Social media is a gateway to closing a sale. In this sense, business generation is becoming increasingly digital. Within the channels, Social Selling on LinkedIn (specifically) is gaining increasing strength.
What is Social Selling on LinkedIn?
Social Selling is a sales technique that uses social media to generate business opportunities, combining marketing and communication actions with sales actions. Although it can be adapted to any social network, the priority is to implement a Social Selling strategy on LinkedIn, as this network is geared towards the professional sector.
The truth is that LinkedIn has become the ideal platform for Social Selling, especially in the B2B field, as it allows you to connect directly with decision-makers and relevant professionals from various sectors.
Starting point: Social Selling Index on LinkedIn
The LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI) is a scoring system that LinkedIn provides. To calculate it, LinkedIn considers your personal brand, the network you generate, your interactions, and the relationships you have created.
It also gives you insight into where you stand in relation to people in your industry, as well as in relation to your network of contacts.
Therefore, checking the SSI should be the first thing we consider before we start defining the strategy. It will tell us which of the four aspects that make up the LinkedIn Social Selling Index we should work on the most to optimize this channel for generating leads on LinkedIn.
How do I view my LinkedIn Social Selling?
Accessing this information is quite simple; you need to follow these three simple steps:
- Make sure your LinkedIn session is active. Log in if it is not.
- Click here
- Click the “Get your Score” button
How to improve my Social Selling on LinkedIn
You now have a first picture of how your Social Selling Index stands, and now it’s time to draw up the main lines of your strategy. To be effective, remember that the pillars on which it is based must be the following.
Establish your professional brand
LinkedIn refers to you as a brand in the first category. It makes a lot of sense to actively promote your personal brand since the leads you generate will be checking out who you are.
First impressions count, and remember you only have one bullet.
Supervitamin your profile
Your profile must include all relevant factors. Remember that the first thing a prospect will do when you contact them is to check who you are and analyze whether they should invest their precious time in having a conversation with you.
Find the right people
LinkedIn considers your network. In fact, pulling up your Social Selling Index score will give you critical insights into how you stack up in your industry and about your entire network.
The advice here is to be selective with the people you add and to consider the Buyer Persona when prospecting.
Prospecta con Sales Navigator
Sales Navigator is a very powerful tool for prospecting. It allows you to sift through the entire LinkedIn network using numerous parameters, allowing you to target with a telescopic view.
LinkedIn is interested in you subscribing to Sales Navigator. They know it has an application in Social Selling, and they want you to try it, fall in love with it, and pay for it.
Automate the conversation
Many tools on the market can help you with automation. The most important thing is that it allows you to connect with Sales Navigator to import leads directly from your account to the tool of your choice.
Once you have imported the leads, it’s time to set up automated flows so that they can dress, invite and send the messages you have predefined in your strategy.
Remember that the key to Social Selling on LinkedIn is human conversation. If you automate the conversation, it will be sequential, meaning it will stop when there is a response so that human contact can come in.
Interact by offering information
Engagement is key on any social network, so it should come as no surprise that to increase the Social Selling index on LinkedIn, you need to encourage it. Therefore, it is important to follow, comment on, share, and react to your target’s posts.
Join relevant groups in your sector
In addition, we advise you to actively participate in groups related to your sector to increase your visibility and establish valuable connections.
Additionally, if you remember that we previously talked about exporting leads to automation software, an alternative to extracting leads is to export them once you are accepted into these groups without paying and subscribing to Sales Navigator.
Follow companies and top voices
It can also be crucial to keep up to date with the latest trends and news from leading companies, whether competitors in your sector to know what’s happening and who’s reacting or companies in your target audience. This will help you focus the content you produce and have topics of conversation once those prospects are already in your network.
On the other hand, react to the posts of the top voices, those relevant personalities, influencers, so to speak, who sneak into the feed more efficiently. Making relevant comments on their posts will also give you extra visibility.
Create relationships
The relationships forged within this social network are essential for increasing LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index. To do this, you must pay attention to your network. Do not, for example, leave comments on your posts without responding. You know, it is well-born to be grateful.
Consider the people you interact with at work. Just as getting good reviews is essential for your GBP, to improve this aspect, don’t forget to highlight the exemplary skills of your colleagues or former colleagues and other professional contacts you work with. The principle of reciprocity is very likely to work.
Measure and optimize your strategy
Suppose there is one advantage that digital business generation has over traditional business generation. In that case, we have the power to be like the old lady behind the village curtain: we can know everything.
Therefore, in Social Selling and any digital strategy, data must indicate where we are and the path we have taken. If we are moving towards the goal, it will be a reason for joy; if we are deviating, it will be a good time to correct it.
Track your LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI)
The SSI is updated once a day. To check whether your strategy is working, regularly check how you are progressing in each of the four sections we have discussed. Observe what is working and what is not and iterate accordingly.
