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Social Selling in 2024: How to Connect and Convert

With more than 4 billion people on social media, it’s easy to see why business leaders use social selling. It’s a great way to reach your prospects.

In fact, social selling is more effective than older techniques like cold calling. Reps who use it see a 40 to 50% increase in deals. Businesses that adopt social selling strategies are almost 80% more successful.

Like everything, though, if you want to see results, it’s important to do social sales the right way. This guide will help you connect and convert more prospects in 2024.

What is social selling?
Build your strategy
Supercharge your efforts
Sales goes social

What is social selling?

Before we get to the how-to, it helps to define what we’re talking about. What is social selling anyway?

Briefly, it’s the use of social media platforms like LinkedIn to reach your prospects. Social sales strategies work for both B2C and B2B companies.

Why it works

The reason social sales strategies work in 2024 is that they focus on connection. Sales reps use social media platforms to do more than just deliver pitches.

A social sales strategy focuses more on relationship-building. That, in turn, creates an emotional attachment between your business and your prospects. When someone signs on the dotted line, there is a mutual sense of loyalty.

You must continue to prioritize and strengthen the relationship, deliver value, and build on that loyalty in order to ultimately retain and grow your customer base and revenue.

Creating a strategy

One of the beauties of social selling is how easy it is to get started. Unfortunately, “easy” doesn’t always translate to “super successful.”

Social sales strategies are still up-and-coming, but they have been around for a few years now. That means more business leaders have adopted it—which means the market is more crowded.

You need to cut through the noise, just like any other sales method. Prospects may be getting hundreds of messages from sales reps through social media.

This is where having a strategy for social sales becomes paramount. Anyone can hop on LinkedIn or Facebook and start sending messages to prospects.

Strategic selling on social media involves a few more steps, but the payoff is much higher.

Choose your platform

Your first step is to choose the channel that works best for your business.

This usually means figuring out where your prospects are. A B2B company is likely going to have more success on LinkedIn. A B2C company hoping to net more Gen Z customers should look at TikTok.

If you have options, then you should look at which platforms your team is most comfortable with. Some of your team may love Instagram. They might feel intimidated by Facebook.

If the channel you select isn’t delivering the results you want, it’s easy to switch. Of course, a little research about where your prospects hang out goes a long way to picking the best platform right off the bat.

Create a target list

Once you’ve picked your channel, you want to figure out who you’re talking to on this platform. Chances are you already have a good idea, but it’s time to narrow down your focus.

Most social media platforms have large user bases, which can be incredibly varied. A common misstep with social sales strategies is trying to speak to everyone on a platform.

The solution you’re selling isn’t “for everyone,” and your social strategy shouldn’t be either. A target list can help you focus on specific prospects on the platform. This list can also help you identify other “lookalike” prospects as you seek out more leads.

Join social media groups

It’s difficult to get traction with a wide audience from your profile alone.

Social media groups can help. Joining groups relevant to your industry can get your content in front of a bigger audience. Better yet, being an active member of groups can help establish you as a thought leader.

Post great content consistently

Whether on your own profile or in a group, you need a content strategy for social media if you want to be successful.

Why? Content is the primary mode of interaction on social media. When you publish thought-provoking content on a regular basis, more people will want to follow you. In turn, you’ll be in a great position when you reach out to a prospect. Not only will they have heard of the solution, but they’ll already trust your insights.

Use social listening

Social listening lets you track mentions and conversations across the digital environment. If you focus on a particular platform, then you’ll want to “tune in” to see what people are saying about you and your brand.

Social listening is a great way of gathering feedback and capitalizing on positive sentiments. You can share and reshare positive stories or even thank people who have given you a shoutout.

Identify key metrics and measure

Like any strategy, you need numbers to see if your efforts are paying off. Identifying key metrics is a must for any social seller. Popular metrics include:

Engagement levels
Social media mentions
Conversions

There are others, so picking the right ones will tell you if your strategy is working.

Tips to supercharge your social efforts

Now you have the basics of a social sales strategy down pat. These tips will help you connect with and convert more prospects.

Know your audience

Research is always your friend when you’re prospecting. It’s no different when it comes to social selling. Knowing your audience is vital to your success.

Research can tell you who you’re talking to, what they like and dislike, and even where they hang out. More granular data can help you tailor your content strategy too.

Optimize your profile

Optimization makes it easier for people to find you, and it can increase your reach as well. Plus, an optimized profile looks better when prospects decide to check you out.

Use the right tools

There are plenty of tech tools out there that make social sales easier. Some help you schedule posts at the optimal time. Others help you create engaging content and valuable posts. Yet others can help you discover new prospects and follow up with existing ones.

Focus on connection

Think less about “selling” and more about the “social” side of things. Your prospects are tired of pitches. Instead, they’re looking to build relationships, especially on social media platforms.

If you focus on building a long-term relationship with your prospects, you’ll see improvement.