Social selling how-to

Social selling

how-to

Henna NiiranenNice to meet you!

Social selling evangelist, content-driven marketer,

pineapple lover and account manager at Differo

@DifferoFI

@Differolaiset

@HennaNiiranen

@henna_niiranen

https://fi.linkedin.com/in/hniiranen

https://www.youtube.com/user/eehesu

AgendaOur topics today…

1. Why?

2. What?

3. How?

4. What’s next?

1.

Why are we even talking

about “social selling”?

Information is availabe to everyone:

• During each minute, 2.4 million searches are run through Google

• The Finns excecute around 30 million searches per day

Social media is everywhere and everybody consumes social media:

• 467 million users of LinkedIn (Finland: around 1 million)

• Twitter reaches 317 million active users monthly

• 1.8 billion (!) users utilize Facebook every month (Finland: > 50% of the

population, 47% use YouTube)

Change in the buyers’ behaviour

We don’t go online, we live online

Buyer’s journey

B2B buyers start their buying process online as well

• Almost 80% of a B2B buyer's information retrieval process has been done before

any contact with the seller

• Over 80% of B2B buyers are available on social media platforms

• As many as 75% of B2B buyers utilize social media in their information retrieval

• Only 2.5% of cold calls lead to an appointment

• Sales people are no longer the primary source of information

• It is possible to use technology to track a buyer’s journey online

Change in the B2B buyers’ behaviour

Yeah, they are humans as well

Buyer’s journey

Steady state

Tips, trends,

ideas,

research

reports...

Awareness

Lists, how-to’s, FAQs,

news...

Consideration

Cases,

testimonials,

calculations,

demos,

comparisons...

Buyer

Product

information,

capabilities of

the team

How can I use the

product even

better?

ProspectLead

Customer

2.

What is “social selling”?

Utilizing social media platforms to

build personal relationships and trust

with the potential buyer,

aiming to help her during

the decision-making process.

Definition of social selling

Social selling enriches the relationship with

(potential) customers, and it improves the

sales process and the customer

experience. It allows the touchpoints

with you and your company to be more

personal and tailored. It gives more

possibilities to the customers to interact

with other experts not just the sales

people.

Still, it’s all about understanding what the

buyer needs and helping her to achieve

that. Just as in the traditional sales process.

Osaaminen

Who do

you think

you are

Personal

How others see & feel you

Personal brand

It exists, whether you take care of it or not.

Think about it from these perspectives:

× Career development and paths

× Your current employer and future

colleagues

× Opinion leaders in your industry

× Your team & employees

× Your (potential) customers

• A way to build trust and personal relationships through social media channels and

other network tools

• In the long run, with decent goals and activity, social selling increases...

• Your understanding of your current and potential customers, their needs and

motives

• The appeal of your company (human2human) and the recognizability of your

brand

• Your own credibility as a leader

• Your personal brand as a thought leader in your industry

• The number of leads and sales with better quality

What is social selling?

• Hassling around social media alone, in your own silo (”somehörhöily”)

• Constant shouting about the content your company's marketing department has

produced

• Chatting, instagramming, posting videos to YouTube, snapchatting etc. 24/7

• An automatic lead generator

• Only the responsibility of those whose business card says something about SALES

What social selling is NOT

Social selling requires…

× Time

× Focus

× Goals

× Content

× Patience

It’s not a sprint, but a marathon!

3.

How to succeed in social

selling

Optimize

your personal

social media

profiles

Your social media profiles

should show…

× Your expertise

× The themes you are interested in

× The themes your company is talking about

× The themes your customers are interested in

× How you can help your network

× That you are really you (read between the

lines: pay attention to similar branding across

different platforms)

Optimize

your personal

social media

profiles

How to do it:

× LinkedIn headline

× LinkedIn summary

× LinkedIn position description

× Twitter summary

× Hashtags

× Branding across platforms

× Significant amount of

information about Wirepass

× Profiles look the same on LI

+ TW

× What value can Jani offer?

How can he personally

help?

Tips:

× Creative headline (ok, this one is too long ;))

× Topics I can help with

× Links to other channels

× Presentations

× Links to the company website

Twitter

YouTube

Tips:

× Hashtags

× Link to LinkedIn

× Same profile pic & header across

channels

“Take a look at your social media profiles.

What should you optimize based on what you

have just learned?

Write down 3-5 things you need to correct.

