B2B Social Selling Strategy: Connect with Customers, Build Relationships and Drive Sales

by Julie Atherton

Overview

Social media, when deployed strategically and effectively in B2B channels, offers a uniquely personal long-term networking opportunity for sales teams and business professionals. For many, this has supercharged their sales performance, with empowered teams, faster results, and higher revenues. For others, the challenges of navigating social channels for business can be daunting. Concerns over social media confidence, personal and professional conflicts of interest, and a loss of management control can lead to a lack of action or ineffective modes of engagement.

B2B Social Selling Strategy provides a clear framework for identifying the right social channels, connecting with potential and existing customers and measuring success against objectives and KPIs.

Featuring original research, case studies and interviews with industry professionals, the book also shows how to generate content to attract attention and gain trust, work with B2B influencers and create a social selling culture. Exploring how to build your personal brand in synergy with your business and integrate social selling with other sales and marketing channels, it is supported by online interactive tools and templates to be used to create and execute your own social selling strategy. Written by a recognized social media expert, B2B Social Selling Strategy is an indispensable guide for B2B sales, marketing and social media professionals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781398604612
Publisher:	Kogan Page, Ltd.
Publication date:	11/29/2022
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.45(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Julie Atherton is the founder of the social media transformation advisory and marketing consultancy Small Wonder which specializes in advising organizations on embedding social media in their strategic development and growth. Her social media strategy books are built on 30 years' experience gained advising and training global brands, small independents and innovative start-ups including Deloitte Digital, Mott MacDonald, Nissan, Axa Group, St John Ambulance, Parcelforce Worldwide, Emerge Digital, Arnolfini, SmartViz and Ulster Bank. She is the author of Social Media Strategy, also published by Kogan Page.

Table of Contents

** Chapter - 01: Introduction - How To Use This Book; ** Chapter - 02: The Modern B2B Sales Challenge - Who Sells, How They Do It And Why It Works; ** Chapter - 03: Getting Started - Creating Your Own B2B Social Selling Strategy With Achievable Objectives And KPIs; ** Chapter - 04: Networked Audiences - Finding Your Networked Audiences On Social Media, What Do They Look Like, And How Can You Understand Them?; ** Chapter - 05: The Interdependent Brand - Differentiating Your Business Through Mature Relationships And Effective Content Marketing; ** Chapter - 06: Campaigns - How To Take An Integrated Approach To B2B Social Selling Channel Selection; ** Chapter - 07: Campaigns - Building And Implementing A B2B Social Selling Plan; ** Chapter - 08: B2B Social Selling Tools - How To Select The Best Tools To Improve Efficiencies, Increase Insight, And Transform Results; ** Chapter - 09: Using B2B Social Media Influencers - Making The Most Of Influencer Relationships; ** Chapter - 10: Monitoring And Measurement - Measuring The Effectiveness Of Your B2B Social Selling Strategy; ** Chapter - 11: Social Transformation - Creating A B2B Social Selling Culture In Your Business

Editorial Reviews

"B2B marketing and sales has long been recognised as relationship-led. Relationships are increasingly online, social media continues to grow and traditional media and sales landscapes are upended, so new strategies are needed - and this book offers just that. Practical, accessible and evidence-based solutions for today's and tomorrow's B2B issues, relevant to novice and professional alike, helping businesses and individuals navigate and succeed in this VOCA environment. A great and timely achievement."

Prof. Donald Lancaster

"Building trusting relationships - as Julie rightly points out in the opening pages - is central to any successful business and B2B Social Selling Strategy offers the complete "go to" guide to making this a reality. It covers all the bases from why social selling works, what an effective plan looks like, and how to deliver results and embed best practice."

Susan Walkley

"As an experienced marketing practitioner and trainer, Julie doesn't just give you the theory but demonstrates the practice of how you can truly put the customer at the heart of B2B social media to build authentic relationships and deliver results."

Rachel Aldighieri

"Julie is one of the most respected professionals in the social media sector. Her experience gives her a unique perspective on the challenges facing marketers trying to get to grips with the complexities of social media selling. This book explains how to target and convert prospects with optimal efficiency and effect in a channel that is increasingly important."

James Sutton

"A Julie Atherton book is always essential reading. This one doesn't disappoint. Clear, constructive but practical insights and advice adorn every page! The text represents a manual for B2B selling that few students and practitioners will want to miss out on."

Dr. Rob Angell

"B2B Social Selling has seen significant growth in recent years. However, many seem to miss the point that success comes from building trusted relationships rather than from a continuous sales pitch. Julie draws on her wide and deep experience, explaining how to use Social Selling as a key relationship and business-building technique. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone serious about Social Selling."

Mike Berry

"Social engagement is well recognised as a valuable way of building engagement and - more importantly - trust, with clients. In my experience, far too few companies truly embrace this cultural approach across their client facing teams. With this book, Julie provides a great overview with excellent insights that will help to truly drive social client-facing and trusted engagement."

Independent Business Advisor Chris Boorman

"Packed full of actionable and impactful tactics that I'll certainly be implementing with my own clients."

MD at Gumption Agency and Founder of The Social Me Jenna Yhearm

"B2B Social Selling Strategy is a great addition to the literature. Insight driven, it provides a guide to best practice in social selling that will help improve business and personal performance. It is ideal both for those running businesses or studying this often-overlooked aspect of marketing."

Universityof Greenwich and Chair of the Marketing Matt Housden Principal Lecturer

"'Social selling' is nothing new. People have been doing it for years over breakfast, lunch, dinner and invites to events. But the numbers are generally small, and it takes time. Social selling today is on a different scale and to manage a strategy at this scale needs some guardrails. Julie has written a much needed 'how to' guide which brings everything up to date for us."

Tony Spong

"After working at Google for six years, I thought I knew how social media worked, especially in B2B. Wrong! This book has shown me not just how much more I can be doing to promote my awards business but how to do better what I am doing already."

Patrick Collister