5 Key Steps To Social Selling
Selling on social, especially platforms like LinkedIn, isn't easy.
It's only getting noisier on here with more content, and unfortunately more spammy LinkedIn DM's filling your prospects feed.
BUT...
Used right, LinkedIn can be a PHENOMENAL channel and today I'm going to dig into the 5 key steps everyone should take to start selling more on here.
Let's dive in:
1) You need to have the right NETWORK (and it needs to be growing)
Your connections and followers on LinkedIn are your network and you get to choose who goes in there. This is one of my favourite social selling quotes:
Your network is your netWORTH
You can (and should) be building a valuable network, one that is FILLED with your target prospects, existing customers and other people of relevance and value. Everything you do on LinkedIn will be mainly limited to the size of your network so make time to find and add new connections and keep it growing.
TOP TIP - You have a limit of 30,000 connections so use it wisely, but there is NO LIMIT on how many followers you have. Once you cross 20,000 connections turn your connect button to a follow button to encourage followers.
2) Building your PERSONAL BRAND is crucial for long term success
You've probably heard the term personal brand a lot and some of you might have no idea what it actually means! Think of it like this, it's your digital reputation, it's what people think and know of you online. And if you haven't built a good personal brand you've got to hope that your competitors haven't either as it is very influential in B2B sales.
It's how you stand out and how you can get an advantage over your competitors.
Here are my top super simple tips for building your personal brand:
- Comment on 3-5+ industry relevant posts several times each week
- Share at least 2-3 value giving posts each week
- Engage on industry influencer posts to grow your name
3) Send CONVERSATIONAL LinkedIn messages and DM's
If you want to sell, you need to talk to people, and the best way to do that is to have conversations. The problem is a lot of salespeople go straight for the pitch, which trust me NEVER works!
Because of this people have a bad association with LinkedIn messages but they are a GOLD MINE of opportunity if you just use them right.
The key is this...
Make the message about THEM. Personalise it, make it relevant to them, valuable to them. Remember they don't care about what you're selling, they care about what it might be able to do for them. Start making your messages focused on your prospects and you'll start getting more replies and more conversations.
4) Fully OPTIMISE your LinkedIn profile and make it customer focused
If you're going to start being more active on LinkedIn there is one thing guaranteed to happen...
MORE people are going to start visiting your LinkedIn profile. Now, if like a lot of people, you haven't optimised your profile or its very much only about you, you're going to miss out on a HUGE opportunity to convert those profile visits into leads and customers.
Your LinkedIn profile should tell people about you, but it should also tell them about what you can do for them.
Show them what type of companies and customers you work with, show them what problems you solve, show them some of the results you've achieved for similar customers. Make it as clear and simple as possible and you'll start to convert some of that profile traffic into new business opportunities.
5) All of this is pointless if you're not CONSISTENT
This is the step that connects all of these together, and without it you'll struggle to achieve real results on LinkedIn. Consistency is key for almost every form of success in life and work and with LinkedIn and social selling it's no different.
I'll make this step REALLY easy for you with one simple practical tip...
- Go into your calendar
- Book 15-30 minutes in Monday - Friday for LinkedIn
- Set it as a recurring meeting for the rest of this year
- Use that time to apply steps 1-4 from this article
And there you go!
My 5 steps to social selling success. Let me know what you would add to that list, or which step you think is the most important out of these.
Author
Daniel Disney, Founder or The Daily Sales