Leveraging Social Media for Sales

Want your words to actually sell? Here’s a simple roadmap I've found incredibly helpful: Think of crafting your message like taking someone on a mini-journey: 1. Hook them with curiosity: Your headline is the first "hello."  Make it intriguing enough to stop the scroll.  Instead of just saying "Email Marketing Tips," try something like "Want a 20% revenue jump in the next 60 days? (Here's the email secret)."  See the difference? Promise + Specificity = Attention. 2. Tell a story with a villain: This might sound dramatic, but hear me out.  What's the problem your audience is facing?  What's the frustration, the obstacle, the "enemy" they're battling?  For the email example, maybe it's "wasting hours on emails that no one opens."  Giving that problem a name creates an instant connection and a sense of purpose for your solution. 3. Handle the "yeah, but..." in their head: We all have those internal objections.  "I don't have time," "It costs too much," "Will it even work for me?"  Great copy anticipates these doubts and addresses them head-on within the message. 4. Show, don't just tell (Proof!): People are naturally skeptical.  Instead of just saying "it works," show them.  Even a simple "Join thousands of others who've seen real results" adds weight. Testimonials, even short ones, are gold. 5. Make it crystal clear what you want them to do (CTA):   Don't leave them guessing!  "Learn the exact steps in my latest guide" or "Grab your free checklist now" are direct and tell them exactly what to do and what they'll get.  Notice the benefit in the CTA example: "Get sculpted abs in just 4 weeks without dieting." And when you're thinking about where you're sharing this (LinkedIn post, email, etc.), there are different ways to structure your message. The P-A-S (Problem-Agitate-Solution) or A-I-D-A (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action) frameworks are classics for a reason. The core difference I've learned? Good copywriting isn't about shouting about your amazing product. It's about understanding them – their challenges, their desires – and positioning your solution as the answer in a way that feels like a conversation, not a sales pitch.

How I'd fill pipeline as an AE if I started fresh today. (Send this to your Slack group) Here is my plan: 1. Find Active Buyers The secret? Focus on prospects who posted in the last 30 days. Response rates are 2x higher from active profiles. Quick setup in Sales Nav: ↳ Create saved searches by seniority ↳  Build targeted prospect lists ↳ Update lists weekly for fresh leads Smart reps look for prospects who are active. 2. Strategic Outreach     Too many people say never do a cold dm, and tell you to sit back and wait. Please don't listen to this advice. Here's what I would do: ↳ Block 1 focused hour daily ↳ Send 20-30 targeted messages ↳ Be brief, brilliant, gone Example framework: "Reason I am reaching out [specific insight] → This matters to you because [direct benefit] → Imagine [concrete result/use ask] → CTA [simple, compelling next action]" The big fat pipeline is in the outreach. 3. Smart Engagement Don't just drop "Great post!" comments. Like real talk.. please don't do this. Start real conversations instead. The framework: ↳ Find a post ↳ Share specific insights from their content ↳ Ask one thought-provoking question Now if you did 20 messages a day check the math: 400 messages/month 10% conversion rate = 40 meetings/month There are no silver bullets. This is just an example, If you stay consistent what could happen. Stay prospecting my friends. ----- P.S. Mention someone who could benefit from this strategy. P.S.S. Which step are you going to use today?

**Heavy sigh** I recently accepted a connection request because we had 65 connections in common. Big mistake. I immediately received a 5-paragraph-long automated sales pitch. I told them this is the wrong way to use LinkedIn. Their response said: ·      I was the problem, not them ·      Their long auto-message talking about their services sent immediately after connecting wasn't a sales pitch So, let’s make this clear for the people in the back. LinkedIn: ❌       Isn't a volume game ❌       Isn't a spray and pray channel ❌       Isn't the place to send untargeted sales pitches ✅       IS about building relationships. You don't do that with automated sales pitches!! If you are sending messages like these. Stop. You are doing your brand more harm than good. Do some research, send a targeted message ("really loved your piece about XYZ..."), and it's better if it's after you've built a rapport (e.g. liked/commented on their few posts). THAT'S how you generate actual business opportunities from LinkedIn . Spray and pray is not the way! #Sales #SocialMedia #LinkedIn #Networking #SocialNetworking 

