Engage your Fans on Social Media to Grow Leads
You have a challenging task in front of you, taking your sales team from good to great. Lead generation resources are plentiful and make it easier to accomplish this goal, but you still have a long road to get from point A to point B.
Want to short circuit this process and get the results you want? Does a lead generation pipeline that’s free and works 24/7 sound like it’s a good fit for your organization?
Social media is the secret selling weapon that you’ve been waiting for. Too many companies set up social profiles and post about a few discounts or share company news. They don’t consider this channel the center of a robust lead generation strategy. At most, they treat it as a marketing channel. Social media selling opens up high quality leads that your sales team will love to work with.
What is Social Media Selling
Social media selling looks a lot different from the typical sales pitch. You aren’t going through an entire spiel to try and convince a person to buy your products or services. In fact, most of the time your sales team won’t be talking about your offerings at all.
Instead, you engage with your customers and potential leads on social media pages. Listen to what they have to say and have conversations with everyone stopping by. Follow the same brands and influencers that your target audience does, so you learn more about what’s important to them.
Follow the Three Rules of Social Selling
- Stop yourself from talking about your products and services unless it’s incredibly relevant to the conversation.
- Don’t talk about yourself. This conversation is about the consumer, not your company.
- Be authentic and don’t come off like you’re reading from a sales script.
What’s In It For the Customer?
Many companies think that social selling only revolves around posting constantly about their products, services or how they stack up against the competition. They show off their awards, post testimonials and talk about employees. The “me me me” approach doesn’t endear you to social media followers.
They’re asking themselves “What’s in it for me?” There are millions of social media accounts to follow. If you don’t offer a compelling reason for this audience to stick around, they’re headed elsewhere.
The Three Keys to Social Engagement
Educate
Buyers go through many stages in their journey from an interested person to a customer. They often start out without knowing a lot about ways to fix a problem or to improve their quality of life. Educate potential customers with the information they need to make informed choices on the best solutions for them.
Excite
Don’t do the same things as everyone else. Look for ways to stand out and offer customers a different experience. Position yourself as the go-to company in your industry, rather than a follower.
Engage
Have a conversation with interested audience members. The most important thing you can do right now is to listen. Understand what they’re asking, the pain points that influence these questions and the best way to convey information to them.