Looking to find out more about social selling as a sales tactic for your business? Like any sales method, it's a tool...but it is a powerful tool that no business should be missing out on. While other sales channels still have great value, social selling is a relatively new but powerful method of identifying qualified prospects, leveraging social media to better find them. Let's dive into social selling and how your business can benefit from it.

Social Selling vs. Social Media Marketing

Don't let the name fool you - there's a difference between social selling and social media marketing. While there are some overlaps between the two - a lot of overlap, in fact - they are not equatable. How so, since they both seem so similar? The truth is a lot of the activities are the same. In both instances, a business (either B2C or B2B) uses social media to disseminate branded and third-party content to connect with, engage, educate, delight and attract customers. ROI is calculated for both and both are tools for broadening the customer base and getting qualified prospects and leads moving in the sales funnel. However, the key difference is that social selling aligns sales goals with marketing goals. Typically, a social sales approach to social media will have the marketing team producing content and message, but the sales team will distribute the content and handle engagement with fans, prospects and leads on social media. In short, this puts your sales team in touch with existing and potential customers, rather than the marketing or social media marketing team. Thus, social selling combines sales and marketing teams in your companies' social media presence.

What Are The Benefits Of Social Selling?

Why should I integrate social selling into my sales and marketing strategies? Firstly is that you get your marketing team and social teams working together towards the common goal that both disciplines are concerned with: sales. You also cut down on siloing that can take place between departments. People that are working on the same thing - namely getting sales - can get on the same page. This also ensures that content is on-message and consistent. Since sales teams directly engage with customers, rather than engaging with a large audience like standalone social media marketing. Qualified prospects and existing customers will therefore get a far more personalized experience when they interact with your brand online. Putting the social media interaction in the hands of sales teams also tends to benefit the sales team, freeing them up to bring their talents to bear on social media channels. Sales teams don't always embrace social media marketing tools as well as social media marketers, but social selling tools often find greater adoption rates as well as increased sales compared to social marketing tools. Social selling also creates better connections with prospects than traditional sales channels, especially outbound calling. Your team gets to build real relationships with people rather than merely creating an audience, and that's how you not only get sales but create repeat customers. You'll also get the benefit of insight, being able to get much more analytic data than you otherwise might. Inbound marketing relies on data-driven methods to refine, hone and perfect strategies and activities, and social selling will get you the data you need.

How Do I Get Started Social Selling?

How can YOU start social selling? Some companies simply hand over the social media tools and login info to their sales team. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't at all. You could chance it and hope for the best...but you don't want to take that kind of risk. What, then, is a proven approach to successfully adopting social selling? By adopting a social selling tool that's proven to work. That's where Social Horsepower comes in. We can offer you an integrated social selling tool and interface that can get your sales team up and running in a matter of hours. Some of our clients have found their sales reps can begin using our social selling software effectively within minutes, even with teams of 5 or fewer people. Want to get started on a sales powerhouse that gets better and more qualified leads than the competition? Get started today by contacting us, and we'll talk about what our social selling software can do for you.

If you are looking to start social selling here are: 5 tips to kick start your social selling efforts.