Sales success often comes down to super nitty gritty "why didn't I think of that..." plays that spark movement rather than the obvious "Did you establish next steps?" boulders. Here are two I used in social selling recently: 1. Inbound connection request - "Sam! XYZ speaks so highly of you and recommended we connect." Most reps would accept, and potentially skip replying to the note. 🤦 Instead, I replied, "Thanks so much for saying hi!" and offered to loop her in on our newsletters/webinars (turning LI connections into stickier contacts). Then I thought, "Who?" on the XYZ person as I didn't know them by name. Saw we were 2nd degree connected, so sent a note, "Hi! ABC shared your kind words with me and said hello on LinkedIn! Were you two talking sales shop or something totally unrelated?" Two quick actions that can spark conversations and often lead to a, "Hey, actually can we talk about how #samsales can help..." 2. An old client tagged me in a comment, "We loved working with Sam!" I replied and tagged in the person who initially hired us at the old client, who is also the person making a decision on hiring us again now (the deal closed, this was a few months back :)) at a different co. "Ah thanks Emily! Hats off to Sarah Green who brought us in to Old Company back then!" Small move to nurture Sarah, remind her how her colleagues also loved working with us, and send a gentle reminder that we exist + pls sign our deal. 😉 Bonus? Share your own small moves in real time with your teams on Slack so they learn from you and to also let you build a brand as someone with loads of creative ideas. Double bonus? Share these in larger Slack channels to build better visibility for yourself in remote environments. #samsales #linkedintips #saas

Sales folks, take note! Spamming a target company's employees with your services and requests for meetings will result in your company making its way onto a buyer's blocklist. As a buyer in the localization industry, I receive dozens of emails and LinkedIn requests every single day from vendors looking to showcase translation, AI, QA services, and more. It's not humanly possible to give personal replies to every outreach. When vendors can't get through to me, they often reach out to everyone on my team... and sometimes to many others across my company. I'd love for this practice to stop. It wastes valuable company time and makes a vendor appear desperate and non-strategic. Here's what to do instead: 1. Appeal to ego! Invite a target company’s decision-maker to a panel, or start a vlog series and ask buyers to appear and discuss industry topics. It’s also a great opportunity to reposition your company as a thought leader. 2. Offer genuine insight, not just services. Share a case study, white paper, or benchmarking data that’s actually useful to the buyer’s role, and do it without a sales pitch. 3. Build a reputation before you build a pipeline. Comment thoughtfully on posts. Contribute to community conversations. If you consistently show up with value, you’re far more likely to get noticed. 4. Target smarter, not broader. Don’t shotgun your message to an entire company. Learn the org. Understand the buyer’s scope. Then send one well-researched, personalized note that shows you actually did your homework. 5. Focus on mutual value. Can you help solve a known pain point or offer perspective on something changing in the market? Frame your outreach around collaboration, not consumption. 6. Use timing to your advantage. Keep tabs on when companies are hiring for roles associated with your offerings, launching in new markets, or attending conferences. That’s when buyers are more receptive to new solutions. 7. Lead with generosity. Offer a no-strings-attached resource, intro, or suggestion that doesn’t benefit you directly. Reciprocity is a powerful trust builder. And please! Don't ever ever call me on the phone! ;)

Anyone who is customer facing should be building close, authentic, long lasting relationships with their customers. It pays off in more ways than you can imagine: repeat customers, references, community champions, content ideas, competitive intel and so much more. Here are 5 ways you and your team can start building those relationships: 1. Amplify a customer’s LinkedIn posts - When your customer posts something interesting, don’t just like it yourself but share the link on your internal chat and ask your team to like it as well. It’s amazing how powerful this is. It’s human nature to look at who is liking your content on any social platform and most people get a consistent number of likes. If you drive 50% more for a customer they will notice that. 2. Help find candidates for their team and jobs for them if they’re looking - In your position engaging with a specific persona all day every day you have amazing visibility and connections into relevant candidates for open jobs and companies hiring. If you let your customers know that you can be a resource for them on both sides of the table you will see how quickly you can start playing matchmaker. 3. Share best practices that have nothing to do with your company/product - Everyone is looking to improve in their job. Everyone wants to know what their peers are doing at other companies. When you hear good ideas from other customers or read about a best practice, send it to them. Just show them you’re thinking about them and are invested in them being successful. 4. Make them look good in front of their manager and/or team - It needs to be authentic and relevant but find a reason to give your customer a shoutout when you’re in a meeting with them. It doesn’t even need to be a big thing but something about how they’re the fastest to roll out your product, how their feature request ended up becoming a game changer for a bunch of customers, how they’re the most productive team you’ve seen at one particular thing. 5. Fight for a feature/bug fix/service that they’re asking for - In short, be the squeaky wheel for your customer. When they ask for something, set the expectation that it takes a while to get that thing done but then go fight for it internally. Each company has their own process for this kind of stuff but if you push in the right ways you can usually get their request prioritized. When it’s done make sure the customer knows you fought for them to get that thing done. The best thing is that these are “free”. Of course they will take time and energy but the return on this work is astronomical. I honestly didn’t appreciate the power of these relationships when I started my career but I now have close relationships with so many customers that I’ve worked with over the years. They’re a sounding board for business ideas, they’re working with companies I’m advising and we’ve become each other cheerleaders. What did I miss? What else are you doing to build relationships with your customers?

