Social selling is the art of using social networks to find, connect with, understand, and nurture sales prospects. It’s the modern way to develop meaningful relationships with potential customers that keep you in mind; so when they are ready to buy they will think of you.
But how do you drive sales with social media? The key is NOT selling. Yes, I know this sounds counterintuitive. However, building trust is the first step in driving sales. The thing is that no one wants someone constantly in their face telling you how great their products or services are. You want to see content that is valuable or funny or inspiring. It is only after you build trust that your followers won’t mind the occasional sales pitch. At this point they will be more open to learn about your offerings because you already have built trust.
Here are some helpful hints on how to begin building trust to up your social selling game:
Show and Tell: Don’t Sell.
Tell people who you are and what you are all about rather than shoving a sales message in your followers’ faces every 10 seconds. Showing you are truly concerned with the well being of your potential and existing customer’s success will help build trust. Trust is considered the cornerstone of social selling.
Be an active listener.
Actively listen to conversations relevant to your industry. See if you are being mentioned and engage in relevant conversations. Actively listening to your industry and customers needs will allow you to answer relevant questions. This will help you determine pain points that you can create content around, thus providing your potential customers with something of value, which creates trust. Interaction like this will build trust as stated above is a key ingredient in your social selling formula.
Be different. Be authentic.
Be uniquely you and show everyone how your products and services are different. In other words, don’t just blindly do what everyone else is doing. Come up with your own content and experiment a little along the way. Bringing authenticity to the table can make a big difference.
In all social selling is about building trustworthy relationships. Showing who you are, actively listening, being authentic, and starting the conversation will bring you a step closer to finding those that are perceptive to what you have to offer. Not social media savvy? At Captevrix, our team of experts have experience working with social media and building relationships with new and existing customers. Learn more about how we can work together. Schedule a free consultation .
