10 useful social selling tools every small business owner needs
The rise of e-commerce has coincided with the emergence of some exciting sales and marketing techniques and social selling is one of them. In this article, we’ll review some of the most valuable social selling tools for retailers, discuss the benefits of selling through social channels, and share tips for making the most of it.
Kelly Moser is the co-founder and editor at Home & Jet, a digital magazine for the modern era. She’s also the content manager at Login Lockdown, covering the latest trends in tech, business, and security. Kelly is an expert in freelance writing and content marketing for SaaS, Fintech, and e-commerce startups.
What is social selling?
Social selling is a sales and marketing technique that taps into the relationships brands build on social platforms to sell their products. This technique uses a mix of building a social media presence and creating authentic connections with your audience. The goal is to leverage these relationships to make more sales.
There are a few social selling strategies you could use. You can make sales using tools built into social media channels or promote your offer by creating valuable content that features your products.
“Social selling is a sales and marketing technique that taps into the relationships brands build on social platforms to sell their products.“
Benefits of social selling
There are several benefits of social selling:
- Converting followers to customers
- Creating more social media posts
- Building community connections
- Improving your online presence
- Enhancing brand awareness
- Shortening the sales cycle
The sum of these benefits is growth in your business’s sales.
What are social selling tools?
Social selling tools are software offerings that support various parts of the social selling process.
Some of this technology sits directly within social media platforms, like Instagram, TikTok, and similar platforms. Others are standalone products geared towards making the most of the tools built into social platforms.
10 social selling tools every small business owner needs
Let’s take a look at some tools that can help you with social selling success.
1. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
This tool helps you find and connect with potential prospects on LinkedIn. You can tailor your outreach based on customer insights (interests and activities).
2. Hubspot Sales Hub
This tool integrates with popular social media platforms and delivers valuable insights (read: data) into your customers’ and prospects’ activities. These insights allow you to personalize your outreach campaigns.
3. Hootsuite
This tool helps you manage your social media platforms from a single dashboard. It also provides scheduling, analytics, and reporting tools.
4. Sprout Social
In addition to Hootsuite’s features, Sprout Social offers dedicated social selling features, such as a lead capture form and a social CRM.
5. Salesloft
This tool can automate your sales process, from lead qualification to closing deals. You also get insights into your pipeline so you can focus on the right opportunities.
6. EveryoneSocial
EveryoneSocial is a tool that enables brands to reach more customers on social media by distributing content more broadly.
7. TikTok Shop
TikTok Shop is a feature built into TikTok, a popular social media app focused on short-form videos. This social selling tool allows creators to sell products directly in their videos.
8. Instagram Shopping
It is a social selling tool that’s fully integrated into the Instagram user experience. It enables users to shop for items with links added to images published on the app.
9. Facebook Shop
This is another social selling tool from Meta that’s managed in the same suite as Instagram Shopping. However, social selling efforts come via Facebook instead.
10. Vidyard
This tool is an online video platform that enables users to create powerful sales videos to connect with their audiences more effectively. This platform uses AI video messaging to help you customize your social selling efforts.
Tips for successful social selling
Now that you’re more familiar with the best tools for social selling, let’s dive into a few tips for amplifying your efforts for social selling success.
1. Study success stories
As mentioned, TikTok has emerged as a powerhouse for social selling thanks to its vast, engaged audience. TikTok’s unique platform allows businesses to create engaging content that resonates with viewers, turning followers into customers.
A prime example is SoFi, a personal finance company that leverages TikTok to showcase its services. It demonstrates how effective TikTok can be in promoting financial services in an accessible and relatable way.
For instance, SoFi uses TikTok to demystify financial terms by explaining the difference between APY vs. interest rates. This engaging strategy showcases their services, educates the audience, and has helped garner over 160k followers.
2. Streamline team communications
Since social selling requires collaboration from several departments, it’s crucial to streamline team communication to enhance productivity and cohesion. Integrating an employee communication app is valuable for effective collaboration and streamlined communication within small businesses. It provides a centralized platform for team members to seamlessly connect, share ideas, and collaborate on sales strategies.
3. Leverage social listening
Social listening is a technique that involves diving into comments, threads, and chat feeds where your followers (or members of your target audience) are chatting about topics relevant to your brand or product. Assessing the comments and interactions on relevant content will provide valuable insight into improving your offer or honing your messaging to better connect with your community.
4. Incorporate social proof
Another great way to build trust and increase sales is to incorporate social proof into your social media content. This could include reviews, testimonials, and demos from happy clients.
Social proof and similar user-generated content are valuable because they give your brand legitimacy and let your followers know your offer is legitimate.
Start your social selling journey
With so many great social selling tools in reach, it’s time to level up your sales and marketing by tapping into social channels. Which tools and channels you use depend on your brand and your audience, so it’s worth exploring different options to find the tech stack that works best for you.
*The purpose of this page is solely to provide information and should not be considered as financial advice.
**Melio does not provide legal, tax or accounting advice; you should consult a professional advisor before making any financial decisions.