Tim accepted a LinkedIn connection request from a salesperson the other day. And within seconds, the salesperson hit him with: “Thanks for accepting my request. What are you doing for sustainability?” It felt… weird. It would be like someone walking up to you at a cocktail party and saying: “Hey, thanks for standing here. What are your financial goals for the next five years?” What? I just met you! Can I at least finish my Old Fashioned before we tackle my finances? This is why the message felt so off-putting. It skipped all the social norms. No small talk. No warm-up. Too much, too soon. Just straight into an agenda. So here’s the lesson: slow down. How? Start by sharing an uncommon commonality. Like, share, and comment on their posts for a few weeks. Send useful information related to their job. Share something that made you smile. Then, if it feels natural, you can illuminate a potential problem: “I was talking to the CFO at Ryder (3000+ trucks). He mentioned the challenge of using telematics data to ensure accurate sales tax rates across regions. They were overpaying taxes due to incorrect data alignment. Is this something you’re grappling with, or not really?” The difference? You’re easing into it—like a friend at a party, not someone trying to sell timeshares during the toast.

I would bet a huge amount that the positive response rate on “Saw you liked [PERSON]’s post. Want to buy my product?!” emails is close to 0%. 😤 It’s a terrible, thought-free template. It's a disgrace to real "signal-based" outreach. Instead of referencing the person’s post and sloppily transitioning to your sales pitch, do this instead. 1. Actually read the post 2. Understand the concept 3. Think about why the concept resonated 4. Connect the dots between the concept and your value prop 5. Center your email around that dot connection Then, if you want, add this: PS. I saw you liked [PERSON]’s post on this topic. That’s what prompted my outreach. Hope I hit the mark! ——— Don’t make the reader do the work. Do it yourself, add value, stand out from the crowd. #sales #sdr

The best way to become an excellent social seller is by not selling. If you’re connected to folks with an enviable social presence, you’ll notice that they rarely use their platform to sell. Instead 👇 They talk about the problem their product or solution solves. They talk about their passions that are unrelated to what they sell. They share expertise and inspiration. They invite their followers to attend free webinars or download free resources they’ve created. They create a community that trusts them and their opinion. I understand that many of you have social selling metrics to hit in the form of InMail’s sent or connections made. 👉 How can you hit your sales metrics without selling? Making deposits in DMs, engaging with content or commenting. For sellers in frontline roles, I encourage you to post at least once a week consistently. ❌ Post does *not* mean resharing content from your company. ✅ It does mean, at least once a week, sharing a thought, a story, or a bit of advice. If you’re reading this and thinking, “no, absolutely not Leslie”. Posting is not in the cards. Set a target for engaging with other posts relevant to your ICP. ❌ Engaging is *not* hitting the like button or voting in a poll. ✅ Engaging is leaving a funny, educational, or thoughtful comment. If you are not ready for posting or commenting, use LinkedIn DMs & InMails. ❌ Direct outreach is *not* connecting with as many prospects as possible in order to spam their inbox. ✅ #SocialSelling in the DMs does mean you need to lead with deposits before making asks. Deposits [or gives] should always be valuable & relevant. Deposits can look like offering to make an introduction, sharing a free ungated resource, delivering a non-obvious insight or sending a link to an article that you thought they’d appreciate. To get the attention of the modern B2B buyer, you need to #EarnTheRight to their inbox. TL:DR Stop selling. Replace those selling activities with a focus on creating content, engaging with the community, and keeping the buyer at the center of what you do by leading with valuable deposits before asks. What can you do tomorrow to become an excellent social seller? -- Enjoyed this post? Click here 👉https://lnkd.in/gJSJkUq3 to hit follow & ring my 🔔 for more

Traditional influencer marketing can be difficult to scale in B2B, because you might start running into things like: - people only wanting to post about products they use/have used l - sponsored posts not performing because their audience is used to/expects a specific type of content from them (it's easier - them running out of things to say after one or two posts cause they're simply pushing your software So, I wouldn't rely on that as my primary influencer marketing tactic. Instead, you should have each influencer create their own content series on a topic: (a) they are interested in (b) their audience expects from them (c) that is relevant to your business goals And that way: - they aren't creating content around your product, they are creating content around a topic they enjoy - their audience doesn't skip past a clearly sponsored post, but continue to engage with it as if it was their regular content - it plays its part in helping you progress towards a specific objective since it associates your company with a certain topic, outcome, etc. Everybody wins. I call it company-creator-audience fit (no, I dont).