Social media is part of modern life and with so many people asking to connect or sending us messages, it’s understandable that some are ignored, or deleted as spam. When businesses start sending out cold-calling emails, this is often what can happen with your message ending up categorised as spam. To stop this from happening, businesses need to be smarter with their approach to social selling messages and emails. You need to work on making your communication seem natural, offering the recipient genuine information and interactions. Connection requests that seem genuine will get a better reception than a typical sales message.
Remember that the potential customers and decision-makers that you want to connect with will be receiving a high volume of messages and requests. This means they will already be less receptive to cold calling and will be immediately deterred by any blatant sales pitch.
Your connection needs to offer the recipient as much value as it does you so you are networking for mutual benefit, rather than for you to make a sale. This will increase your chances of getting your foot in the door with your potential customers and making a sale further down the line. It will also provide you with more opportunities to present your products and services and show their value to your connection.
There are a number of different people that you might want to send a message to on a social media site such as LinkedIn. It is important to consider that your message and style will be different depending on your level of connection with the person. For example, first-degree connections, people that you are already connected to and engaging with, will require a very different approach to third-degree relationships.
New Connections
Some social networking sites will have a standard message that is sent out whenever you invite a connection. While this may seem like the easy option to use, it is very impersonal and can be off-putting for many potential connections. Instead, it is important to create a personal impact when sending your social selling messages.
When you send the request be sure to mention any mutual connections you may have, or whether you work in the same trade or industry. You can also go on to express what you would like to get out of the connection, such as a meeting while being honest about your intentions. This will allow you to keep the conversation open to encourage further communication and set up a call to action such as a call or meeting.
Existing Connections
When prospecting with your existing connections it is important not to get ahead of yourself. Just because they have accepted your connection request does not mean that they are open to receiving cold call emails and messages from companies.
If you spam your existing connections with these kinds of messages, it is likely that you will end up seeing your number of connections drop as people disconnect with you. However, you can still communicate with existing connections if you do it in the right way.
Be sure to be direct when sending your messages. If you are looking to book an appointment with them why not suggest a time or set a deadline for when you would like to do this. Be sure to keep the message short so that you do not intimidate or bore your recipient. Include any further information or incentives that would encourage your recipient to respond.
Mutual Connections
Often when you are looking through your network you may see other people commenting on your connections who you think could benefit from your service. When you share a connection with someone, you are mutually connected and can request an introduction from the mutual party.
It’s easy to spot valuable potential connections this way. However, requesting those introductions might not be easy if you don’t have a great relationship with the mutual party. It is important to work with your mutual connection and build a relationship with them before asking for an introduction. This will make it seem more natural and limit any offensive you could cause the mutual party.
Once you have started the conversation with the mutual party, be open and honest about your intentions after the introduction has been made. If you are wanting to offer the new connection a product or a service, make this known before the introduction is made to save any awkwardness.
After you have spoken with the mutual party and they have agreed to introduce you to the potential connection, be sure that you tell them if they ever want you to return the favour you will be more than happy to do so. This helps to build that positive relationship and will provide further potential network growth for you both in the future.
Sending Social Selling Messages Works
It is important to remember that when you are connecting with someone first impressions count. Your goal going into the message or email shouldn’t be to sell but to offer the connection some value in your interaction.
If you follow the messaging tips in this article, you will build positive relationships with your connections. This will in turn make them more likely to seek out your product or service when they need it, as well as engage with any content you post.
By building genuine connections with likeminded people in your network, you are bound to see sales opportunities pop up, without limiting your growth through cold-call messages.
