I Am Not Social Selling

I am not selling through social media. I am content marketing.

Everything that I do on social is above the funnel. I am concerned about attention and awareness. I am concerned with my personal brand. I am focused on being known and being known as a value creator.

So far, it’s been very good for me. Because I create content, I have attracted my dream clients. By reading this blog or watching my videos, you already know what I believe. You have some idea of what it might be like to work with me.

But this isn’t selling. It isn’t part of a sales process. It’s lead generation and nurturing.

I never ask anyone for an appointment using Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. But, I have asked for appointments on LinkedIn. I’ve done a lot of call research on LinkedIn, too.

I have never done discovery work or collaborated with a client around their needs using Instagram or Snapchat. None of them has ever engaged to do discovery without it being done face-to-face, by video conference, or on the telephone.

I have never presented a solution using SlideShare. But I have presented a solution using a custom video on Vimeo, and that was exceedingly well received.

There is no social channel that looks like the right choice for asking for commitments once your dream client is in your funnel. I can’t imagine a tweet being the right way to gain a commitment in business-to-business sales.

Selling is about conversations and commitments. But conversations without commitments isn’t selling. It’s just conversations.

There isn’t a lot of selling in social selling. But there doesn’t have to be for you to realize an ROI from using the social channels. Just don’t confuse it with the real activity of selling. Still pick up the phone.