Are you familiar with social selling? It’s not the same as social media marketing, which is using social networks to market your products and services. Instead, social selling is when sales teams use social media to connect with prospects. Social selling is all about building relationships and connecting authentically—not bombarding people with unsolicited tweets and DMs.

According to a post from the Sales for Life blog, some great platforms for social selling include Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Each post is an opportunity to show your personality while still adhering to your company’s brand and vision.

In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we discuss some of the biggest reasons to use social selling, according to the Sales for Life blog.

Reason No. 1: You can track results. One of the biggest reasons to embrace social selling is that you can easily measure results. This could mean measuring individual engagement rates, the connections you make or the amount of content you share over a certain time period and how many times people interact with this content. According to the Sales for Life blog post, knowing this information can help you continue serving your audience with helpful content or lead you to adjust your strategies to get better outcomes.

Reason No. 2: You can differentiate yourself. Getting active on social media allows you to use your voice. In the competitive world of sales, this can help you stand out from all the rest. The Sales for Life blog notes that 78 percent of social sellers outsell those who do not use social media. By engaging with prospects and clients on social media, you can set yourself apart and increase your odds of winning the business.

Reason No. 3: You just might surpass your quota. According to research from their current and past clients, Sales for Life has found that sales reps can exceed quota by 15 percent, grow their pipeline by 25 percent and improve their win rate by 20 percent.

Reason No. 4: You can capitalize on work you are already doing. If you’re like most sales professionals, you likely spend a fair amount of time on LinkedIn. The Sales for Life post points out the statistic that 96 percent of sales professionals spend an average of six hours per week on this social network. If you are already on LinkedIn, make sure you are doing more than browsing and researching. Through social selling, you can build your company’s credibility, meet more prospects and establish stronger relationships. It just takes a commitment to regularly share helpful content.

Social selling is a great way to boost visibility, generate leads and close more deals. Your sales reps also benefit personally. When they are active on social media, they are more likely to be seen as thought leaders and will end up building their personal brand. Social selling takes time and consistency. If you keep at it, you can make a significant impact on your prospecting efforts and your client relationships.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers

Source: This article comes from the Sales for Life blog. Sales for Life helps businesses improve their win rates and surpass their quota through strategic sales pipeline growth.