Social media and the rise of social selling
Joe Papadatos, Managing Director, Icon Visual Marketing
You don’t need me to tell you that the world has dramatically changed. But are you aware of the extent to which the business marketing world has changed and how it affects you?
I have spoken to many business leaders recently, and they acknowledge that marketing is more important than ever. There is a need to re-build hope and confidence in the future; for businesses to break free of the uncertainty of Covid and thrive once again. The key strategy is to approach marketing on a different level. Ironically, it’s the old way of marketing, but in a different way. It’s about building connections and relationships, like the old days of marketing. You could say everything old is new again… but in a different way. That’s social selling. It’s the new way to sell the old-fashioned way.
At Icon Visual Marketing, we’re thought leaders in social selling and helping our clients integrate it into their B2B business plans. You might already be social selling without realising it. But you mightn’t be doing it to its full effectiveness. If you don’t have your head around social selling, read on and be enlightened on B2B marketing in 2022.
Covid has stirred the pot
One of the greatest social impacts of the pandemic has been the enormous rise in ‘working from home’. Many employees regard it as being so convenient that they are reluctant to go back to the office. Meanwhile, employers have seen the benefit for them with reduced incidental overheads, such as the cost of office cleaning right down to no longer needing to provide coffee and biscuits. Not to mention reduced sick leave.
However, there are also the negatives. The buzz of an active office environment, where staff bounce thoughts off each other, is missing. Quick face-to-face discussions about small matters don’t happen anymore. In sport, they call them the ‘one-per-centers’. They’re small but important discussions. And the good old bonding sessions are gone, like staff lunches and Friday drinks after work. There are many cases where people who work with each other have only met through Zoom calls.
A by-product has been the rise of the hybrid workforce, which is simply a combination of staff working remotely while others come into the office. How do you approach that from your own team working as a hybrid workforce, and from that of your customers or potential customers doing the same? It all needs to be considered. And how does that fit in with social selling? Read on.
Why does marketing in 2022 look different?
We’re heading towards the post-pandemic era. And it is going to be quite different to where we were three years ago. Businesses must be ready because the way of doing things in the past is not going to cut it in the future.
People want to feel comfortable in a sceptical world. Scammers have infiltrated every part of online media. Spam emails have been around forever, but now they’re even texting our phones. Our challenge as marketers is to drive fear out and invite certainty in. Overcome the scepticism and build confidence.
People have changed jobs, changed careers through opportunity, uncertainty, or necessity. The ‘Great Resignation’. So, your customers might be dealing with different members of your team. Your team might be dealing with different customers. Businesses have different decision-makers at the helm. New relationships need to be built.
Businesses that had been reluctant to offer online selling pre-Covid, like Bunnings, were forced to open an online store. Supermarkets and other stores offered contactless ‘click and collect’. They had no choice. Luring people to the store wasn’t going to be enough. The competition reacted, and they needed to as well.
It’s the same theme for all of us. We need to exploit the online world. And it’s a challenge for those who aren’t familiar with it. The thing is that it changes rapidly. We can be experts in our business, but when it comes to online marketing, many people come up short. It’s simply not what they’re used to. But we must adapt in order to thrive. There’s no choice.
Every year the Roy Morgan Risk Report rates Australia’s most trusted businesses. Who came out number one in 2021? Woolworths. Why? Because they spent millions of dollars reassuring us that they were doing everything they could to protect us during the pandemic. They did what they had to do to create trust in the consumer during uncertain times. They recognised that building trust was an essential marketing tool.
People have become accustomed to staying at home, not being able to go out. Their routines have changed. Their personal goals have changed. Their lifestyles have changed. We need to tap into that.
Media is more personal, so marketing needs to be more personal, but personal through online channels. Online is not just somewhere we visit – it’s where we live. People are online more than ever, and so your business needs to cut through the noise. Having ads thrown at us is no longer the lead marketing strategy. You’re marketing is competing with YouTube, banner ads, pop-ups, emails, scrolling media, Spotify, Netflix, it’s endless. Literally endless. That’s a lot of noise to break through.
Despite the competitive noise, people want to engage in meaningful relationships online. But how do they connect better online? That is the challenge we need to overcome for B2B businesses to thrive.
Many of the marketing managers I’ve spoken to have said search rates are significantly down. So, searching strategies need to be smarter. We need to attract attention before we can engage, and it’s more difficult than ever.
Experiential marketing is where we are heading. No matter what business you’re in, you need to get on board or be left behind.
What is social selling?
You have no doubt heard of social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok and many more. But what is ‘social selling’?
Social selling is using social media to identify and interact directly with customers and prospects. The objective is to create a relationship based on trust and understanding, build an aura of subject authority and attract loyal customers with the ultimate goal: convert the relationship into sales.
With social selling, team members and sales reps are encouraged to use social media to share content, engage with prospects, have conversations, answer questions and provide solutions, giving them and your brand visibility and credibility. The focus is on building meaningful relationships, trust and credibility.
It’s not about hard selling, it’s about creating long-term relationships. It’s not advertising products, it’s building connections.
Social selling is a very personal, strong and successful method of customer and brand engagement.
People love social media. It has become a global phenomenon. It’s understandable that businesses use it for sales. But with the flick of a finger, we can scroll past a message that doesn’t instantly grab our attention. That’s a harsh reality for work we’ve invested time and resources in.
Why has social selling emerged as essential marketing in 2022?
Now that face-to-face selling is reduced, how do we build relationships with people and customers we can’t meet in person? This is where the real value of social selling comes in. Making connections online is more important than ever.
The irony is that social selling is about building personal relationships like we used to. However, it’s doing it in an online world. Everything old is new again – but different.
This has one benefit where the geographic sales area could be considered redundant, and the scope has become somewhat unlimited.
How to start social selling
You might already be doing it without even realising it. The key steps to social selling are:
Publish content that reflects you and your brand.
Publish original content of authority, such as blogs, videos, case studies and podcasts. The content should be original work and should be shareable. It shouldn’t be simply an information dump. It should include tips and personal insights. This adds value to the information and offers more than being something people could just find out by googling the topic.
By producing thought-leading work, the right people will be attracted to your social media pages and website. You are perceived as an expert, creating confidence in potential customers who have a need to be fulfilled. It’s important to support the work by publishing it on social media platforms.
Be observant of people online.
You need to ‘cast your line where the fish are’. Identify and follow relevant businesses and people on social media. See what they talk about. Build connections. Like their work and comment on their tweets or posts. Share content that is relevant. Interact with them, particularly those with a problem for whom you have a solution. Make yourself known without being too intrusive.
Build trust by passing on your knowledge.
Display your knowledge by working social media and eDMs. You don’t need to overtly push your product or website. You’re imparting knowledge, building trust, establishing yourself and your business as authorities.
You should set up and follow relevant hashtags. Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram are good platforms for using hashtags.
Marketing is not piecemeal. Your social selling needs to work in unison with your overall marketing plan. It all needs to gel and be holistic. If the company you’ve handed your marketing to doesn’t think beyond the project, you might need to look elsewhere. Are they looking at the big picture or are they just doing the job they’re paid to do?
Start social selling today
Social selling may seem straightforward, but it takes time and perseverance to get it right. As experts in the digital marketing space, Icon Visual Marketing can help you and your team build your social selling skills. We can create content that generates leads. Icon has produced many great and successful blogs for our clients. We can coach your sales team on how to stand out on social media and engage with the right people. We look at the full scope of your marketing and ensure it’s in harmony. Icon can help you thrive in 2022.
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