing research on their own and online. This research translates into a desperate need for sales professionals to get comfortable with a buying journey taking place primarily online and often out of sight of sales teams.

The good news, however, is that 91% of prospects desire to engage with sales professionals earlier than surveys presently reflect. (6)  60% of buyers want to contact a sales representative after considering options and have whittled down a smaller list before making a final decision. (7)  Therefore, it’s essential to effective prospecting that connections are made earlier, and relationships established long before the consideration stage.

So, what exactly is social selling?

Social Selling uses LinkedIn, Twitter, Meta channels, etc., to gain visibility, earn credibility, deliver value, and establish relationships that ultimately enhance networking and sales opportunities. The visibility of carefully curated online content about the subjects that matter to your audience highlights your company. This online content naturally positions your target audience to notice your company and generates interest and conversations, resulting in qualified prospects and sales. Over time, and entirely organically, your company, your brand, and you as a sales executive become subject matter authorities.

Social selling allows you to better understand a prospect or client by reading their blog posts and social media content, engaging with them in social media, sharing their content, or engaging with their content, such as liking or commenting on what they share.

PRO-TIPS: While called social selling, it’s not intended as a replacement for connecting with prospects in the real world with phone calls or in face-to-face meetings. Social selling isn’t designed to close deals, deliver sales pitches, spam sales messages (through private, direct messages, or group posts), etc. Social selling is highly personal. It’s about building trust, one-on-one, and establishing a relationship that can be taken from the virtual world into a real-world (or semi real-world) setting.

KNOW THE VALUE OF SOCIAL SELLING

It’s easy to be confused when you hear people talk about social selling because it doesn’t involve sales. Instead of approaching people with ads, promotional emails, or unsolicited phone calls, social selling uses social media to find prospects and build brand awareness by building relationships with potential customers.

Most companies already have social media accounts, i.e., Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. If you do, you’re already passively involved in social selling.

What is the Value of Social Selling?

Answer number one lies in the number of people on social media: 3.2 billion! Social media has a global penetration of 45%. It would be a shame not to penetrate this vast network of potential clients.

Answer number two is that social selling as a strategy works.

Leads Generation and Development

39% of B2B professionals indicated social selling reduces their lead search time (8). And 73% of marketers believe that their efforts through social media marketing have been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business (8).

Nearly 70% of sales professionals use social selling tools for lead development (9), and 48% of companies identify expanding their reach to new buyers as a significant benefit of social selling. (10) 65% of salespeople who use social selling fill their sales pipeline. (11)

Relationship Development

Over 30% of B2B sales professionals discovered that social selling allowed them to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with clients. (12) These relationships lead to customers. A study by Hubspot found that social sellers acquire approximately 12% more new customers and convert 15% more customers than those not using social media. (13)

Performance Metrics

78% of salespeople who use social selling outperform peers. (14) Nearly 64% of sales representatives who engage in social selling report increased company profit. (15) Business leaders in social selling attract 45% more sales than peers and are 51% more likely to reach quotas. (16) Sales representatives who utilize social selling are 50% more likely to meet or exceed quotas. (17) 50% of sales revenue is generated from social sales techniques. (18) Social selling increases win rates by 5% and deal size by 35%. (19)

Budgets and Decision Making

84% of B2B buyers who use social media have larger budgets than non-social buyers. (20) B2B buyers who use social media make 61% more purchase decisions and influence a greater span of purchasing decisions. (21) 84% of C-level or vice president level executives use social media to make purchasing decisions. (22)

While most people are on social media these days, the adoption and integration into the selling processes are slow. Most reps rely exclusively on email and phone calls to find, close, and retain business. While these channels are important, ignoring the value of social selling can be very costly. Salespeople who embrace social selling have more prospects in the pipeline and outsell their competitors. When integrated as part of the sales strategy, social selling will enable you to connect with more qualified prospective clients than other cold outreach programs.

Part One |  Part Two  |  Part Three

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SOURCES

  1. https://pleinairestrategies.com/the-growing-buyer-seller-gap-results-of-the-2018-cso-insights-buyer-preferences-study/
  2. https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/insights/b2b-buying-journey
  3. https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/sales-solutions/cx/2018/images/pdfs/state-of-sales-ebook.pdf
  4. https://www.forrester.com/report/Add+Social+Selling+To+Your+B2B+Marketing+Repertoire/-/E-RES136248
  5. https://everyonesocial.com/blog/social-selling-statistics/
  6. https://www.resourcefulselling.com/sales-prospecting-statistics/
  7. https://blog.hubspot.com/news-trends/buyers-speak-out-how-sales-needs-to-evolve
  8. https://optinmonster.com/social-selling-statistics/
  9. https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/social-selling-statistics/
  10. https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/social-selling-statistics/
  11. https://spotio.com/blog/sales-statistics
  12. https://learn.seismic.com/rs/217-LXS-149/images/2016_CSO_Insights_Sales_Enablement_Optimization_Study.pdf
  13. https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/social-selling-statistics/
  14. https://spotio.com/blog/sales-statistics
  15. http://www.salesforlife.com/blog/infographics/the-state-of-social-selling-in-2016-infographic/
  16. https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/social-selling-statistics/
  17. http://www.insidesales.com/insider/social-selling-2/how-adp-uses-social-selling/
  18. https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/social-selling-statistics/
  19. https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/blog/proof-month/2017/investigating-the-truth-about-social-selling-by-industry
  20. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140915006303/en/New-IDC-Study-Reveals-That-the-Most-Senior-and-Influential-B2B-Buyers-Use-Online-Social-Networks-in-Their-Purchase-Process
  21. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140915006303/en/New-IDC-Study-Reveals-That-the-Most-Senior-and-Influential-B2B-Buyers-Use-Online-Social-Networks-in-Their-Purchase-Process
  22. https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/business/sales-solutions/global/en_US/c/pdfs/idc-wp-247829.pdf
Jim Bozzelli
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