According to LinkedIn, individuals who participate in social selling are 51% more likely to achieve sales quotas. Sounds great for sales roles, but for people who aren't in sales, being an active professional online can be beneficial. LinkedIn provides a Social Selling Index to see how you stack up amongst other professionals.
Why should professionals post and not just rely on the business to post?
Brand messages reach 561% further when shared by employees on social media rather than just the company. You have connections and each employee has connections, this means the messaging can reach further than just the company's network.
Your competitors are doing it. This is a little FOMO angle, but also if your competitors are engaging online they are a step ahead of you.
Conversations are happening online. If you aren't part of the conversation you're going to be left out. Many businesses thrive on referrals. If someone sees you as knowledgeable in a certain space, they are likely to refer others to speak with you. Example: When an attorney is posting about laws that impact the local community, when you later hear from a friend who needs to hire an attorney to help with an issue you are likely to remember they are a subject matter expert.
Topic Ideas to Post About
- Industry specific information: this can be a new regulation or news that affects your industry or your customers. Tell them about it first to be a recognized source of important industry related news.
- Share blog posts you've written that are featured on the company website. You took the time to write the post, make sure you tell people about it!
- Reshare what your company is sharing about. LinkedIn makes it easy to quickly reshare with or without a comment to your connections. Just tap that Repost action.
- Local community events you are attending or supporting. People like to do business with good people who are supporting the local community. This also makes your more relatable and gives people an insight to what you care about.
- Personal milestones: not everything has to be about business. Share your proud personal moments to not make everything a sales opportunity. You are a real person after all.
- Day in the life: these take a little more effort, but show people what it's like in your role. More than likely people don't know what you do in a typical day. This is also beneficial for those looking to enter a new role or explore new opportunities.
- Support of local businesses you are visiting: again this points back to your community involvement. Spending your dollars in your community is appealing to those looking to work with someone local. Plus, you may find new hidden gems to grab the best slice on your next lunch break.
How to Professionally Interact with People Online
- Engage with others' posts. Comment, like and reshare other's content.
- Engage when others engage with your posts. Reply to comments, engage in conversation. Someone took time to write you a response, you should return the favor. This isn't meant to be a one-sided conversation.
- Follow businesses or other people you admire. Sharing your own thoughts about posts from thought leaders is a great way to showcase your personality in a non-salesy way.
- As your connections move between roles you can follow them. If they are a buyer at company A and move to company B, you can likely still try to earn business from them at their new company. Plus a note of congratulations is always appreciated!
My biggest tip is to find what works for you. Pick a time to engage, how often you'll share, and then stick to it! Not every connection and message is going to turn into a sale, and it's not intended to. You are building an online community to engage with and maybe one of those will turn into a profitable opportunity as a happy bonus.
