At the beginning of 2020, the average adult in the U.S spent over three and a half hours on their smartphone each day, with half of that time spent engaging on social media networks. Though we don’t yet have the data to support it, for many people those values have likely increased as the year has gone on.
Not only has personal social media usage been on the rise, but professional social media usage has become more prevalent as well — and the field of sales is no exception.
With so many teams now focusing on inside sales, using strategies such as social selling to connect and win over customers are more important than ever.
When we consider all of the social media platforms available to support sales efforts, LinkedIn remains the top social platform to help salespeople connect with prospects. Here are the important statistics you need to know to help you crush your social selling efforts on LinkedIn.
1.76% of buyersare ready to have sales conversations on social media.
2. According to LinkedIn,62% of B2B customersrespond to salespeople who connect by sharing content and insights that are relevant to the buyer.
3.81% of buyers are more likely to engage with brandsthat have a strong, cohesive, professional social media presence.
4. Sales reps who were introduced by a mutual connection left afavorable impression with 87% of buyerssurveyed by LinkedIn.
5. Harvard Business Review reports90% of B2B decision makersnever respond to cold outreach.
6. IDC found75% of B2B buyers and 84% of C-level executivesconsult social media before making purchasing decisions.
7.92% of B2B customersare willing to engage with sales reps who have positioned themselves as an industry thought leader. This credibility is often attained by posting regularly to social media.
8. When making B2B purchasing decisions,50% of buyers turn to LinkedInas a resource.
9. According to Bantu,33% of buyers prefer to contact brands on social mediathan over the phone.
10. When asked about quality content,65% of B2B buyers said informational, easy to consume contentis an important factor in their buying decisions.
11. The Demand Gen Report 2019 Content Preferences Survey found95% of respondents seek credible content from industry thought leaders— up from 62% in 2018.
12.41% of B2B buyers view 3-5 pieces of contentonline before interacting with a salesperson.
13. For B2B buyers, the most important aspects of vendor selection are rep’sknowledge of the buyer’s business (80%) and industry (78%).
14.74% of business buyersconduct over half of their research before making a final purchasing decision.
15. According toCoScheduleLinkedIn posts with 149 characters in length, containing a link, and use no emojis or hashtags earn the highest engagement.
16. Among blog posts shared on LinkedIn Publishing, those between 1900-2000 words accumulated the most likes, views, comments, and shares.
17. Sales reps who responded quickly to social media inquiries saw a9.5% increase in annual revenue.
18. Sales professionals with a strong social selling index on LinkedIn have45% more sales opportunitiesthan those who don’t and are 51% more likely to reach quota.
19. Thetop uses for social media by sales repsinclude networking, prospecting, research, referrals, closing.
20. On LinkedIn, video campaigns have aview rate of 50%.
21.LinkedIn posts that have a neutral tonereceive more comments and post views than positive or negative posts.
22. CSI Insights reports one in three B2B salespeople say social selling has increased the number of leads they work with.
23.28% of companiessurveyed by HubSpot are prioritizing social selling.
24.65% of salespeoplerely on social selling activities to fill their pipelines.
25.The use of social selling toolscan increase win rates by 5% and deal size by 35%.
26. Social selling is responsible forgenerating half of revenuefor 14 major industries including computer and network security, health care, and financial services.
27. According to SalesForLife,78% of salespeople who use social sellingperform better than their peers.
28. 61% of organizations engaged in social sellingreport revenue growth.
29.Sales professionals who use social sellingare able to effectively qualify leads, deliver bids, and negotiate renewal deals, leading to 40-50% more new business, and retention rates between 80-90%.
30. Itcosts 75% less to generate leads on social mediathan any other medium.
31. Salespeople who use social selling are51% more likely to reach quotathan those who don’t.
32. According to research by CSO Insights and Seismic,31% of B2B salespeoplesay social selling helps them build deeper relationships with their contacts.
33. LinkedIn is thetop social media platform used for social selling by reps. Twitter and Facebook were the runner-up platforms, respectively.
34. Of the 21% of sales reps who don’t use social media to sell, the top reason why was becausethey didn’t understand how to use it.
35. 75% of sales reps reportnot receiving any social media training.
36. The Social Media and Sales Quota Survey reports 50.1% of sales reps actively engaged in social selling spend5-10% of their time on social media.
37. Using LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index Score as an indicator, only1.4% of sales professionals are ranked as top sellers, which requires a score of 70 or greater.
Did any of these statistics surprise you? As the business landscape changes, so will best practices on connecting with potential customers virtually. Head to this post for a complete run-down on social selling to learn more.