You always wished to turn your social media interactions into true online sales opportunities? Social selling can help you realize it! If you are still hesitating to incorporate this practice into your online strategy, this blog post might be the sign you were looking for 😊

 

What is Social Selling?

Let us first define “social selling”:

Unlike traditional sales, this marketing strategy focuses on building relationships and aims to create connections through social media. The goal is to become a trustworthy partner throughout the buying process, without forcing the purchase.

Social selling relies on social media such as TikTok, LinkedIn and Instagram. It allows a brand to communicate with a wide range of potential customers, while sharing useful information.

Potential buyers can thus make an informed purchasing decision. This approach increases your brand’s visibility and helps you build key relationships with your users.

Why does Social Selling matter?

Modern consumers are more informed and therefore more demanding: they are looking for brands that offer not only quality products, but also a tailored customer experience. Social selling meets these expectations by enabling brands to interact with their target audience in a more human, more genuine fashion.

Moreover, social selling boosts customer engagement. By sharing relevant content, such as articles, videos, or testimonials, brands can spark up discussions and encourage feedback. This creates an environment where consumers feel listened to and valued.

You also need to follow the market’s latest trends and adapt your strategy accordingly. Since social media is constantly evolving, it is essential to keep up to date with new capabilities and user behaviours. For instance, Instagram stories or live posts may increase interaction with you audience.

Finally, social selling is not just about direct sales. It also allows the company to build a community around its brand. Nurturing genuine relationships with your customers can help you turn them into your best ambassadors, which in turn impacts your reputation and long-term growth positively.

In short, social selling is a powerful tool which – when used correctly – can transform the way brands interact with their customers and give their sales a huge boost.

A few examples of successful strategies

Many major brands in the Tech sector have successfully integrated social selling into their online strategy. Here are a few of them:

Dell

Dell has made the most of social selling, particularly on LinkedIn and X (ex-Twitter). The brand has trained its teams to use social media to attract new users and share key content.

Dell is not only selling its services but presenting itself as an expert in its field. It publishes a wide range of content- including study cases, articles, and analyses – and regularly hosts “Live Streams” on LinkedIn, either to provide more information on how to use its products or services, or to promote its participation in events. This type of content meets the needs of current and potential buyers.

Hubspot

Hubspot relies on Linkedin to share articles and videos to educate its target audience on digital marketing. Its objective is to provide relevant information that helps businesses overcome their digital marketing challenges. This strategy ensures that Hubspot be perceived as a trustworthy resource, which in turn draws prospects to its solutions.

Microsoft

Microsoft is also making exemplary use of social selling via Linkedin’s Sales Navigator.

Thanks to this functionality, Microsoft’s Digital Enterprise Sales team has discovered new, reliable, and stable contacts, which has helped it save time and maximise productivity.

By frequently publishing content on technological trends, Microsoft strengthens its position as a leader on this market. The brand also contributes to industry discussions, which enables it to guide prospects towards its offerings.

Although these examples involve global companies, these methods can easily be duplicated by smaller structures. 😊

Social selling: 7 best practices

Social selling plays a key role in the development of an effective marketing strategy.

Let us now look at 7 best practices you should implement to significantly improve your results:

1. Make your brand more human on social media

The key to a successful social selling strategy is to first establish a relevant communication and content strategy and to adopt a human approach.

Brands too often get carried away by excessive automation, which alienates them from their customers.

It is important to bear in mind that customers would rather interact with real people, not impersonal algorithms! Put the emphasis on the human side of your brand. In your posts, share ‘behind-the-scenes’ stories about your company and products, introduce your teams and write customized replies to the comments and messages you receive.

This content strategy improves communication, trust, and user engagement- all of which are essential to turning prospects into loyal customers.

2. Create relevant and engaging content for your audience

In social selling, content is key. However, simply publishing posts online is not enough: your content needs to meet the needs and expectations of your audience and capture its attention.

You need to identify your target audience’s needs and interrogations, then schedule all the dedicated contents you intend to post.

