Art of Social Selling

SHANNON BELEW is a digital marketing advocate and top-selling author of Starting an Online Business for Dummies, All-in-One. She currently manages the online marketing and lead-generation efforts for a global IP telephony company. Her blog, OnlineMarketingToGo.com, focuses on topics including social media, social selling, mobile strategies, and content development.

• CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix INTRODUCTION xi CHAPTER 1 FISHING IN SOCIAL PONDS Using Social Media as a Prospecting Tool for Online Sales 1 Tackling the Ever-Changing Sales Process 4 The Social Selling Mantra 5 Where to Go Fish 7 Social Selling Is a Team Sport 10 CHAPTER 2 THE SOCIAL TRIANGLE OF ONLINE SALES SUCCESS Bringing Together Social Marketing, Social Commerce, and Social Support 12 Meeting the Demands of the Social Customer 13 Capturing the Customer Experience 18 Taking Shape and Connecting All the Dots 22 CHAPTER 3 SPEAKING A NEW LANGUAGE The Ten Most Important Rules for Online Social Interactions 28 Rule #1: Be Genuine 30 Rule #2: Listen, Listen, Listen 32 Rule #3: Be Responsive 33 Rule #4: Follow the Leader 34 Rule #5: Tailor the Conversation 34 Rule #6: Be Helpful 36 Rule #7: Identify the Enter and Exit Signs 37 Rule #8: Maintain the Separation of Professional and Personal 38 Rule #9: Be Consistent 39 Rule #10: Admit When You're Wrong 40 CHAPTER 4 MORE THAN LEAD SCRAPING The Benefits of Un-Selling in Social Media 41 Boosting Your Online Likeability 43 Lead Scraping or Lead Generation? 44 Moving Beyond Lead Scraping 46 The Truth About Un-Selling 48 Expanding Circles, Influence, and Recommendations 52 CHAPTER 5 TWEETS, LIKES, COMMENTS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS Understanding the Value of Peer-to-Peer Influence in Social Sales 53 Online Reviews: Word-of-Mouth Marketing on Steroids 54 Likes, Favorites, Followers, and Other Positive Social Indicators 61 Blogs, Forums (Groups), and Communities Matter, Too 64 CHAPTER 6 CONTENT, ENGAGEMENT, AND BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP Pulling the Social Customer Through the Online Sales Funnel 68 Understanding the Changing Sales Funnel 69 Developing Buyer Personas for Your Social Customers 72 Creating Content to Feed the Online Sales Funnel 74 Mapping Types of Content to the Social Networks to Engage and Build Relationships with Prospects 79 CHAPTER 7 TOOLS OF THE TRADE Using Online Services and Applications to Help You Find, Track, and Engage Social Customers 84 Social Information That Matters 85 Finding Purpose with Social Tools 90 Monitoring Tools 92 Influence Trackers 93 Social Sharing Tools 94 Content Curator Tools 96 Applications for Creating Content 97 Social Influence Measurement Tools 99 Mobile Apps 100 CHAPTER 8 TIME IS MONEY Building Social Selling into Your Schedule 102 Identifying Current Time Conflicts 103 Spending Your Time in Fishing Holes, Not Rabbit Holes 104 Conquering the Social Selling Conflict 105 Setting Clear Objectives 107 Designating Blocks of Time 108 Prescheduling Posts 109 Limiting Your Exposure 111 Using Your Extended Resources 112 Going Mobile 113 CHAPTER 9 FREE AND NOT QUITE FREE Determining Your Budget 115 Recognizing the Cost of "Free" and Investing in Your Success 115 Deciding How Much to Spend to Ramp Up Your Selling Game 116 Support Costs 119 Program Costs 121 Tools and Technology 124 Resources 125 CHAPTER 10 DEVELOPING YOUR SOCIAL SELLING STRATEGY The Components for a Realistic Social Media Sales Plan 127 A Strategy for You and Your Company 128 Establishing Your Goals and Objectives 129 Setting the Rules of Engagement 130 Conducting Your Research 133 Knowing Your Assets and Getting Organized 135 Developing an Outreach Schedule 137 Integrate Online and Offline Sales Efforts, then Repeat 138 CHAPTER 11 LINKEDIN Turning Connections into Sales 140 Expanding Beyond a Digital Resume 141 Social Media First Impressions Start with Your Profile 142 Expanding Your Connections 151 Paid Versus "Organic" Opportunities for Social Selling 156 CHAPTER 12 TWITTER Social Selling in 140 Characters or Less 162 Influential Tweets 163 Twitter Basics for Business 164 The Advantages of Using Twitter for Your Business 167 Equal Opportunities for B2C and B2B Prospecting 173 Best Practices and Tips 176 CHAPTER 13 FACEBOOK, GOOGLE+ , AND ONLINE COMMUNITIES Targeting Your Social Customer Base 179 Using Your Personal Facebook Account 180 Using a Company Facebook Page to Turn Fans into Customers 184 Google+ : Turning Circles into Opportunities 190 Spreading Your Message on Blogs and Online Communities 194 CHAPTER 14 THE RISE OF VISUAL CONTENT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SALES YouTube, Pinterest, Infographics, and More 201 Visual Content That Helps Convey Your Message 202 Incorporating Visual Content into Your Sales Process 206 Sharing Visual Content Using Apps 208 Social Sharing Platforms Made for Promoting Visual Content 211 Putting Your Videos on YouTube 211 Pinning Your Visual Content to Pinterest 215 Sharing Top-Performing Presentations on SlideShare 220 CHAPTER 15 SOCIAL SELLING TRENDS Harnessing the Growth of Mobile Sales 223 The Influence of Mobile Devices by the Numbers 224 Mobile Commerce in Action 225 Social Selling and Preparing for Mobile Sales 227 CHAPTER 16 CASE STUDIES Social Success Stories for B2C and B2B 231 Caron's Beach House, a Specialty Online Retailer (B2C) 231 Bizo, a Marketing Services Firm (B2B) 235 Shopify, an eCommerce Platform for Online Retailers (B2B) 238 NOTES 243 INDEX 251