Social media prospecting, also known as social selling, has become a popular term nowadays because consumers are spending more and more time on social media. In 2016, Facebook reported that people are spending, on average, 50 minutes a day on Facebook alone. In 2017, Flurry Analytics, Yahoo's Developer Network, found that US mobile users spend up to five hours a day on their phone and 51% of that time is spent in social media, messaging and media and entertainment applications. To do social selling effectively, you'll need to reach people where they are and, clearly, they're on social media. The specific social media platform to focus on will depend on your target persona. They might spend their time on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or whatever the new social platform is. You can find this out through your persona interviews. Once you find out where they spend their time, the important thing to remember is, do not sell there. Instead, engage in a conversation and think of it as just that, a conversation. Be authentic in how you engage. The best sales people are genuinely curious and they want to learn about other people. While your ultimate goal is to close a deal and hit your quota, remember that you one, need to make sure the person is a good fit and two, be sure that they are ready to buy. That can be really tough to do in 140 characters on Twitter. Instead, if there's a conversation on Twitter or in a LinkedIn group, join the conversation, ask questions, and be genuinely curious. For example, say you are on LinkedIn and you've joined a few groups that are relevant to your business and you see conversations going on. Here are some examples of open-ended questions that allow people to elaborate and give readers an opportunity to contribute to the conversation. That's a really good point. Can you give me an example of when you did that? Where did you learn that? Have you ever tried that and failed or seen success? Asking these questions is better than writing a pitch about your product. You are earning the right to help and offer your opinion, and eventually there might be a point where you can not only offer your opinion and be helpful, but also position your product or service. You can even start your conversation through LinkedIn updates. Here's an example of how Max Altschuler, CEO of Sales Hacker, uses updates to engage with his connections. Max shares a bit of information about himself and what he's thinking about, in this case books. And then he asks his connections to chime in and contribute to the conversation. While this might not be related to his business, it starts the conversation. He might then follow up with some people and ask why they recommended certain books and continue the conversation from there. You can also use your LinkedIn updates to call out a specific group of people and ask a question. This is called the pull your network tactic. For example, business owners, "What was the biggest mistake you made when you were just starting up?" Business owners will pay attention to the status and some might be eager to share their stories. Engaging on social media works because everybody wants to talk about themselves. The goal is to ask questions that allow people to share their opinions and experiences. During this process, people might admit to a pain point or challenge that they have in their business. That's when you can provide advice and ask if they're interested, "I have a couple of thoughts on something you can try. Do you want to connect? Message me if you're interested." The chances of this person getting in touch with you is high if you engaged with them and earn the right to provide advice. If it's a good fit, this could turn into a conversation about how your business could help them.