For instance, if you work in the Tech industry, you could post about your latest product innovation. You may also create dedicated tutorials to demonstrate how to best use your solutions and products.

Relevant content does not only intrigue, but it also helps you to position your brand as a reference in your field.

3. Increase your visibility on social media

Regarding social selling, all platforms are not equal. Each social network has its own purpose, its own audience, and its own rules. It is therefore crucial to focus all your efforts on the right platform, which matches your target audience’s interest.

For example, if you specialize in B2B solutions – like Microsoft –, LinkedIn might be your best option. On the other hand, if you intend to attract a younger audience or people who are keen on visual content, Instagram or TikTok might be more fitting. In the end, you need to choose platforms where your audience can easily get engaged and where you can consistently post relevant content.

4. Reach your goals using social ads

Although organic content is paramount, you sometimes need to push it to extend your reach. Advertising on social media enables you to target the audience likeliest to be interested in what you sell.

Rather than using ads to only promote your offerings, you should shed light on other posts, such as client testimonials, study cases, or product demonstrations.

For instance, Microsoft uses ads to showcase concrete scenarii of software use, which helps prospects make up their mind. Furthermore, retargeting is also a powerful tool which can convert visitors who are already interested in your offerings.

5. Assess and adjust your strategy

A social selling strategy should be assessed and adjusted on a regular basis to maximise its efficiency. After all, without follow-up, how can you know if your actions are paying off?

You need to use social media analysis tools to measure your performance. They should reveal what type of content creates more consumer engagement, and which format is favoured. These indicators could help you fine-tune your strategy and adjust your campaigns to maximise efficiency.

Keep in mind that continually optimising your social selling strategy is key to success!

6. Incorporate UGC (User-Generated Content) creators

One of the most powerful means of boosting your brand’s credibility is to incorporate user-generated content (UGC) into your social selling strategy. These content creators may be customers or people who do not necessarily have a huge community, who are comfortable on camera, and who will be rewarded through physical or monetary endowment.

You can always call on an agency to find UGC creators who best match your identity. They will appear to be sharing spontaneous content about your products or services, and they will often be more genuine and impactful than traditional advertising.

This approach can not only boost your offerings’ visibility but also improve trust within your community.

7. Partner up with micro-influencers

Micro-influencers and their authentic, engaged communities can have a great impact on your social selling strategy. Unlike famous influencers, they are closer to their followers, which can result in a higher engagement rate.

On each platform, you should identify micro-influencers in your sector who share similar values with your brand and partner up with them to create content that will shed light on your offerings in the most authentic way possible.

These partnerships may come in various shapes and forms, from product reviews to product demonstrations to genuine testimonials that resonate with their community and strengthen your brand’s credibility.

Bonus advice: beware of current regulation!

Finally, paying close attention to current regulation regarding business collaboration with influencers is vital. For example, French law is becoming stricter to ensure full transparency and protect consumers against misleading practices.

You must ensure that all your collaborations comply with your legal obligations locally, particularly when it comes to transparency of sponsored partnerships and ethics. Clear hashtag wordings such as ‘#sponsored’, ‘#partnerships’ or ‘#collaboration’ should be used to indicate the commercial nature of partnerships.

To avoid sanctions- and to remain trustworthy and credible in the eye of your audience – complying with current regulations is paramount.

In conclusion

In short, social selling is much more than a mere trend! It is a key lever for any brand aiming to increase their online presence and increase their sales. By adopting a human approach, creating relevant content, selecting the right platforms, using advertising, and measuring your results, you can turn your social media into powerful growth engines.

At OneChocolate, we are very much aware that adopting a customised, well-defined social media strategy is essential to perfectly meet your needs. Whether you want to increase your online visibility or fine-tune your existing strategy, a global approach that incorporates social selling, content marketing, and community management is vital.

Our team of experts is at your disposal to guide and advise you at every stage of your project. Do not hesitate to fill out our contact form.

We look forward to hearing from you! 😊

By Camille Clanché