Social Selling is a sales strategy that involves using social media to connect with prospects and create leads. Sales people can provide value for their prospects by answering their questions, and providing them with relevant content. Not to mention, 79% of sales reps who incorporate social selling strategies are more effective than those that don’t.
While this type of strategy has been proven to be effective, there are often problems that can arise when it is put into practice. Let’s explore these so that you and your Sales teams will know what to avoid in order to be successful.
3 reasons social selling isn’t working:
- Lack of quality content
- Limited understanding of social media nuances
- Lack of demonstration of value
1. Problems with the quality of your content
This is arguably the most critical aspect of social selling. Creating great content that demonstrates your value and captures your prospects’ attention is key to a successful social selling strategy. One common problem is that your content simply does not solve your buyer’s needs. This could be a result of:
- Lack of understanding of who you are selling to
- You are not truly listening to what your buyers are saying
- No real solution to buyers problems is offered
Buyers do not want to read content that simply discusses their problems; they want content that offers a solution that will benefit them. If you are having these types of problems, one solution is to study your buyer personas. Know exactly whom you are trying to target, and cater your content specifically to that type of person. It is also important to make sure that you are offering a useful solution to the problems that you are writing about. This demonstrates your value to prospects, which can make them more likely to buy.
2. Lack of understanding of the nuances of social media
Knowing which social media sites to utilize and when to engage with your prospects can be very tricky. It is important to understand where your target buyers are spending most of their time online. A great social selling strategy will be ruined if you are not using the right outlets.
It is also important that you are not simply pitching your business, but actually offering solutions to your buyer’s problems. If you are simply using social media as a way to pitch products or services you will not be taken seriously. It is important to really connect with your prospects and offer solutions to problems, instead of simply posting about your own products and services.
3. No real value is demonstrated
The most important part of social selling is showing your potential buyers that you can offer them something of real value. Buyers do not want to simply see you pushing your products on them; they want to know how your products or services can solve their own problems. So interact with your customers. Respond to complaints, share meaningful content, and make sure that you are offering something of real value.
If social selling isn’t working for you and your team, ask yourself if any of these problems apply to you. Remember, your buyers do not want to be pitched your product; they want content that can help them to solve their everyday problems. Social media is a great platform to expand your business and increase sales, and as long as you give it a great deal of focus, it can be very lucrative.
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