20 social selling statistics for 2024

The B2B buyer journey has changed. Prompting businesses large and small to slowly move away from the traditional sales process and replacing it with social selling techniques. It's meant that Founders, marketers and sales teams have had to collaborate closer as they learn how to leverage social media channels in response to this shift.

With a lot of professionals looking into building personal brands to increase sales opportunities and their social selling success. Especially in B2B. In this blog post, we'll explore 20 social selling statistics you need to know in 2024 and how you can leverage social selling to your advantage.

20 social media selling statistics you need to know in 2024

All the social selling statistic below have a B2B focused and applicable for both B2B sales teams and B2B marketers.

1. Social sellers outsell peers. LinkedIn has reported that 78% of businesses that use social selling outperform those that don't.
2. LinkedIn also suggests that businesses prioritising social selling are 51% more likely to reach their sales quotas.
3. Sales professionals with a strong social selling Index on LinkedIn have 45% more sales opportunities than those who don't have one.
4. 75% of B2B buyers use social media to make buying decisions, with 50% using LinkedIn as a trusted source.
5. Gartner reports that the ready availability of quality information through digital channels has made it easier for B2B buyers to gather information independently. 27% do some research independently online which has impacted the B2B buying journey.
6. 70% of Youtube users have made a purchase from a brand after seeing a product video.
7. UGC can be a valuable resource for building trust and credibility in B2B marketing. UGC has shown to be 20% more influential when it comes to purchasing decisions – even for B2B brands.
8. There's over 5.04 billon social media users as of January 2024.
9. According to Accenture, social commerce will reach $1.2 trillion by 2025 – up from $492 billion in 2021.
10. LinkedIn and Facebook are the top two most effective social media platforms for B2B sales methods to find new prospects.
11. According to LinkedIn's State of Sales report, 55% of buyers say that working remotely has made buying easier in the US & Canada.
12. Virtual selling is here to stay – almost 40% of sellers reported closing deals over $500,000 without meeting the buyer face to face.
13. Warm outreach is increasingly popular too – with only 21% of buyers preferring cold calls as an outreach method.
14. 94% of marketers say personalization boosts sales.
15. 40% of B2B buyers research potential vendors and products on social media before making a purchase decision.
16. Almost 60% of sales reps are using video in the sales process.
17. And almost 50% of sales representatives report that video increases close rates.
18. Nearly 60% say they need more touches to close a deal.
19. And over 50% say its getting harder to sell or reach buyers.
20. 89% of buyers are more likely to buy from sales reps who understand their mission and goals.
21. 71% of B2B buyers reported that most sales interactions felt tractional.

How to leverage social selling in 2024

Contrary to popular belief, social sales isn't about being on every single channel in order to increase sales. A good social selling strategy focuses on building your social media presence on the channel your ICP is likely to be. Once you know which social selling platform you'll be focusing on, you need to make sure your sales strategies and social media marketing strategy aligns. Then, it's the matter of ensuring your team's profiles are optimized, joining in on social media conversation and building a strong brand.

1. Optimize your profile

It'll be hard to implement a social selling program if you have a blank profile on social platforms. Let alone build a personal brand. You'll find that people will view you as spam, and be less likely to respond to any messages – that's especially the case on LinkedIn. Get your LinkedIn profile ready by making sure you have a professional photo, and a suitable profile summary. Next, have a tagline so anyone who sees you in their newsfeed has an idea about what you do. Finally, once your profile is ready, start adding people to your network and when you have the right people in your contacts, ask them for testimonials as part of your own social proof.

2. Build a strong online brand

Building a personal brand takes time. But it's a crucial part of a modern sales strategy and has proven to increase conversion rates and be a great way to get in front of key decision makers through relevant content. In some cases, it has also shortened the buying process.

Not sure where to start? Gary Vaynerchuk (also known as GaryVee) is a good example of social selling leaders. Even though he's not a sales guy, he's built brand awareness to reach potential customers and expanded his own social networks without sharing much sales enablement content.

3. Integrate social selling with your sales strategy

Integrating social selling into a traditional sales strategy involves blending social media tactics with existing sales processes to enhance relationship-building and lead generation. To do so, start by defining your objectives – this might be lead generation, brand awareness or customer engagement. Next, you'll want to choose a suitable social media channel. For B2B marketing and sales teams, LinkedIn is extremely popular for brand awareness and lead generation. You'll also want to make room for social listening cues and leads that come through. An all-in-one CRM, such as folk will be able to help you keep a strong overview on all this, and provide a space for your sales and marketing teams to collaborate.

Conclusion

From all the social media statistics above, it's safe to say that social selling efforts pay off and help you meet sales targets. But it's not easy to do overnight. You'll need consistent social selling processes across your sales team and marketing strategies that help you figure out which social media platform to leverage. Which means you'll also need a CRM that can allow your teams to collaborate. folk can help you nurture meaningful relationships, import leads from social channels and has free social selling tools you can use to optimize your social media account and CRM workflow. Try folk today, free.

More resources

• How to leverage social selling on LinkedIn to drive new business

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