Social selling: how to sell on LinkedIn
Social networks are a powerful sphere of influence in professional life. If you are interested in prospecting and selling on LinkedIn, you have almost certainly come across the concept of "social selling". This new concept has rapidly become indispensable for sales professionals.
What is social selling?
Social selling is a new marketing method that involves leveraging social networks as part of a sales process. In other words, the aim is to support our sales process through an approach that is less aggressive and that embraces the codes of social media. Since the growth of the internet and social networks, purchasing behaviour has evolved. Approximately 80% of B2B buyers no longer contact a sales representative until they have conducted their own research (reviews, comments, recommendations…). And yes, we know you do the same 😉
2 – Identify and connect with your prospects intelligently
Once your personas have been thought through and created, all that remains is to search for them on LinkedIn. To do this, an advanced search tool is at your disposal, featuring a wide range of criteria that allow for a precise, highly targeted search. If you want to go even further with your targeting, LinkedIn offers a paid tool called "Sales Navigator".
Also keep an eye on the "Who viewed your profile" section, which appears on the right-hand side of your profile page. It lets you see who has recently visited your profile, making it easier to reach out to them — since their visit suggests they are already potentially warm prospects.
Finally, focus your searches on decision-makers. These individuals have significant influence. If you can generate interactions with them through your content, you will gain credibility as an expert as well as a broader network, since these people typically have a large following.
3 – Post content and nurture your relationships
First and foremost, your content should be rooted in inbound marketing, so that prospects come to you. You should therefore educate your prospects with content that addresses their challenges and encourages them to visit your site.
Make a point of cultivating relationships by interacting and posting regularly. Consistent effort is truly the key to success. Do not expect quick returns — this is a long-term investment that can yield significant rewards.
How to measure ROI?
It is important to note that LinkedIn cannot distinguish individual reads — it can only track engagement (likes, comments and shares) on a given post. However, if you create an article using Pulse, LinkedIn can tell you who has read it. By generating a specific URL, the platform can more easily calculate views.
In short, post views have limited value in themselves — focus instead on the relevance of the people who have seen your content.
1 – Number of views per post
There are various ways to measure your return on investment. It is worth noting that here, investment is primarily measured in time. But since time is money, you get the idea 🙂
2 – Number of profile views
For profile views, the situation is different. On your profile dashboard, you will find a section called "Who viewed your profile?". A graph provides a general overview of the past few months, along with a limited list of recent visitors. Obviously, to see the full list and identify the most relevant people, you need a premium account. Clever indeed!
3 – Tracking meetings arranged via LinkedIn
You can add a field to your CRM to record meetings secured through social networks. The same approach works for quote requests coming from your website.
Bear in mind that social selling does not enable direct selling on social networks as such. It is more of a complementary tool that facilitates initial contact and increases the likelihood of a purchasing decision in your favour.
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