10 Social Selling Tips for Better Sales Prospecting on Social Media

Prospecting is a skill that can take months to master. It involves collecting contacts, researching them, and then reaching out to those contacts to make a sale. Social selling is a process that allows you to use social media platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook to prospect new customers.

While this may seem counterintuitive, in the time before the pandemic this strategy was on the rise. When lockdowns came in and in-person sales were largely hampered, social media integration became an integral component of the hybrid sales approach.

It’s incredibly effective for salespeople who are looking for new leads or clients but don’t have much time on their hands. By using social media as part of your prospecting strategy, you’ll be able to find and connect with potential customers more efficiently than ever before.

What is Social selling, and Why should you know about it?

Social selling is a sales method that uses social media to build relationships with potential customers. Social selling is different from social media marketing because it’s more personal. Social selling focuses on building relationships with people who might want to buy your products or services, and organically engaging your leads through various channels helps you close more sales.

The key to social selling is that it’s all about the customer. The best way to reach your customers is through their favorite social media platforms. If you want to be successful at social selling, you need to be able to connect with people on a personal level and build trust over time.

Social media can build relationships with potential customers and help them solve problems. It’s important to remember that the goal of social selling isn’t just to make sales but also to increase profitability. You can do this by helping your prospects understand how your products or services will benefit them and then creating a plan for how they should move forward based on that knowledge.

Now, the tips for curating and performing better sales prospecting on social media are as mentioned below:

1. Build a social prospecting strategy

If you’ve ever had to approach new prospects, you know how important it is to have a strategy. A social prospecting strategy is no different. It’s the first step in building a successful digital sales machine.

To help you get started with your social prospecting strategy, we’ve outlined some steps below:

• Define what success looks like
• Identify your target audience and identify their pain points
• Create buyer personas based on these findings
• Write content that resonates with those buyers.

2. Expand your search & profile criteria

Search for people based on their interests, skills, and location: If you don’t know your target market, it will be challenging to attract them through social media.

You need to know who they are, where they live, and what they care about before you can reach out to them on social media. Search engines like Google or LinkedIn Advanced Search Use keywords to find potential customers online.

Use the correct search terms: Your keyword research must include seeing the proper keyword phrases for your industry to find the right people with excellent engagement potential. For example, if someone searches for “I want a new software solution for my business,” there isn’t much engagement potential because no one has asked anything yet!

However, if someone searches something like “Does anyone know any good software solutions?” that would be more likely to create a scope for you to sell your services.

3. Find new contacts and collect the right data

For salespeople to succeed in their prospecting efforts, finding new leads and collecting the correct data is crucial. Fortunately, there are several tools available for social selling that will help you accomplish this task.

The first tool is LinkedIn Search, which allows users to search for potential contacts based on their job title or industry. You can also use the advanced search option to narrow down your results by keyword or location.

Another great tool is Twitter Advanced Search. You can use this tool to find people who have engaged with a brand before and those who might be interested in its offerings based on topics they tweet about frequently.

4. Find valid contact information

Finding valid contact information is challenging, but there are tools such as SignalHire email finder that make it simple. SignalHire can also be used as a Chrome search extension that provides users with valid personal & work emails and phone numbers. That’s right! Humans verify all the data to ensure every email address is accurate and every number you find can be dialed confidently.

Many websites claim to provide valid contact information, but most only offer free email addresses. We also wanted to give you access to real phone numbers, so we recommend this tool.

5. Use the right tools to manage and maintain your connections

When it comes to social selling, you need the right tools for the job. Choose a CRM to keep track of all your prospects and leads, especially if you’re working with a team. If you’re managing multiple social media accounts for different brands or clients, try using a social media management tool like HubSpot, Sprout Social, etc.

And a lead generation tool like Leadfeeder will help you identify potential buyers on social media who don’t know they need your services yet—and can help build relationships with them over time. And, if you need help with outreach campaigns that target influencers in your industry, check out apps of that niche.

6. Research leads on social sites

Social sites are excellent places to research leads. For example, you can find contact information, such as email addresses and social media accounts, through search and efficient tools like SignalHire.

You may also be able to find new contacts by searching for specific keywords or hashtags related to your target market. Once you have identified a potential lead, contact them directly through the social media platform by sending a message or direct message.

7. Organize leads into prospecting lists

Organize your leads. It’s important to organize your leads into prospecting lists so that you can easily find and reach out to them. These lists will help you stay organized and make it easier to know who needs attention.

Organize your prospects by industry, company size, geography, or other criteria that make sense for your business. You can create sublists of prospects based on their responses to previous outreach efforts, such as inbound marketing campaigns or face-to-face meetings with other salespeople at events like trade shows.

8. Share content relevant to your leads’ interests, experiences, and needs

Your social selling strategy’s prospecting phase is about earning trust and credibility with your leads. But it’s also about finding opportunities to share content that will be relevant to their interests, experiences, and needs.

You can’t just go rogue sharing every piece of content you come across. Instead, think about the following questions:

• Is this content relevant to my prospects’ interests?
• Does this piece of content align with my brand values?
• Is this piece of content relevant to my industry or niche market?

9. Show your prospects you are human – engage with them and be patient

The best way to sell on social media is by showing your prospects that you are human. That means engaging with them, being patient, and building relationships. It also means being authentic in all interactions—don’t post sales messages or product promotions unless they are appropriate for the platform.

To build trust and make the prospect feel like they can relate to you as a person, you must keep in touch with them after their initial interaction. If there are relevant news articles or company updates that would be of interest to them, share those too! You may even want to email tips on how they can get more value from using your products or services.

10. Do not turn off the salesperson until you’ve made a connection

Remember, as you’re building this relationship with your prospect and moving through the sales process, you should continue to engage with them in a way appropriate for your sales stage—not just on social media but everywhere.

Asking questions and following up with the news they’ll find interesting is excellent, but remember: don’t switch off the sales persona until you’ve made a connection and moved to the sales process.

Conclusion

Social media can be a great way to prospect for clients and grow your business, but it’s essential to remember that social selling differs from traditional sales. You need to have a strategy, keep up with the latest trends, and know how to talk about yourself on social media. That’s why we just shared our compiled tips in this article to help you navigate this new way of selling.

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