The fact that companies are expected to be active on social media is a no-brainer.
But what about individual salespeople?
Reality check: scoring sales on social media isn't just a matter of 'if you build it, they will come.'
Sure, you might have a marketing funnel that attracts and converts customers directly from social media.
However, don't neglect the role of individual sales reps in closing those deals with social listening.
Salespeople should have a pulse on customer conversions on social media. That's exactly why social listening for sales is a must-do for modern companies.
Step-by-step social listening for sales professionals
Before sending your team 'into the wild,' it's important to understand how social listening platforms empower your team to build meaningful relationships with new customers.
In this guide, we'll cover how to harness the power of social listening for sales step-by-step. We'll cover best practices, strategies to uncover sales conversations and use your social data to close more deals in the future.
1. Figure out where your prospects and leads are hanging out
Social listening for sales can be incredibly daunting because there are so many conversations happening at once. Given that consumers aren't shy about calling out brands for being too 'salesy,' it's important to listen to conversations before barging in on them.
That's why it literally pays to hone your search for prospects and leads. The 'best' networks for sales vary from business to business. Chances are you won't confine your search to a single platform, though.
For example, B2B companies should most definitely be tuned into LinkedIn which is responsible for approximately 80% of B2B leads on social media. Salespeople are capable of following the updates of companies and individual employees alike, both of which can help you build a list of potential outreach candidates.
Meanwhile, platforms like Facebook and Instagram are more practical for B2C brands. This is where you'll not only find tons of potential customers asking for recommendations but also talking about their most recent purchases and experiences.
And then there's Twitter, a platform that's fair game for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Combined with communities such as Quora and Reddit, businesses clearly have plenty of ground to cover when it comes to uncovering leads and prospects.
To keep you from falling down the rabbit hole, social listening through Sprout can help narrow your search for sales opportunities. From brand mentions to product queries, you can focus on the platforms that matter most to your sales team.
But this begs the question: what terms and searches are going to lead you to those sales in the first place?
2. Identify sales-specific conversations and keywords
Social listening for sales means being in tune with conversations your real-life customers are having.
And so identifying buyer intent ultimately boils down to what people are searching for on social media.
Below is a snapshot of the conversations and keywords that matter most for sales. Any combination of these terms can help highlight questions, pain points and concerns that salespeople can address directly.
Help-specific terms. These terms signal prospects who are looking for specific answers that could result in a sale. This could mean a product recommendation or a piece of content ('help,' 'recommend,' 'tips,' 'ideas,' etc).
https://twitter.com/agdeanamhrudai/status/1112330420224487424
Industry terms. These terms are specific to your industry or whatever product you're selling. These terms signal a certain level of awareness that means that they're probably beyond the 'just browsing' phase ('web design,' 'email marketing,' 'ecommerce,' etc).
'Need a platform to get my ecommerce business off the ground. Total newbie here. Thoughts?'
Geo-specific terms. For brick-and-mortar businesses, these are terms that can help you tap into local markets based on your business' location ('Austin,' 'Texas,' 'Southwest,' 'downtown,' etc).
Happy Monday peeps! Can anyone recommend Decking companies in the north? 🔨👷🏼♂️👷🏼♀️
— Bhavna Limbachia (@BhavnaLimbachia) April 1, 2019
