Why Social Selling Isn’t Just a Buzzword Anymore

Social Selling Is No Longer a Trend—It’s a Necessity

Remember when social selling was just a trendy buzzword tossed around in sales and marketing meetings?

Those days are over. Today, social selling has evolved into an essential, business-critical strategy that drives serious revenue growth.

Consider this: 75% of B2B buyers and 84% of C-suite executives use social media when making purchasing decisions.

With buyers increasingly turning to social platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to research solutions and connect with trusted advisors, it’s clear that traditional sales methods like cold calling are no longer enough.

Instead, trust is being built through timely, influencer-driven conversations—and your competitors are already leveraging these platforms to create influence and close deals.

If you’re not tracking how they’re doing it, you risk falling behind. Social selling isn’t optional anymore. It’s the competitive edge you need to stay ahead.

What Is Social Selling in 2025? The New Definition

The Old View of Social Selling

Social selling used to mean casually posting on LinkedIn, sending random connection requests, or perhaps sharing a blog link or two. It was seen as a passive top-of-funnel tactic—a nice-to-have approach that might generate some awareness.

But that approach no longer works in a data-driven business landscape. Passive tactics are a relic of the past.

The Modern View of Social Selling

Today, social selling means delivering targeted, data-driven value to your buyers at every stage of the customer lifecycle. It’s about leveraging insights from competitors and influencers, refining your social strategy, and shifting from being just present on social media to being a trusted voice in the conversation.

Effective social sellers are actively:

• Sharing strategic content to guide buyer decisions.
• Engaging with industry conversations that boost their personal and brand visibility.
• Tracking competitors and benchmarking their team’s social influence to stay ahead.

Social selling is no longer simply posting and hoping. It’s leveraging data to dominate.

Without adopting modern social selling strategies, it’s impossible to build the influence and trust essential for closing deals in 2025.

The Competitive Advantage of Tracking Social Selling Strategies

Why Most Companies Fail at Social Selling

Despite recognizing the importance of social selling, many companies fail because they focus inwardly—measuring their own posting frequency rather than tracking what’s working for competitors.

They overlook critical questions like:

• Which sales leaders or influencers are driving the most engagement in their industry?
• What topics and formats are generating the highest visibility?
• Where are competitors consistently outpacing them in influence?

The Hidden Goldmine: Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs)

Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) are individuals who act as the trusted voices in your industry. These can be executives, industry experts, or even competitors' sales leaders who consistently dominate conversations.

Ignoring KOLs and their content means missing a goldmine of valuable insights. For instance:

• If your competitor’s VP of Sales regularly comments on trending industry developments and attracts hundreds of reactions, they’re winning trust and driving visibility. Your team should strategically join these conversations to remain competitive.

Tools like Stack Rank streamline this process by identifying and ranking high-performing influencers in your industry—giving you actionable insights on who drives engagement and how to position your team effectively.

How to Identify and Learn from Social Sellers Who Are Winning

Want to dominate social selling? Start by learning from the best. Here’s a step-by-step process to gain the competitive edge:

Step 1: Identify Top Competitor Influencers

Monitor which competitor employees—particularly sales and marketing leaders—are driving significant online engagement.

• Use competitive intelligence tools like Stack Rank to pinpoint individual contributors or influencers.
• Focus on metrics like engagement rates, follower growth, and post frequency.

For example, if a competitor’s Director of Sales regularly posts LinkedIn updates that secure hundreds of thoughtful comments, those updates are influencing buyer decisions. Benchmark your team’s presence to ensure you’re just as visible.

Step 2: Analyze Their Social Tactics

It’s not enough to know who the top social influencers are—you have to understand how they’re succeeding.

• Identify common themes in their content. Is it thought leadership? Customer success stories? Hot takes on current events?
• Examine their formats (e.g., videos, carousel posts, infographics).
• Measure their posting frequency and publishing times.

Armed with this data, refine your social strategy to match (or outperform) theirs. Tools like Stack Rank automate this process, continuously updating your competitive insights.

Step 3: Join the Right Conversations

Showing up in the right conversations is just as important as posting your own content.

• Keep track of KOL posts and comments that generate engagement.
• Comment meaningfully on trending posts to boost your visibility.

For example, actively engaging with industry trends under widely-shared posts can introduce your brand to thousands of potential buyers—all while demonstrating expertise.

Real-World Benefits of Competitive Social Selling

Social selling is no longer just about branding—it delivers tangible business outcomes that directly impact revenue.

Lead Generation

Social selling leaders generate 45% more sales opportunities than their peers. Tracking competitor tactics and adapting successful strategies ensures you aren’t leaving opportunities on the table.

Revenue Impact

Sales teams that prioritize social selling are 51% more likely to hit their quotas. By building visibility and trust at scale, social sellers consistently outperform those relying solely on traditional methods.

Influence and Trust

Today’s buyers are more likely to trust social individuals over corporate brands. A socially active salesperson establishes themselves not only as a credible resource but as a trusted partner in their buyer’s decision-making process.

If you’re not visible in the conversations your prospects are having, you’re practically invisible.

How Stack Rank Supercharges Your Social Selling

Stack Rank is the ultimate solution for competitive social selling, empowering your team with data-driven insights that turn influence into opportunity.

Instant Peer Benchmarking

• See which competitor sales reps dominate social platforms.
• Benchmark your team’s social influence against theirs.

Keyword and Conversation Tracking

Quickly identify trending industry topics influencing deals. Adjust your strategy to align with these critical conversations in real-time.

Automated Competitor Monitoring

No more endless scrolling through LinkedIn profiles. Stack Rank automates tracking competitor posts, engagement, and reach—saving you valuable time while delivering actionable insights.

With Stack Rank, your team won’t just participate—they’ll dominate.

Stay Ahead or Get Left Behind

Social selling isn’t just a secondary sales strategy anymore. It’s a primary driver of results for teams actively tracking their peers, engaging in key conversations, and refining their tactics with data. If you’re not using competitive intelligence to supercharge your social selling efforts, you’re leaving revenue on the table.

Curious how your team stacks up against competitors? Reach out today to see how Stack Rank can boost your social selling influence and deliver unmatched results.