Interview with Prof. Martina Dalla Vecchia

The Internet is the driver for digital marketing and sales. What’s changed? We need to serve two target groups: people and machines. With the right strategies, visibility on digital business networks can be expanded in a targeted manner. We talked to Martina Dalla Vecchia.

Social selling is a big talking point at the moment – is social selling the same as social media marketing?

Martina Dalla Vecchia: No, it’s not the same. Social selling can be part of a company’s social media marketing, or it can be taken out of marketing and located with sales, as part of digital sales management.

Social media marketing encompasses all entrepreneurial activities on social media platforms that are designed to develop the market and to be visible for customers, or to interact with them. Various goals can be pursued, including branding, market research, product development, employer branding and indeed sales.

Social selling focuses on selling by building and expanding customer relationships and the expert status of sales staff on social media platforms.

How can a sales team build genuine relationships through social selling?

Martina Dalla Vecchia: A successful relationship is always based on mutual appreciation, support and a willingness to communicate! That is what’s at the core of social selling.

You can build genuine relationships by seeing the customer as a partner. Sales staff can provide support and added value if customers recognize them as experts in their field. Support can be given on a broader level through content marketing (for example: white papers, checklists, videos, etc.) or via direct communication with individual customers (e.g. by using LinkedIn or LinkedIn Sales Navigator with specific product information).

The idea is to know as much as possible about customers, so as to support them with the right input, at the right time. Customers are usually very well informed and are experts on the product. The sales team must become experts on the customer, what we might call “customer whisperers”.

Where do “social buyers” feel at home, i.e. how can I find out which channels they use?

Martina Dalla Vecchia: The sales team normally has this knowledge, because they know their customers. If this is not the case, you need to conduct market research and comb through popular social media platforms for customers or discussions about the product. B2B sales teams will normally find their customers on XING or LinkedIn. B2C sales teams will find their target group on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube.

The more specific a product is, the more likely it is that niche networks will be relevant – this may apply to sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry, or in research.

Isn’t social selling already dead, with the flood of influencers?

Martina Dalla Vecchia: I divide social sellers into two different categories: external influencers and sales professionals who become influencers themselves via social selling. External influencers are significant multipliers, especially in B2C business. But they typically work very heavily on their own brand, and only in a secondary capacity for the products/brands themselves.

The social selling sales professional focuses clearly on the level of the relationship, in order to understand the needs of customers. Relationship building is often 1:1 and heavily supported by CRM and tools. The focus is on a partnership and supporting customers.

Social selling is only now flowing into training and education for sales teams – it is just getting going as part of digital sales management!