When a company utilises its social media channels to connect with prospective clients, engage and develop a connection with them, it is termed as social selling. Distinct from social media marketing, social selling goes beyond creating and sharing content on social media networks. It goes a step further to reach out and connect with potential clients. The goal with social selling goes beyond marketing and branding goals, its emphasis is on creating established relationships with clients. Social selling leverages social media channels to interact directly with buyers. Net photo. This form of marketing is done by salespeople with the aim of leveraging social media channels to interact directly with their buyers. Importance Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most businesses have shifted their services online. It is hence imperative for networking and relationship-building to be shifted online and made priority- which is where social selling comes in. Social selling creates opportunities to connect with new potential customers on social media, where they’re already active and engaging in conversations. Studies have established that businesses that are leaders in the social selling space create 45 per cent more sales opportunities than brands with a low social selling index. Also, businesses that prioritise social selling are 51 percent more likely to reach their sales quotas, while 78 percent of businesses that use social selling outsell businesses that don’t use social media. David Kwizera, an entrepreneur says when you understand the role of social selling, it comes with vast benefits. He explains that the difference between social media marketing and social selling is that this tact is mostly done by those with skills in sales. This, he notes that it plays a big role when it comes to generating better quality leads and other important deals for an organisation. “As an entrepreneur, I believe this is a crucial component for any organisation. And when done the right way, the benefits are way better than other tactics and skills used in an enterprise,” he says. Kwizera goes on to note that although this form of marketing is done mostly by those in sales, it’s also ideal to pass the skill to the entire team as everyone needs to be engaged for tangible and massive results. For Emmy Rwagasore, an entrepreneur and salesperson, when you adopt the social selling aspect in any business, it will boost your brand visibility. This would be even better if all employees are educated on how to share organisational content as it will help reach out to a big number of consumers, he says. To back up Rwagasore’s sentiments, different online sites and studies also note that naturally, companies gain the most from having most or all employees active in social selling. But, employees of various departments also reap the benefits by becoming active social sellers too. Besides, the increase in quality leads can help sales; social selling is a great way to increase business deals and drive better win rates. “This would literally mean an increase in the number of a company’s clients and customers. And most importantly, more revenue for the organisation,” he says. Marie Chantal Umunyana, an entrepreneur with a digital health start-up believes that social selling also creates leadership among colleagues or employees. If everyone is supposed to take up a role in making their organisation known through different ways, then it definitely means that such individuals have taken up a role of guiding others, which is no different from being a leader, she explains. “In other words, such employees can become the go-to source for information, which means that they are now a trusted resource for buyers and customers, making them good leaders to be followed or emulated,” she says.
