Koen Jordaans
·
August 11, 2023

6 Social selling strategies for an efficient approach

Social selling: definition and optimization

Unlike traditional sales, where potential customers are approached personally, social selling is all about personal branding—sharing knowledge and experiences via social media. This approach is gaining popularity, in part due to the increasing role of social media in the purchasing process. Perhaps one of the biggest advantages is the opportunity to forge a more personal connection with customers and generate more interaction. Your employees play a vital role in this approach. But, how can you take full advantage of social selling? We’ve listed six strategies for you:

1. Gain clear insight into your goals, target group, and proposition

With social selling, above all, it is important to define your goals and target group. Formulate a clear proposition and determine why you want to use social selling. With a clear vision, you can more effectively harness the possibilities.

2. Share knowledge from your field

Do not hesitate to share knowledge from your field and draw upon the expertise of your organization and employees. By doing this, you present yourself as an authority, and that is a great way to generate consumer confidence. Are you afraid that competitors will use your content? Put those worries aside. If your company stands out with unique, expert content, overlapping information will not be an impediment to your online visibility.

3. Use employee profiles to distribute content

For a better reach with social selling, you need to share content through employees' personal profiles. As brand ambassadors, each of them will become a personal brand. Together, they’ll form a network of linked profiles that help to spread your message. These are representative, accessible, and generate confidence. The consumer values honest stories from real people. With the commitment of your employees, social selling will personalize your online content.

4. Use authentic content in your posts

Your employees are also crucial for providing authentic content. By supplementing text with photos or videos, for example, your message will be even more personal and authentic. Apostle offers a special brand advocacy tool to streamline this process from start to finish, allowing your brand ambassadors to provide materials such as text or photos. You can then use these materials to easily compose, refine, and share online brand expressions on different platforms via the linked profiles of your employees.

5. Actively interact with your target group

Show interest in the customer and actively watch for comments on your posts. Replying to comments on your content is a great way to interact with your audience. Share your expert view, but also use humour. Furthermore, it is important to consistently share new content. Post new material regularly and respond to current developments. This contributes to your credibility and creates a good connection with your target group.

6. Use different types of media

With social selling, it’s important to use various types of media. For example, you could post relevant photos or vlogs from the shop floor, as well as blogs, podcasts, webinars, and white papers to both entertain and inform your followers. Find out the most effective way to share attractive, manageable, and versatile content, and tailor your strategy accordingly.

Conclusion: the success of social selling

With social selling, contact with your target group becomes much more personal. As your own employees become a personal brand, you show the human aspect of your organization and increase your visibility in the process. Through authentic content you will generate interaction, and through brand ambassadors you’ll build a strong connection with your target group. Apostle's brand advocacy tool makes it easy to activate brand ambassadors. This way, you ensure customer loyalty, but also bring employees together. Consequently, social selling also strengthens the connection between your employees and your organization. And, in times of crisis, that is more important than ever.

Schedule a discovery call with expert Koen Jordaans to discuss the options within your organization!

© Apostle Technologies 2024
Privacy Policy
Terms and conditions
GDPR
KVK: 57449104
VAT: NL852584362B01