#LinkedInLifeLive Episode # 12 – Social Listening (Part 2)
| June 2, 2021
In this episode…
In this episode, the Social Sales Link Team talked about social listening in this two-part series. For Part 2, they talked about another four ways of how to socially listen on LinkedIn. These are checking out their company page, profile page, client recommendations, and learning how to use what you discovered to start conversations.
Did you know that we can do social listening on our audience? Bill talked about one of the four ways which is checking out their LinkedIn company page. This involves searching for the company name on LinkedIn and heading to the “About” section to find the link to their website. Go to the “Posts” tab to find out the problem they solve or what they share with their clients. Other noteworthy sections to check out are also the “People”, “Videos”, and “Insights” sections..
As for Bob Woods, he said that another way to socially listen to your prospects is to check out their LinkedIn profile pages. This is a great way to know the decision-makers of the company. You have to get to know the six or eight people involved in the sales and B2B purchasing process. See if the person is active by checking out “Activity” section of their profile. Scroll through posts they have reacted or commented on. Scan their profile and take note of their high schools, colleges, previous companies, or LinkedIn groups they joined. With all the data you have gathered, you should never ask a question that you already know from their profile.
In addition, Sally Jo discussed that another way to socially listen is by checking out their LinkedIn client recommendations. Get to know their style of learning what’s important to your clients, how they solved problems, or how they helped their clients by looking at the client recommendations. You can also check if there are vendors who also gave recommendations to them. By knowing this information, this will help you offer services that are beneficial for them. You can also check out recommendations that they have given because you can get clues about what they care about in a vendor or in an individual that they have previously worked with.
Finally, Brynne said that another way to socially listen is by learning how to use what you discovered to start conversations and build rapport. This involves checking out your buyer’s company page or individual pages on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, or even Pinterest. It is important to check what your buyers are sharing, reacting to, commenting on, engaging with, re-tweeting, or liking on social media. Plus, checking out their social media pages and feeds are more current and real-time because most people are on their phones most of the time scrolling through their pages than on their websites.
Connect with Brynne, Bill, Bob, and Sally Jo on LinkedIn or you can also visit our LinkedIn page to watch this episode again and get daily tips from the Social Sales Link team!
Important points on this video
Things you will learn in this episode:
* Get to know your future prospects by checking out the Recommendations section of their LinkedIn Profile. Read through the recommendations written by their past clients, vendors, or employers to learn more about their working styles and how they helped them in their businesses. Knowing this information will help you strategize your method of working with them.
* Check your prospects’ Activity section in their LinkedIn profiles, as their shares and comments will give you a good sense of the topics they care about. Other sections, like their education, previous employers, and even groups they belong to also give you good insights into their interests. Above all: During any conversation, NEVER ask a question that can be answered by their profile.
* A LinkedIn (Company) Page is a great place to socially listen to prospective clients! You can ‘listen with your eyes’ by viewing their content in the “Posts” tab to see what topics they are writing about. You should also examine their “Videos”, the “People” tab, and “Insights” tab to research the company further.
* As a social seller, your number one priority is to start conversations with your buyers. The challenge is, we often talk about what we want to talk about, not necessarily what matters to them. There are many ways to identify what topics are relevant and will resonate. Start by reviewing their LinkedIn profile, their activity feed, recommendations they have both given and received, and the company page shares, to research what content is a priority for them, and start your conversation around that subject.
