Learn how social selling can grow your customer base.
If you’re a sales professional looking to diversify your acquisition channels, then you’ve likely considered adding social selling to your list of strategies. But unless you’re already social media savvy, the thought of building an online presence to convert followers into customers can be daunting.
The good news is that social selling isn’t about selling at all—not in the sense of the cold calls and sales pitches you’re used to. Instead, it’s about connecting with leads on social platforms where they already spend most of their time and using those platforms to build trust in your brand.
To give you a clear picture of how social selling works, we share insights from an interview with Thomas Ross[1], founder of Social Selling Headquarters, a social sales training startup for sales, marketing, and customer experience professionals. We also highlight two small-business owners who have seen success from their own social selling efforts.[2-3] By the time you’re finished reading, you’ll have the tools you need to start building your own social selling strategy.
Find providers that can help with your business needs by using our lists of social media marketing agencies by location.
What is social selling?
Social selling is a sales methodology that uses social media channels to generate and nurture leads. According to Ross, it’s the “art of reaching otherwise unreachable customers and contacts where they spend nearly seven hours of their day every day. If you knew all the fish you ever wanted to catch were in one specific lake, would you bother fishing in any other lake?"
Social selling is not the same as social media marketing or even social commerce where customers purchase directly through your Facebook or Instagram profile. In fact, social selling is not about selling at all, but providing existing and potential customers with information. “When people want answers, they go online,” Ross explains. “Not to be sold, but to research.”
“When people want answers, they go online. Not to be sold, but to research.”
Thomas Ross
Founder of Social Selling Headquarters [1]
Through social selling, you can provide useful information to prospects who want to learn about your product, service, or just the problem they’re trying to solve. While there are no actual transactions involved, the content you create can build trust in your brand and inspire leads to purchase. In this way, it benefits any for-profit business looking for new ways to gain customers.
Looking for resources on social media marketing instead?
If you’re looking for assistance with social media marketing rather than social selling, consider hiring a social media marketing agency. These services help promote and market your brand on social media. They also help you understand your target audience and their likes, dislikes, and interests so you can create or improve your social media marketing strategy. Learn more here.
What are some social selling examples?
To provide you with real-world examples of social selling, we interviewed Pat Bennett[2] and Samantha Steele Hang[3], two small-business owners who have used social selling to grow their business.
Pat Bennett, Pat’s Granola
Pat Bennett is a small-business consultant from Cleveland, Ohio, who first tried social selling for her former business, Pat’s Granola, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Bennett, social selling was a necessity, as the brick-and-mortar shops that were selling her products had closed.
“I really needed to ramp up that connection with my customers so they could get to know me and my business.”
Pat Bennett
Small-business consultant [2]
“I really needed to ramp up that connection with my customers so they could get to know me and my business,” she explains. To generate interest in her product, she began creating short cooking and food preparation videos for Instagram and Facebook.
Screenshot from Bennett’s Instagram taken by author[4]
The content Bennett created not only educated followers about her product but also provided them with ways to nourish their school-aged children who were spending more time at home. Bennett primarily interacted with customers in her comments and messages, but she also made it a point to seek out and engage with users following other local food brands and hashtags.
“I became known in Northeast Ohio through the engagement I had on Instagram,” she explains, which eventually led to partnerships with other local businesses and restaurants as well as a profile in Cleveland Magazine. While Pat’s Granola ceased operations in early 2023, Bennett now uses her experience to support other small-business owners as a consultant.
/ Tech spotlight
Did you know that most social media platforms offer free business analytics tools? Bennett has used Instagram’s built-in business tools as well as LinkedIn Sales Navigator to track lead sources and engagement. She has also used customer relationship management (CRM) tools to schedule posts in advance. For free CRM tools that offer social media integration, click here.
Samantha Steele Hang, The Top Knot Realtor
Samantha Steele Hang is a licensed Realtor, mom of five, host of content pop-ups, and creator on Instagram where she is known as The Top Knot Realtor. She doesn’t have a separate personal account: It’s all in one place, which bolsters the sense of familiarity her followers get from her page.
Hang creates content for first-time home buyers and sellers. Her content includes humorous videos that answer questions such as how to build a competitive offer or how to stage your home for a showing. When asked how she plans content, Hang says, “I need to have a hook: What’s my call to action?” She plans content up to a year out, with a different topic each month.
Recording from Hang’s Instagram, taken by author[5]
Like Bennett, Hang’s social selling strategy is hyperlocal. One social selling tip she has for business leaders is to “look up your city’s hashtag, and genuinely engage with accounts that have posted recently.” These accounts include not only individuals but also local businesses, which she likes to highlight on her social media platform for those who are new to the area.
Hang’s advice for sales reps who are ready to try social selling:
“People will engage with your content when they feel like they know you and when you’re offering something that’s worth their time. If it isn’t, you’re not going to see growth on this social platform. If you want people to engage with you, get the ball rolling by engaging with them first.”
Samantha Steele Hang
Realtor [3]
What challenges should you anticipate with social selling?
According to Ross, these are some of the biggest obstacles that sales reps face when getting into social selling:
Expecting immediate results. Social selling isn’t about gaining followers overnight but about building relationships with existing and potential customers over time.
Not knowing how to engage with people online. Genuine interactions take more than likes and tags. Try commenting on a Twitter thread, sharing a follower’s story on Instagram, or initiating a conversation on LinkedIn or Facebook Messenger.
Not measuring results or key performance indicators (KPIs). Tracking progress is key for any customer acquisition strategy so you know what’s working and what isn’t. Social media analytics tools can help. Hang, for instance, knows 20% of her leads come from social media, thanks to Instagram’s business tool.
Lack of buy-in from leadership. Unless you’re a solopreneur like Bennett or Hang, social selling should be a brand-wide effort involving your marketing and customer experience teams as well as your sales team. This ensures consistency in messaging and user experience, among other benefits.
Get started with these social selling resources
Our social selling examples include tips that you can apply to your own social selling strategy. Here’s a recap:
Interact with customers in comments and direct messages.
Seek out and engage with users following related accounts and hashtags.
Create relevant content that addresses your target audience’s needs.
Don’t be afraid to personalize content for a sense of familiarity.
As your business grows, social selling tools will become a necessity. It may also benefit your business to shift the responsibilities of social selling to customer experience professionals who can pass leads on to your team when they’ve indicated they’re ready to make a purchase. The more bandwidth your business has to quickly and efficiently communicate with customers across all social channels, the better.