Social selling gives you multiple opportunities to touch base with your clients. Instead of an email that might end up in their spam folder or a call that gets declined, social selling puts the focus where your prospects care the most: on them.

You have the chance to learn more about what your prospects actually need and they have the chance to have all the questions they need answered to commit to the sale – in a time and environment that works for them.

The main issue facing social selling today is that attention spans are shrinking due to social media distractions. So, while you have less time to make an impression, social selling gives you more opportunities.

What makes a strong social selling strategy?

It doesn’t matter what your business sells or who your clients are, every successful social selling strategy can be built on four main pillars. 

1. Clear communication: It’s almost like people are programmed to instantly tune out when they hear a sales pitch. So, ditch the pitch! Be clear about what you’re selling, who it’s for and why it matters – but keep all of this focused on your prospects. Share the tangible results and use relatable examples that put your offer into context.
2. An optimised profile: Your profile should tell your prospects everything they need to know to start a conversation with you. But again, this isn’t about listing product/service features or explaining your role. The Featured section in particular is a great place for testimonials, social proof, reviews and landing pages that provide more detail of your service.
3. Consistency and engagement: Trust is built over time so you need to show up for your prospects consistently. The easiest way to do this in the beginning is to post 3 times a week, on the same days at the same time. Make these posts a mixture of education and entertainment with a sprinkle of promo for your offer.
4. Timing: What happens in the first 30 minutes of these posts is crucial to their success. The comments section is particularly powerful so your posts should be directing people to engage here and you need to be there too. Reply to comments, share more context on the topic of your posts – just show up for your prospects!

How to build your own social selling strategy

Once you’ve got those basics down, you can start building on this strategy to fit your business specifically. Maybe you’ll start a newsletter or an engaging how-to video series. The success of social selling relies on consistency and value. Starting with these basics will help you learn more about your audience and tailor your strategy to connect with them specifically.

If you want to skip the guesswork, DM the PINAKL team on LinkedIn. Our managed service will help build the basics of your social selling strategy and gain the insights to forge stronger connections with your ideal prospects.

The post Why is social selling a better approach for winning clients? appeared first on PINAKL.

The “easy” answer is that you should be posting 3-5 times a week on LinkedIn. This is a number we have seen work for both boosting engagement and remaining top of mind for prospects. The key is to choose a consistency you can maintain and stick to it. 

But there’s no point worrying about how often you post if you’re not paying attention to what you’re posting or anything else you’re doing on LinkedIn.

Posting

You can generate leads and make sales on LinkedIn through posting just three times a week. It all depends on what you’re posting and when. In the beginning you might have to increase posting to five times a week to boost visibility but don’t overdo it. Every time you share something new on LinkedIn, you are effectively stopping engagement on any previous posts.

The reason more and more people are limiting their posting activities to three times a week is because posts are being given a much longer shelf life on LinkedIn now. A post you shared a week or even three weeks ago still has a chance of appearing in someone’s feed. That’s why posting with purpose should be the focus over volume.

Commenting

If posting on LinkedIn is the rocket that will help you reach your prospects then comments are the rocket fuel. No matter how many times a week someone is posting on LinkedIn, we can guarantee that is not all they are doing. In addition to their own content, they will be spending time exploring other people’s.

First of all, you should be encouraging comments on your own posts. You can do this through direct CTAs that tell people to “leave their thoughts in the comments” or even adding extra context to the posts in the comments yourself. You also need to be there, replying to people’s comments and keeping those conversations alive. The engagement a post gets in the first 30 minutes of being live is crucial to how long it will survive on LinkedIn.

Outside of your own posts, you should also be seeking out the comments sections of your prospects’ posts. The comments you leave are content too and work the same way to boost visibility as posting your own posts do. While you should be showing up frequently, avoid spamming comments for the sake of it. Only leave comments that add value to the post, a new insight or different opinion that will nurture the conversations happening in those comment sections.

How to balance posting and commenting on LinkedIn

Sharing posts on LinkedIn is not the only way to stay active but striking the right balance between your own content and value filled comments is crucial. If you want support on your LinkedIn journey and managing the activity on your account, DM the PINAKL team on LinkedIn. We help busy business owners stay consistent and connected with their prospects on LinkedIn.

The post How often should you post on LinkedIn? appeared first on PINAKL.