If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know we regularly discuss social selling strategy, as do many others. But if you’re someone who learns best through visualization, you may find yourself frustrated by the lack of actual social selling examples on the web.
Read on to discover a wide variety of inspirational, real world examples of social selling best practices in action.
1. Videos + Copywriting = Qualified Leads
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is a professional services and investment company specializing in real estate. Essentially, they help commercial real estate owners make money by managing large commercial properties.
A few years ago, JLL decided to seek feedback from customers and potential buyers. They were told that the whitepapers they were using were filled with the same information everyone else was talking about.
To differentiate themselves, and better pique prospect interest, they began producing YouTube videos featuring various sales reps and property managers.
In the video below, social media sales consultant Jeff Molander does a fantastic job explaining how videos featuring good direct response copywriting (the sales script) helps JLL attract interested, qualified leads.
2. Get Your Prospect’s Attention
Gerry Moran, Head of Social Media at SAP in North America was putting off a sales proposal from PeopleBrowser because like most professionals, he was swamped.
Looking to get Gerry’s attention, PeopleBrowser’s VP, Travis Wallis, connected with Gerry via social media to start an off-topic discussion. It worked. Gerry prioritized his call with PeopleBrowser.
3. A Profile That Screams Expert and Instills Confidence
Social selling expert Barbara Giamanco walks the talk with her LinkedIn profile. Barbara’s summary and background feature customer-centric language that naturally begins the sales conversation. Her previous work and use of the LinkedIn Publishing Platform is prominently featured, leaving no doubt for profile viewers that Barbara is an expert in her field, and is highly capable of helping future customers.
4. Attract Leads via Blogging
There’s no better case for the selling power of blogging than the blog Marcus Sheridan started for River Pools and Spas. A few years ago, Sheridan set forth a simple strategy that has yielded amazing results.
Whenever a customer had a good question, he would write a helpful blog post about it. And today, these blog posts not only elevate the authority of River Pools and Spas within the pool industry, but also attract thousands of potential buyers monthly via organic search. The posts also serve as content assets that can expertly answer buyer questions in a snap.
You don’t need to have the most educational blog in your industry to be effective. Just strap on a helpful mindset, jump into the content marketing pool and eventually you’ll be swimming in the deep end with the other experts.
5. Ask a Question That Starts a Conversation with the Right People
As a Web Marketing & Social Media Consultant, blog consulting is a primary offering for Rich Brooks.
By posing a well-thought out question in a LinkedIn Group, Rich kills two birds with one stone by attracting ideal prospects and starting a conversation with them.
6. Just Plain Old Help at Its Finest
Here, Douglas Karr embodies what a LinkedIn Group discussion should be; members helping members. By answering the question without selling, there’s a good chance Gina (and all others who are looking for an answer to this question) will want to know more about this helpful person (Douglas) and either click to view his profile or check out his offerings via search.
7. Demonstrate Expertise and Attract the Right Audience via the LinkedIn Publishing Platform
More professionals are consuming content on LinkedIn, where more than 1.5 million publishers use the “Share” button to send content to the LinkedIn platform. New research has found that these active sharers spend eight hours per week consuming professionally relevant content (i.e. your content).
Susan Strayer LaMotte uses the LinkedIn platform to publish content related to talent, HR and recruiting strategies that serves to attract a relevant audience to her message, her company and her LinkedIn profile.
We can never have too many examples of stellar social selling in action. What are yours? Tweet us @LinkedInSelling.
Topics: Modern selling
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