Are you in the business of generating leads? If so, you’re in the right place. We are going to give you some best practices on how to prospect on social media. Investing your time in social media lead generation is effective but only when done correctly. Cold calling just won’t cut it if you want to reach your extremely busy prospects.
In today’s digital world you will be hard pressed to find someone who isn’t present on at least one social media platform. A study by Google and Millward Brown Digital found that 46% of decision makers are between the ages of 18 and 34 which is also the largest demographic of social media users. You don’t want to get left behind by not keeping up with the latest trends and best practices. So, how will reach you reach your potential customers and stand out from your competition on social media?
You may be familiar with the term social selling which is when salespeople use social media to find, engage, and build relationships with new prospects as part of the sales process. Social selling is an inbound sales tactic and instead of cold reach outs with scripted conversations you’re connecting and interacting with potential customers to provide value during the entirety of the buyer’s journey.
5 Reasons Why You Should Prospect on Social Media:
1. It will help you generate more leads which means an increase in revenue (enough said).2. You will build long lasting relationships by being there for your prospect at every stage of the buyer’s journey.
From the awareness to decision stage, offering beneficial, relevant content will build trust and when they are ready to buy they will ultimately choose you.
3. Buyer’s are asking questions and seeking out advice on social media before making their final decision.
4. You’ll have the ability to reach potential customer’s faster and stay up to date on their respective industries.
5. For sales reps that do invest in social media, 64% of them hit their team quota compared to only 49% of reps hitting their team quota that don’t use social media.
The numbers are there to prove it. Now you know why you should integrate social selling into your sales process we will dive into best practices to follow while prospecting.
Best Practices for Social Selling
1. Identify the social network that your potential customer’s are active on.
HINT: Businesses and decision makers are typically on LinkedIn and Twitter. Start by making a list of companies or industries that you want to connect with. LinkedIn has a feature that will populate “similar companies” or “suggested connections” based on your existing connections or recent searches. Depending on your audience, marketing on LinkedIn and marketing on Facebook might be the key you were looking for to generate leads.
2. Connect with everyone you believe is a potential customer.
You want to find the key decision maker at the company and send them a personalized invitation to connect. For example: “Hi [first name], it looks like we have a mutual connection in [name] and are in a couple of the same LinkedIn groups. Would you like to connect?” The more people you reach the more deals you will close.
3. Once you are connected, engage with your prospect when they are active.
This could include providing advice when they ask for it, commenting on their posts, or sending them a message with an article or a helpful tip that is relevant to their industry. This is not the time to dive right into your sales pitch- remember social selling is a marathon not a sprint.
4. Share relevant content in the form of blogs, case studies, videos, or podcasts.
This is an opportunity to educate prospect’s on how your company can help them grow. Decision makers will consume at least 5 pieces of credible content before engaging with a sales rep. This is the ultimate key to success. The more valuable information you can provide for your prospect the more they will turn to you as their trusted advisor.
5. Engage with trending topics by looking at #hashtags or relevant keywords.
You can either jump into the conversation if the timing is right or follow and engage with specific individuals that could be potential prospects. By doing this you will see what your prospect’s are talking about and gather more insight on what their problem is that you can help solve. If you then post content with this hashtag it will be visible to the people who have shown interest in that topic.
Last but not least, turn loyal customers into brand advocates.
People trust what their other peers are posting more than the company itself. Ask your customers to write reviews on Facebook and Google as well as share your content to their followers. Seeing real people post their experience with your company will immediately build trust among other followers.
Prospecting with a sound social media strategy will bring you great success if you follow the best practices. It requires patience and shifting your mindset from “closing the deal” to “helping a potential customer solve a pain point.” The goal is to engage the prospect through content to get them to your site and move them down your funnel.
If you’re already using social media to promote your business why not use it to generate leads too? So what are you waiting for? Get out there, share your knowledge, be an advisor and find those lifelong customers.
