3 Ultimate #SocialSelling Tips for Smart #EventProfs

Wondering how social selling really works and how it can work for you?

Here’s a quick recap from my MPI-CAC NEXT presentation . . . .

In 2018, 70% of sales professionals plan to invest more time on social selling. Why is that?

According to LinkedIn, top social selling leaders realize these benefits:

• 45% more opportunities
• 51% more likely to achieve goals
• 78% outsell peers who don’t use social media

Social selling is so successful that 70% of sales professionals plan to spend more time on social selling in 2018. But, what is it and how does it work? Let’s find out.

Step One: Get Your SSI Score

LinkedIn first coined the term “social selling” and they’ve even come up with a way for you to rate how well you do.

Your Social Selling Index score, or SSI for short, rates your performance on four quadrants: establish your professional brand, find the right people, engage with insights and build relationships.

You can get yours for free at https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/social-selling/the-social-selling-index-ssi

Where do you need to spend more time?

Step Two: Realize Your PR [Personality + Reputation] Potential

PR is the missing ingredient in most content marketing, both for people and companies. Why is that? Because personality and reputation are often disconnected from values and virtues. When you are intentional about connecting, it shows.

How do you know what your values are? It’s easy. Think about three to five people, or for companies -brands, you admire.

Then answer this question, “When you think of __________, what positive qualities do you associate with them?”

Which attributes do you see more than once? These are your personal values. These values will drive your content marketing, decisions and work performance. For example, if one of your values is integrity, you will do best when you work with people and partners who have the same value.

Now, check your reputation and see how you show up on Google, LinkedIn – and even Siri. Do you like what you see? To track every mention of you, or your company, online sign up for free email alerts at https://www.google.com/alerts.

Pro tip: you can set up alerts for your competition, top clients and prospective companies. You’ll always be in the know, up to the minute – and ready to connect IRL and online.

Step Three: Show Up in the Right Places

According to 2018 Content Marketing Trends research, the top three social networks B2B companies use are, in order, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Top three types of content? Social media, case studies and videos.

Is your business more B2C? Your top social networks, in order, are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Your top types of content are social media, videos and photos. B2C is a much more visual space so have fun!

Now that you know where to invest your time, make sure your content is BRAVE: bold, relevant, authoritative, valuable and energizing.

This applies to content you create, curate and comment on. Follow the leaders and share their top content.

Remember to add your take as a comment and write a LinkedIn article or a blog post if you have more to say. Use a free tool like http://rightrelevance.com to track the hot topics in the meetings and events industry.

Yes, you and can and should spend more time on social selling. Make the most of it with these four steps for smart eventprofs.