Is Social Selling equally suitable for B2B and B2C?

In short: yes. Social selling can be used very effectively for sales in both B2B and B2C sectors. Nevertheless, the two areas are usually structured differently because the respective customer journeys also differ.

In B2B, there are usually several decision makers, investments are higher, and the sales process takes longer. Here, it is also usually the sales representatives and sales staff who are responsible for social selling.

In B2C, purchasing decisions are usually made very personally and quickly; there is no need for extensive coordination, and expenditures often remain within a manageable scope. Here, marketing and customer service, as well as brand ambassadors, often come into play.

How social selling is implemented in individual companies and specific industries varies from company to company and depends on the company's philosophy and internal structures.

Why is Social Selling important?

The internet has subjected marketing and sales to massive change. Customers can inform themselves, research basics, and compare products with just one click. For companies, this means they need to truly know their potential customers and accompany them throughout the entire customer journey. Simply "throwing" the supposedly suitable offer at them is no longer enough.

Social media enables us to better identify and understand the problems and challenges of our target audience. In this way, we can then provide the necessary assistance and thus openly demonstrate our expertise. Furthermore, through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, other experts and colleagues can be contacted to reinforce our authentic desire for sustainable assistance. Plus: the internet allows for real-time communication. Hardly has a question been asked than the first answers start to trickle in. The question companies should ask themselves here is whether any of their employees are among these first responders.

That opinion formation primarily takes place online today is no longer a secret. Social networks play a crucial role here, especially when it comes to the exchange of experiences – an important factor in many purchasing decisions! It therefore makes perfect sense for companies to intensify their social listening and embrace social selling.

Which networks are suitable for Social Selling?

The networks suitable for social selling are always those where your customers are active. These can be Twitter and Facebook, as well as LinkedIn or even internet forums that might seem a little dusty nowadays.

Today, there is an almost unmanageable number of social networks, and each industry or niche has its priorities. The "usual suspects" are quickly found, but one should also take a look at Reddit, Discord, Twitch, or WeChat. Perhaps the right contacts can be found exactly there.

One social network stands out particularly in the field of social selling: LinkedIn. In 2014, LinkedIn introduced the Social Selling Index (SSI), a metric that measures the success of social selling activities. Four areas are considered for this assessment:

• How strong is your brand's presence on LinkedIn? Do you have an impactful profile?
• Are you finding the right people?
• Are you engaging in valuable discussions and sharing valuable content yourself?
• Are you building and nurturing sustainable relationships? To calculate your personal SSI score, simply log in to your LinkedIn account and go to the Social Selling Index dashboard. You can now use this score as a baseline for your measures and efforts.

What challenges are encountered in Social Selling?

As with all other measures aimed at corporate success, we can also encounter challenges in social selling. The good thing about these challenges is that they are the same in many areas of business, or, to put it differently, they are not unknown:

• Without strategy, no focus
• Without focus, no goal achievement
• Without clear goals, no success measurement
• Without a precise target group analysis, no suitable social media network
• Without sufficient target group knowledge, no suitable content and offers
• Without sufficient time and effort, no feedback and interactions

In summary, this means that for success in social selling, in addition to sufficient time, we also need a well-formulated strategy with clear goals and descriptions of the people we want to reach (in all their diversity and complexity). I deliberately avoid the word "target group" here. Anyone who does not work out these fundamentals in advance will invest a lot of energy in unnecessary measures and ultimately only reap frustration.

The best tips for your Social Selling

Now that you have read a lot about social selling, here are a few concrete tips for everyday implementation.

• Establish a daily routine for social media engagement
• Listen to the conversations of potential customers on networks and then use their expressions and language
• Be genuinely (!) helpful, inspiring, or witty; in any case, find your own style
• Focus on dialogue instead of sales and avoid trying to sell under pressure
• Be attentive and mindful, because everyone likes to feel special – including potential business partners.
• Nurture relationships sustainably and continuously. If you have to sell, it's already too late.

Regardless of whether you are doing social selling in the B2B or B2C sector, finally, we would like to offer three trends so that your efforts receive the right amount of attention: diversity, creativity, and video content are currently highly popular! If these approaches can be incorporated in a personal way, social selling will certainly be a success.