Set targets &

goals

What you are trying to achieve?

Think about it from these perspectives:

× Target groups / potential buyers / potential

employees / opinion leaders in the industry

× Your message and value to different target

groups

× Your expertise areas

× Your passion (it shows!)

Keep in mind your company’s strategy!

Set targets &

goals

How much time are you

willing to invest?

With a decent amount of time, you can achieve quite

a lot – you just need to stick with your plan!

× 15-30 mins per day to share, like, retweet etc.

× 60-120 mins once a week to write a blog or

network

How much time do you usually allocate to sales?

Set targets &

goals

How much time are you

willing to invest?

LinkedIn/"State of Sales in 2016"

“Write down...

× 1-3 of your most important target

groups

× Your message and value per target

group

× The themes and hashtags you want

to be remembered for

× How much time you will invest. Mark

up the slots in your calendar!

Networking

Who are you trying to reach

and where do you find them?

× LinkedIn, Twitter, other channels?

× Company blog? Guest blogging?

× Events?

× _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ???

Remember to connect digitally with those people

you meet f2f!

“Think about your latest f2f connections.

Did you connect with them on LinkedIn?

Did you start to follow them on

Twitter?

Did you find out if they write a blog?

Did you check out their company’s

website?

If not, why not?

Create content

Content pillar approach

Utilize the same content from

different angles!

“Think about the themes you selected,

upcoming sales meetings and events

you are about to participate in.

Write down a short plan to create

content based on these.

× Blog?

× SlideShare?

× LinkedIn/Twitter updates?

Learn &

optimize

It’s a continuous ride...

Be patient. Building up your personal brand &

network takes time. You will see the 1st results in a

few months, but generating sales takes more time.

Be brave and try out different approaches. It might

be a surprise what works and what is not that

effective.

Utilize the information you gather from the net.

Learn &

optimize

Social listening is a

way to gather

information about

your potential

customers.

× Their company’s

figures, strategy,

competitors and

thought leaders

× Their connections,

themes and the

platforms they

are using

Source

Six steps to

social selling

UndestrandingWhy should I even care

about social selling?

Personal brandWhat is my value to my

potential customers? How

do I show it? Optimize your

social media profiles

accordingly.

Targets & goalsWhat am I trying to

achieve and how much time

am I willing to invest?

What is my company’s

strategy?

NetworkingWho am I trying to interact

with? What platforms am I

using?

Create contentWhat are my expertise

areas and what do I feel

passionate about? What is

my company’s strategy?

Learn & optimizeBe patient, learn from your

network and have fun!

LinkedIn

Tips

× If you are not connected with the prospect, start to

“Follow” her

× Like, comment or share the same updates as your

prospect

× Like, comment or share the content she has created

× Join the same LinkedIn groups

× Follow her company

Twitter

Tips

× Find her Twitter handle and start to “Follow” her

× Like, comment or retweet the same updates as your

prospect

× Like, comment or retweet the content she has created

× Follow her company

× Add her to a public list

× Find out who her colleagues are and start to follow them

as well

× Start a conversation with her

LinkedIn Sales

Navigator

What it’s about?

× Recommends leads based on your and

the potential customer’s activity

× Enables you to find leads with “lead

builder”

× Gives you real-time updates on

prospects and customers

× Shows “who's viewed your profile” in

the last 90 days

× Reach out to any LinkedIn member with

InMail

Before reaching out to leads via LinkedIn,

your basic profile needs to be in a decent

shape!

4.

What’s next?

Checklist

Come back to this every once in a while!

I have the same profile picture across social media platforms

I have the same header picture across social media platforms

I have linked my social media profiles across different platforms

I have tweeted once

I follow 20+ interesting prospects on Twitter

I have 20+ interesting followers on Twitter

I have optimized my LinkedIn summary & headline

I have added all my latest contacts to my LinkedIn network

I have published an update on LinkedIn

I have used 15 minutes daily on active networking on social media platforms

I have published a blog post on LinkedIn Pulse or other media

I have utilized the content pillar approach

I have new contacts because of my activity on social media platforms

Someone has given me postive feedback on my presence on social media

I found a qualified lead from social media

Thank you!Henna

Tel. +358504860775

[email protected]

@DifferoFI

@Differolaiset

@HennaNiiranen

@henna_niiranen

https://fi.linkedin.com/in/hniiranen

https://www.youtube.com/user/eehesu