What is social selling? How can we generate leads on social media? How has social selling on LinkedIn changed over the years?
What is Social media selling?
The process of leveraging a brand’s social media platforms to engage with potential leads and connect with prospects is known as social selling. The strategy might assist companies in achieving their sales goals. Consider social selling as contemporary networking. Engaging with prospects on social media may help you stand out as the first company they think of when they’re ready to buy. Additionally, it may replace antiquated sales and relationship-building strategies like cold phoning!
What social media selling is not
Social selling does not include sending many unsolicited tweets and direct messages to random people: spam, that. Not at all. Social selling is not just about adding new contacts to your list. It’s about making those interactions meaningful and presenting your brand as having a solution to a problem. Doing that makes you more likely to build trust and loyalty.
How can we generate leads on social media?
For every growth strategy you create, you also need a design for acquiring new, targeted leads. This might occasionally be the most challenging aspect of marketing your company. We’ll go through some of the top suggestions for using social media to generate leads for sales. Let’s look at it.
A lead is any information you can use to locate a potential customer for your goods or services. This might be anything from a person’s name and email address to information about their job and employer. In other words, social media lead generation is gathering fresh leads using social media. B2C and B2B marketers may find both profits from the lead generation on social media since it enables you to find the social media users who are interested in your company. This gives you the necessary leverage to target them with relevant content and offers and convert them into paying customers. In other words, lead generation helps you establish your business as an invaluable resource to potential customers. And social media amplifies your lead generation efforts by helping you raise brand awareness, drive website traffic and improve community engagement.
How to generate leads from social media – How to become a Pro at social media selling?
- Launch compelling lead magnet offers.
People are frequently persuaded to voluntarily give you their information with the correct inducement. It would help if you made compelling lead magnet offerings that people want to do. This might be anything from a free utility to a research paper. Additionally, you might provide case studies, webinars, whitepapers, and more. An outstanding example is LinkedIn Marketing Solutions’ promotion of the free LinkedIn Insight Tag product. Another social media selling strategy to increase interest in gated material is to tweet a GIF with a prediction for 2021 and a link to its Predictions 2021 report.
- Share testimonials as social proof
Customer success stories and recommendations may provide the social evidence you need to get new prospects. Use case studies of clients who have profited from your goods and services to show the value of your brand. IBM frequently distributes compelling video testimonials from customers who have benefited from its programs and products. Wyzowl claims that two out of three individuals are more likely to purchase after seeing a video testimonial that shows how a company, product, or service has benefited someone just like them. You may compile client feedback and create an animated film using it to demonstrate social proof for a lower-lift option.
- Create targeted ads with special offers
For social media selling or generating leads over social media, it is incredibly beneficial to use sponsored social media advertising. Use these advertisements to promote material on specific topics, exclusive deals, and time-limited promotions for your goods and services. With this tactic, you may display your audience offers that cater to their interests by using sponsored social media’s more exact targeting capabilities.
For instance, The Economist targeted relevant consumers using Instagram advertisements. A tempting offer of a 50% discount on their first 12 weeks appears when someone clicks on their social media advertisement, increasing the likelihood that the ad’s target demographic would subscribe to the newspaper.
- Make the most of lead generation ads.
Lead generation advertisements can help you expand the reach of your social media marketing. These advertisements have pre-filled forms so users can quickly complete the signup process without devoting much time to entering their data. This shortens the lead-generating cycle and speeds it up, which may significantly increase your conversion rate. In actuality, landing pages typically receive roughly 2.35% conversions, whereas lead generation forms on LinkedIn have an average conversion rate of 13%. There are many lead-generating ad types accessible on Instagram and Facebook as well.
- Set up sequential retargeting ads
Retargeting can further amplify your social advertising and lead generation strategy by helping you reengage lost prospects. Let’s say someone clicked on your initial ad, browsed the landing page, but didn’t fill out the form. Retargeting them with advertisements that nudge them to continue the enrollment process is an option. Additionally, you may retarget visitors who arrived at your website via search or another referral source. Alternatively, you may retarget readers of your blog who are seldom newsletter subscribers. Because retargeted advertisements have a 10X higher click-through rate than standard display advertising might significantly increase your lead generation efforts. Try setting up your retargeting advertisements sequentially to achieve even more excellent results. For instance, an awareness-stage advertisement may address frequent complaints and concerns.
- Leverage social media sponsorships
You could also draw leads from the social media material your target audience consumes instead of paying for advertisements. Think about sponsoring YouTube channels, articles, and shows well-liked by your target demographic.
In this method, you may persuade a respectable content producer to discuss your company, item, or service, even for a short while. This may be considerably more engaging than pushing advertisements in front of a potential audience. You may also sponsor videos on YouTube, much like Pixel Empire did for the video below by Jacksfilms. Influencers and content producers may frequently integrate your sponsorship message effortlessly into their work, helping to create a sort of social proof, helping it reach audiences who might otherwise actively click away from an ad.
- Host a virtual event or social media conference
Host a virtual conference on subjects related to your brand’s expertise that would interest your target audience. A highly relevant audience may be attracted, and your knowledge and authority in the topic can be established by participating in virtual conferences and events. As a result, they’re excellent for generating leads on social media, especially since attendees must disclose their information to register for or attend the conference. You may utilize the occasion to discuss current business issues, offer practical advice, and invite well-known speakers. Additionally, you can create many content opportunities by updating your social media accounts while the event is happening live or afterward, turning that information into lead magnets.
- Launch a referral campaign
Referral programs have a great chance of increasing your sales leads twofold. These campaigns provide your tips as a reward for referring their friends, family, and coworkers. Therefore, the suggested individuals will be able to discover more about your goods or services and may be new leads. You may offer a desirable reward, such as a gift card, a free item, or a discount in exchange for the recommendation to make this work.
- Make the most of social listening.
Observe social media discussions to discover what people say about a particular subject or a rival company. This will assist you in finding any chances to produce top-notch leads for your company. For instance, someone unhappy with a rival’s goods could welcome a substitute. And anybody looking for suggestions will undoubtedly appreciate hearing your advice. Customers who inquire about your company and interests will also enjoy your proactive attitude when you intervene to answer their worries.
How has social selling on LinkedIn changed over the years?
Despite being one of the most established social media sites on our list, LinkedIn took some time to catch on regarding social selling. The professional network platform launched in 2003, but it wasn’t until 2007 that it attracted 10 million users. The business introduced LinkedIn for Groups and premium Business Accounts in 2005. Both provided companies and recruiters the opportunity to do more thorough analyses and searches. The business started doing targeted advertising in 2008. The firm introduced its influencer program in 2012. This made it possible for “thought leaders,” hand-picked LinkedIn team members, to choose and distribute the material to users. The following year, LinkedIn started charging individuals and businesses to sponsor their material. After acquiring Lynda.com in 2015, LinkedIn entered the eLearning market, and the LinkedIn Learning function is still active today. For all types of content producers, this is a helpful tool.
The introduction of LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator product in 2014 was maybe the most crucial development in this context. It offers B2B companies the chance to use the platform to manage their sales funnel. Over the past few years, The Sales Navigator has developed and grown, making social selling a more straightforward and more intelligent process. With the addition of actionable notifications to their site, the platform has become one of the finest for social selling. Check out our LinkedIn lead strategy for more great suggestions on utilizing this tool to its full potential.
LinkedIn’s platform offers a range of options for sales teams to interact with potential prospects, which is one factor in the company’s recent success. You can provide actual value, connect with people who will benefit from your services, and create enduring connections. This dramatically simplifies the process of contacting your target prospects.
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