Social Selling for Software Development Companies

In a world where cutting corners is the norm, social selling is the strategy that goes against the grain.

Social selling is all about putting in the actual effort to develop long-term relationships with potential clients, without compromise. It’s a form of digital networking that can open the right doors and start the right conversations that will eventually lead to closing a deal. Let’s take a look at how social selling can help your software development company transform and stand out in an increasingly crowded and noisy market.

1. What is social selling for software development companies?

Social selling is more than just a buzzword. It’s a game-changing strategy that empowers software development companies to leverage social media platforms (when it comes to B2B, most likely that platform is LinkedIn) to connect, engage, and nurture relationships with potential clients. It goes beyond mere transactions and focuses on building trust and credibility. This is a very important aspect because we live in an increasingly agitated and superficial world where a lot of players prefer to send thousands of DMs severely lacking in personalization, instead of taking their time to use social media the way it was intended to be used: to create a network of people, socialize, and build relationships.

2. Why is social selling important?

A clear and performant social selling process is important especially for B2B tech & software development companies who want to grow and start conversations with amazing potential clients.

It’s more than just selling. It’s about making a good, long-lasting relationship with potential clients using social media, mostly LinkedIn. Trust is very important in this field. Social selling lets companies show what they are good at, share useful information, and talk to their audience in a real way. By focusing on making good relationships rather than just selling straight away, social selling helps make a stronger bond with potential clients. This leads to long-term growth and a strong network of professionals. Simply put, social selling is not just about making sales; it’s about making a brand that draws in the right people and helps the business do well in the future.

3. Does social selling really work for software development companies?

Absolutely! And we say this after working with 10+ clients in the software industry, for whom we reached more than 100.000 qualified businesses in their ideal customer profile.

Using social selling and social listening especially in the software development industry where competition is fiercer than ever before is a smart decision for your business. While others may resort to questionable tactics for shallow short-term gains, social selling allows you to differentiate yourself by showing your potential clients that you care about more than just their bank account. You get to show potential clients that you are truly there for them while you generate growth and revenue for your own business. It’s not rocket science. It’s mainly about nurturing prospects through valuable interactions and positioning yourself as their go-to expert when they’re ready to make decisions (the buying kind of decisions).

A volume focused spammy approach can yield fast results, but it won’t do you much good

You send out the maximum amount of connection requests, you might get to see a lot of them accepted, but what’s next? You might grow the numbers of connections or followers, however, large numbers no longer guarantee large reach or exposure. Sending the maximum number of messages no longer means getting large amounts of replies. It is an almost guaranteed “spam sentence” and you get sent to LinkedIn’s timeout corner where your messages get flagged as spam. The volume based approach is what everyone else does. And this translated into some key industries being bombarded with tens of messages daily. Most people in those industries don’t even bother opening those messages anymore, let alone replying to them.

Moreover, while a volume-based approach can show some fast results in terms of connection growth, they are not sustainable in the long run. People who do not see value in being connected to you will not hesitate to remove the connection. It’s already crowded out there and many of those focusing on doing business on LinkedIn are becoming more and more conservative with their time. They will only give it to those who are worth it, who interact in a valuable manner, and who share valuable content.

4. Social selling best practices

From our experience over the recent years, social should be your focus channel for outbound prospecting. There are many reasons for this and we could talk about them for days. The main one, however, is that traditional outreach doesn’t really work anymore in an increasing number of industries. It’s become more and more difficult to stand out among everyone else who’s reaching out. In fact, in many cases, your prospect or lead might not even get to see your email or message due to the sheer amount they get daily. The spray-and-pray approach is at its end.

If you are a sales professional or a dedicated founder and you want to leverage your preferred social network, without becoming an influencer, here are some of the social selling best practices when nurturing and engaging with potential customers:

1. Personalize your approach as much as possible

Tailor your messages and interactions based on individual prospects’ needs and pain points. Find relevant opportunities to start conversations and never pitch slap. This makes your potentials feel like you are worth their time because you are truly interested in helping them get more and better business.

2. Share valuable content in the nurturing stages

Establish yourself as an industry thought leader by sharing your ideas and approach, insightful articles, case studies, or success stories. Anything that could generate value for your clients, without being spammy. Don’t just send out materials connected to their industry, add your insight to them or ask some pertinent questions.

3. Engage in an authentic manner

Interact genuinely with your audience by commenting on their posts or joining relevant discussions. LinkedIn is much like any other platform for socializing. For example, as a salesperson, you can think of it in terms of attending in-person events. When you go to a B2B networking event you don’t just walk through the room and start talking about you and pitch your company or services. Nooooo. You first start with an introduction, get into some weather talk, and ask some questions. You find some common ground and find out more about the person, problems, needs, expectations, challenges, and objectives. And you start talking about your offering only when you have something interesting to say or when the conversation goes in that direction. The same applies when it comes to social selling.

4. Build your network strategically

Connect with key decision-makers within your target market who can potentially become future clients. Since social selling is a hard game, with a lot of effort involved in the process. So you need to choose your battles wisely.

5. Leverage data

Use data enrichment tools to gather valuable insights about your prospects, enabling you to craft personalized messages that resonate with them.

5. Whom is it for?

Social selling is ideal for software development companies looking to expand their reach internationally and establish themselves as industry leaders, but also grow their businesses in a sustainable way.

Social selling is for you if: