Social selling in 2024

Social selling has emerged as one of the most effective sales methods in today's commercial landscape. It offers companies an opportunity to focus on their prospects via social networks, establishing solid relationships with potential leads. Its power lies in its ability to create lasting links and build bridges to conversion.

What's the difference between Social Selling and Social Media?

It should be pointed out, however, that social selling differs from advertising or marketing on social networks. Instead, it focuses on nurturing relationships within the sales tunnel, emphasizing authentic exchanges rather than promotional speeches.

Even if you're already using social selling intuitively, this comprehensive guide is designed to offer an in-depth view of this method. It covers everything you need to know to master the art of selling via social networks.

How to use Social Selling?

Social selling focuses on the quality of interactions rather than quantity. It's about giving meaning to your exchanges, positioning your brand as a solution to a need, thereby reinforcing trust and loyalty towards your company.

It's not easy for brands to stand out on the networks, and offer quality content, for their target audience. According to Hootsuite, 34% of consumers consider excessive self-promotion to be a major hindrance in the way they perceive brands, and 56% believe that brands should be more accessible and understandable. Despite this, almost half (48%) of marketers continue to regularly publish news and information about products or brands several times a week.

Proven effectiveness: Data from LinkedIn Sales Solutions shows that companies that are leaders in social selling generate 45% more sales opportunities than those with a lower SSI. What's more, those who do so are 51% more likely to reach their sales quotas, and 78% of them outperform companies not engaged in social networking in terms of sales.

Genuine relationships: Social selling offers your sales teams the opportunity to establish genuine relationships. It enables you to get in touch with potential customers who are already active on social networks, and the use of social listening tools can even identify leads interested in your company or industry. Around 22% of social network users are actively looking for content from their favorite brands, but the majority are primarily looking to make connections, share their opinions, meet new people or join communities that are relevant to them.

Social selling offers fertile ground for understanding and meeting the needs of potential customers, going far beyond a simple advertising or promotional approach. It's a strategy that relies on engagement and building strong relationships, crucial aspects for long-term success in a business landscape increasingly focused on human interaction.

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Opportunity and competitiveness

Authentic relationships are the key to successful social selling. Consumers seek meaningful connections with brands, where authenticity plays a crucial role in building trust, a fundamental element in customer loyalty.

Here are two more points to underline the importance of social selling:

Massive adoption of social buying: More and more people are using social networks, offering brands unprecedented sales opportunities. The statistics speak for themselves : nearly 4.74 billion people are active on social networks worldwide, with a significant increase of 190 million additional users in 2022 alone. Some 27% of Internet users use social networks to search for shopping ideas, while 26.2% make direct purchases. What's more, almost half of all users log on to discover new brands and products, and 77% of individuals discover new products on social networks. In short, these users are ready to make a purchase.

Competitiveness on social networks: Your competitors are already active in social selling. Presence on social networks and interaction with potential customers have become business norms. Data from Statista underlines the scale of this trend: sales made on social networks in 2022 have been estimated at almost 992 billion US dollars worldwide. Not engaging in social selling means potentially missing out on a significant share of this fast-growing market.

How can I analyse my social selling actions?

The Social Selling Index (SSI) is a key indicator for measuring the impact of a brand's social selling efforts. Introduced by LinkedIn in 2014, it combines four main components to assess performance on a daily basis:

1. Creating a professional brand with a well-managed LinkedIn profile
2. Identifying the right audience on the platform
3. Share relevant content to spark conversations
4. Building and consolidating relationships

Your SSI score, available in your LinkedIn dashboard, represents a starting point for improving your social selling strategy. It's an invaluable tool for measuring and reinforcing your presence on social networks, with a view to greater efficiency in converting prospects into customers.

LinkedIn's Social Selling Index (SSI) provides a valuable indication of where you stand in your industry and in relation to other members of your professional network.

A good SSI score is close to 100, the maximum score. LinkedIn claims that the most successful companies in social selling generally achieve an SSI of at least 75.

Ultimately, the important thing is to use the platform that your audience favors and that your company can consistently use for qualified leads. These platforms offer unique opportunities to interact, influence and generate sales, but the approach needs to be tailored to each platform to get the most out of it.

Social selling is a powerful weapon that we recommend you include in your prospecting strategy.

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