Many were doubtful about LinkedIn and its purpose, but the platform has been consistently developing and improving. Now, it’s one of the top three most effective marketing and advertising platforms in the world. So, if you haven’t considered LinkedIn until now, this is your signal to change your mind.
So, how does the whole “social selling” concept fit into the LinkedIn context? Social selling is a practice where salespeople use their social network profiles to interact with prospective customers directly. And, what better place to do that than LinkedIn?
In this article, we’ll discuss why you should consider social selling on LinkedIn, its benefits, and how to motivate your employees to become a part of your LinkedIn social selling team. Let’s dive in.
Why Should You Consider Social Selling on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is a well-known platform that focuses on the business side of the internet. It’s one of the most effective ways to generate qualified leads and increase your sales. Because of this, reaching your target customers is also much easier and more effective. If you’re not convinced, here are some stats that will change your mind:
- LinkedIn currently has over 500 million active users
- Almost a half of users (40%) uses LinkedIn daily
- LinkedIn is responsible for over 50% of all social traffic for all B2B companies
- Over 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn
LinkedIn Social Selling Benefits
All these numbers further prove how LinkedIn can be an effective marketing tool if used correctly, and social selling is probably one of the best ways to achieve your marketing goals and dreams. Let’s discuss some benefits of social selling on LinkedIn.
Improved Brand Visibility
If your employers are updating and optimizing their LinkedIn profiles and sharing company content, not only does it look better, but it also improves your brand visibility. Each of your employees has their own set of friends and followers on LinkedIn; many of them have never heard of your company. So, if they use their profiles to share content, more people will familiarize themselves with your brand.
Generating More Leads
Because your brand’s visibility will increase, consequently, you’re more likely to generate sales-ready leads. Social sellers are a great way to reach a wider audience because the customers view them as word-of-mouth recommendations, which is always more trustworthy than regular ad space.
Increased Website Traffic
The more content you share, the more people will see it. The more people see your content; the chances are that at least a fraction of that audience will visit your website and end up purchasing your product. So, social selling is like a buy one – get one for free type of thing. It works in multiple ways – improving visibility, generating leads, boosting traffic, and improving conversions.
How to Motivate Your Employees to Try Social Selling on LinkedIn
If you think that LinkedIn social selling is something you’ll excel at, asking your employees to participate is a great way to start racking in those sales. There’s no one better to promote your company and share content than your employees. They’re familiar with the service and mission and will be the best advocates you can find. Here’s how you can motivate them to engage in social selling.
Explain the Benefits
First, explain how this would be beneficial for the company. However, don’t stop there – instead, you can even offer some incentives to increase their motivation further. They’re already booked up with existing work, so offering some cool benefits will definitely motivate them to engage in social selling. Provide them with gifts, bonuses, and other incentives to show how you value their time and support.
Provide Training
Not everyone knows how to operate social media properly. Some like to overshare, while others like to keep it private. You shouldn’t let anyone write whatever they want, especially if they represent your brand. To ensure that social selling goes smoothly, provide your employees with quality training. Organize a workshop and discuss important do’s and don’ts, as well as other tips and techniques on how to optimize the social selling process within your company.
Provide Specific Guidelines
Make sure that you create specific guidelines and rules to avoid any trouble in the future. While social sharing is partially about using your own voice to generate leads, you have to remember that your employees represent your brand. So, teaching them what they should and shouldn’t do is a must. Otherwise, it can have a negative impact on your brand’s reputation.
Purchase Tools
Lastly, make sure to provide them with tools they can use to improve their social selling efforts. If they’ve already decided that they want to invest extra time in helping your business bloom, you should at least give them high-quality tools to aid their efforts. The last thing they’d want is to spend their hard-earned money to earn your company more money. So, don’t be cheap and equip your employees with proper social selling tools and software to maximize the gains.
