How to generate revenue from the social selling program? 4 pillars

According to the Forrester report (June 2017) on the formalization of social selling programs, as many as 77% of companies indicated that they have developed or are in the process of creating a formal social selling program. The research was conducted on a group of 265 decision-makers holding the positions of marketing and sales directors (from the USA, Great Britain, Singapore and Australia). The analysis concerned organizations employing over 500 people (RAPORT, Social Selling B2B Imperative).

In Poland, we are at the beginning, although more and more companies include social selling in their official strategies. 

What areas does social selling affect in the organization and what are the key pillars of the social selling program at the level of medium and large companies?
To learn more, see the article below!

THE INCREASE OF SALES IN THE COMPANY IS AFFECTED BY (1) THE COMMITMENT OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD

Faith in and commitment of the management board are absolute essentials that I always put first.

In social selling programs, we are dealing with a big change in the organizationTherefore, it is advisable for all of them to be cascaded. Without the “a blessing from the top of the mountain,” it will be hard to talk about the commitment and faith of the leadership. And if there is a lack of commitment among managers (especially at the level of Head of Sales) — driving change in a bottom-up manner may end in a fiasco.

THE FIRST SUCCESSES OF THE SOCIAL SELLING PROGRAM GENERATE MOTIVATION AND DRIVE SALES

Buy-in building is a process that takes place along with the development of the program and begins to gain momentum after the first tangible results are achieved.

You also need the involvement of the sales teams themselves. Some people want to implement the change right away, some need the first effects to be believed by all. Yet another group may never be persuaded.

It is also necessary to involve marketing teams and experts who will be responsible for creating the content needed to implement the program. More importantly, the social selling program does not have to be limited to salespeople only..

Additionally, people from outside the above-mentioned departments can support their company (including by sharing content). Thanks to this, each person in the organization can actually contribute to the achievement of the goals of the program. All they have to do is have their profile on LinkedIn.

CONSEQUENCE COUNTS IN INCREASING SALES THROUGH SOCIAL SELLING

In this area, it is important to properly set expectations related to the effects and to constantly build commitment. Both programs in which I participate myself as well as the foreign programs, all have one thing in common — the aforementioned commitment.

Its shape resembles a sine wave that needs more “puzzle blocks” for the organization to enter a higher level of program maturity. In the beginning, the crew has a high level of enthusiasm, but then emotions begin to subside. This happens for a variety of reasons. However, the subsiding enthusiasm most often happens due to impatience … and this impatience happens because of the lack of success in the initial stages.

(2) CONTENT MARKETING, AN ELEMENT WITHOUT WHICH THE PROGRAM HAS NO CHANCE OF SUCCESS

Social selling programs require a constant supply of content. However —and this is very important — it cannot be random content. It must be valuable content resulting from the marketing strategy that will support customers in their digital shopping journeys.

This approach to content means a lot of work in the initial phases of the program (especially on content strategy), including the development of purchasing persons, regular cooperation among several teams and harmonizing definitions (ie, what is a lead?). Integration resources and processes are needed to remove barriers between sales and marketing.

WHO NEEDS TO COOPERATE IN CREATING CONTENT FOR SOCIAL SELLING?

At least 4 key groups need to be mentioned here:

• Marketers responsible for creating content (preferably with the person responsible for content, aka “Owner”).
• Experts whose substantive input is necessary to create content.
• Salespeople who, by virtue of their role, are closest to customers and their problems, and who use content in their sales processes.
• External agencies responsible for social selling, social media and content marketing.

INCREASING SALES THROUGH SOCIAL SELLING IS EQUAL TO ITS TRANSFORMATION AND (3) A MODERN APPROACH

In order for social selling activities to bring tangible and regular results, they should result from the sales strategy in which the company takes into account digital transformation. What is also important is that the company should treat them as one of the “tools in the merchant’s inbox” — on par with such necessary elements as his phone, computer and e-mailbox.

It is very important for salespeople to feel that the company takes social selling activities seriously. One negative sentence from the head of sales or a board member (such as “Stop playing on social media and just get some real sales”) not only has the potential to destroy all training as well as bury the commitment to the program that has been ignited by weeks, but also can diminish potential sales.

Additionally, in order to implement activities in the area of social selling, processes and regular activities on the part of traders and a consultative approach are necessary. Customers no longer feel like they are being contacted by an aggressive salesperson. Instead, the customer wants to cooperate with an expert. Such a change should apply to both salespeople and sales managers. And most importantly, it must be supported any C-level management.

In order to increase sales through social selling, it is necessary to change the optics from “today” to “in a moment” and / or build a bridge strategy.

(4) TOOL AND ORGANIZATION SUPPORT ON THE WAY TO INCREASE SALES THROUGH SOCIAL SELLING

The fourth pillar of social selling programs is the constant and cyclical support of the organization in its transformation. Most often, marketing is the initiator of social selling programs and it is on its side that full support from traders and attorneys lies.

MARKETING EMPLOYEES HAVE A LARGE PART OF THIS

Marketing begins to play a strategic role in the organization and is no longer only responsible for delivering leaflets and exhibition stands. Instead, it actively participates in the sales process at all its stages (for example, by creating content). The marketing department also provides relevant training and entire marketing campaigns, which are extended in social selling on the sales side.

TOOLS AND THEIR IMPACT ON SALES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Another important element is tools that support both the transformation process and regular social selling activities. Particularly noteworthy are those that allow you to automate certain activities, and thus, save time (eg Sales Navigator or social selling platforms). This is where we need to implement measurements based on KPI’s to know if the program is successful within a certain period of time.

SOCIAL SELLING ALLOWS INCREASED SALES IN THE COMPANY – SUMMARY

I describe the above pillars as not only a model, but also as being necessary for an advanced and fast-paced social selling program. Each of these four pillars can be described as a separate process that requires an appropriate amount of both time and work.

This is due to the fact that each pillar is a kind of a separate slider (built of consecutive “sliders”). Their location changes with the development of programs. The conditions for different organizations may be different, and actions at the level of strategy and specific activities should be adapted to the current digital maturity of the organization.

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