Social

The Powerful Force of Social Sales [INFOGRAPHIC]

Everyone knows that social media is an invaluable tool for branding, networking, and consumer engagement. You might be surprised to know, however, that social selling can also be a staple for your B2B sales arm.

Platforms like LinkedIn are power tools because they:

  1. Nurture long-term business relationships with minimal investment
  2. Leverage content as the driving force between strong interpersonal bonds
  3. Promote a ‘network effect’ between sales reps and decision makers
  4. Facilitate an unobtrusive communication channel

Think – the beauty of online dating for the powerful world of sales.

LinkedIn has partnered with Aberdeen Group to help educate businesses about social selling – which is inseparable from your social content strategy. Think of content marketing as your introductory handshake. Platforms like LinkedIn are the digitized conferences, parties, and industry directories that help make those handshakes happen.

infographic-linkedin-social-selling-impact-aberdeen-2013-report-1-1024

Why This Visual Rocks

LinkedIn and Aberdeen Group have done a great job illustrating why sales teams should be more social: boost customer renewals and increase quotas. LinkedIn is a platform that’s experiencing rapid growth and provides a powerful platform for connecting with new prospects.

The infographic simplifies three core components of social selling:

  1. Finding prospects, and understand their values
  2. Reaching out – connect to learn more, or just say hi
  3. Sharing insights – here’s where content marketing comes in to help build the relationship

Finally, props to LinkedIn for projecting their brand and leveraging content marketing to advertise their sales solutions platform. Some brands shy away from being salesy, but LinkedIn pulls it off. Remember that content marketing is a powerful way to help move prospects through your conversion funnel. Self-promotion is totally acceptable along the way.

Room for Improvement

The infographic is conceptually strong but suffers from a lack of clarity. First of all, LinkedIn should define the concept of social selling. What is it? How is it different from traditional selling? An introductory section could do wonders for unifying the rest of the content within this infographic – as is, the core messaging is a bit fragmented.

Then there’s the section about the LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI). The section is convoluted and difficult to understand. What exactly is the SSI, and why should non-LinkedIn employees care? What value does this quantitative framework bring to typical sales groups?

LinkedIn could also share examples of best-practices for finding prospects, building connections, and sharing insights. Here is a perfect opportunity to bridge a direct connection to content marketing.

The idea behind this visual is strong, so look past the conceptual disjoints and gray areas to focus on the message’s core value. Get social about your sales.

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