B2B Social Selling Strategy - by Julie Atherton (Hardcover)

About the Book

Leverage social media effectively to nurture prospects, develop relationships and stand out from the competition, to create stronger B2B leads and sales.

Book Synopsis

Optimize your B2B selling by using social media to identify leads, build mutually valuable relationships and convert them into sales for long-term advantage.

78% of social sellers outsell peers who don't use social media. And yet many B2B sales professionals still aren't confident in using social media in a strategic way, or to measure its success. B2B Social Selling provides a clear framework for identifying the right social channels, connecting with potential and existing customers and measuring success against objectives and KPIs.

Featuring original research, case studies and interviews with industry professionals, it also shows how to create content to attract attention and gain trust, work with B2B influencers and create a social selling culture. Also exploring how to integrate social selling with other sales and marketing channels, it is supported by online interactive tools and templates to be used to create and execute your own social selling strategy. Written by a recognized social media expert, B2B Social Selling is an indispensable guide for B2B sales, marketing and social media professionals.

Review Quotes

"B2B Social Selling Strategy is a great addition to the literature. Insight driven, it provides a guide to best practice in social selling that will help improve business and personal performance. It is ideal both for those running businesses or studying this often-overlooked aspect of marketing."-- "Matt Housden Principal Lecturer, University of Greenwich and Chair of the Marketing Skills Trust"

"'Social selling' is nothing new. People have been doing it for years over breakfast, lunch, dinner and invites to events. But the numbers are generally small, and it takes time. Social selling today is on a different scale and to manage a strategy at this scale needs some guardrails. Julie has written a much needed 'how to' guide which brings everything up to date for us."-- "Tony Spong, Lead Consultant, AAR Group and Chair of DMA Creative Committee"

"A Julie Atherton book is always essential reading. This one doesn't disappoint. Clear, constructive but practical insights and advice adorn every page! The text represents a manual for B2B selling that few students and practitioners will want to miss out on."-- "Dr. Rob Angell, Associate Professor in Marketing, University of Southampton, Co-author of the State of Martech Survey"

"After working at Google for six years, I thought I knew how social media worked, especially in B2B. Wrong! This book has shown me not just how much more I can be doing to promote my awards business but how to do better what I am doing already."-- "Patrick Collister, Custodian of The Caples Awards, Fellow of the IPA, author of 'How to Use Innovation and Creativity in Business'"

"As an experienced marketing practitioner and trainer, Julie doesn't just give you the theory but demonstrates the practice of how you can truly put the customer at the heart of B2B social media to build authentic relationships and deliver results."-- "Rachel Aldighieri, Managing Director, Data & Marketing Association"

"Building trusting relationships - as Julie rightly points out in the opening pages - is central to any successful business and B2B Social Selling Strategy offers the complete "go to" guide to making this a reality. It covers all the bases from why social selling works, what an effective plan looks like, and how to deliver results and embed best practice."-- "Susan Walkley, Managing Director, Public Relations & Creative Comms, Havas Health & You"

"B2B marketing and sales has long been recognised as relationship-led. Relationships are increasingly online, social media continues to grow and traditional media and sales landscapes are upended, so new strategies are needed - and this book offers just that. Practical, accessible and evidence-based solutions for today's and tomorrow's B2B issues, relevant to novice and professional alike, helping businesses and individuals navigate and succeed in this VOCA environment. A great and timely achievement."-- "Prof. Donald Lancaster, PhD, University of Exeter Business School, Director of MBA; Assoc Professor, FHEA, CMBE, Fellow, Worshipful Company of Marketors"

"B2B Social Selling has seen significant growth in recent years. However, many seem to miss the point that success comes from building trusted relationships rather than from a continuous sales pitch. Julie draws on her wide and deep experience, explaining how to use Social Selling as a key relationship and business-building technique. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone serious about Social Selling."-- "Mike Berry, Strategic Marketing Lecturer, Trainer, Consultant and co-author of Digital Marketing Fundamentals"

"Julie is one of the most respected professionals in the social media sector. Her experience gives her a unique perspective on the challenges facing marketers trying to get to grips with the complexities of social media selling. This book explains how to target and convert prospects with optimal efficiency and effect in a channel that is increasingly important."-- "James Sutton, Strategy and Commercial Director, The Chartered Institute of Marketing"

"Packed full of actionable and impactful tactics that I'll certainly be implementing with my own clients."-- "Jenna Yhearm, MD at Gumption Agency and Founder of The Social Media Union"

"Social engagement is well recognised as a valuable way of building engagement and - more importantly - trust, with clients. In my experience, far too few companies truly embrace this cultural approach across their client facing teams. With this book, Julie provides a great overview with excellent insights that will help to truly drive social client-facing and trusted engagement."-- "Chris Boorman, Independent Business Advisor"

About the Author

Julie Atherton is the founder of the social media transformation advisory and marketing consultancy Small Wonder which specializes in advising organizations on embedding social media in their strategic development and growth. Her social media strategy books are built on 30 years' experience gained advising and training global brands, small independents and innovative start-ups including Deloitte Digital, Mott MacDonald, Nissan, Axa Group, St John Ambulance, Parcelforce Worldwide, Emerge Digital, Arnolfini, SmartViz and Ulster Bank. She is the author of Social Media Strategy, also published by Kogan Page.