Tom Boston

You don’t need a “good camera” to create video content. The camera on your smartphone is perfectly suited for social media video. (Especially LinkedIn) Here are things to consider: - Check the settings on your phone! You might not be recording video in the best quality possible. (1080p HD at 60 fps looks great on LinkedIn! 4k is awesome for YouTube videos) - Get your lighting right. Use natural light (e.g a window) to make your videos look better. - The camera on the back of your phone is usually better quality than the front facing camera. (Use a mirror to get yourself in frame) BEFORE investing in ANY video equipment, make videos on your mobile. The quality of your video comes from the value you add, not the camera you record on.

When it comes to social selling, you have to perform experiments. Those who are winning right now reflect on why the experiments worked (or failed) and learn from the results. Tried a new piece of content and noticed that it out performed your others? Reflect on why. Replicate. Tried to send a voice-note and got a a positive reply? Reflect on why. Replicate. Created a video that nobody engaged with? Reflect on why. Make small changes. You can take control of your social selling strategy by trying new things. They won’t all work and that’s ok. Learning from the RESULTS (good or bad) that will elevate you further on your journey.

Use X (Twitter) to take your research when prospecting to the next level. About to send someone a connection request on LinkedIn? Look at their profile on X first. Look out for: - The tone of their posts on the platform - Their key interests - Who they follow and interact with Use this information when you reach out. A lot of sellers reference the LinkedIn content of their prospects when they reach out to them. Very few use X to take their personalisation a step further. X is rich with data. Use it your advantage when selling.

A lot of people jump into a social selling strategy by leading with content. But there are three pillars of social selling. - A content strategy - An optimised profile - An engagement strategy Just sharing content isn’t enough. You also have to be an ACTIVE voice on social media. Also, your profile has to be READY for your prospects. They should instantly be able to identify who you are and how you can help. Combining a consistent content plan, with valuable engagement and an optimised profile will set you up for success with social selling. P.S A lot of the selling that you’ll actually do as a result of your social selling strategy, will probably happen away from social media. It should plug in to your overall selling strategy.

Once you’ve started creating content consistently, start to analyse what is working well and replicate it. To do this: - Go to the analytics on your LinkedIn profile - Look at your impressions over the last 365 days - Identify your top performing posts Once you’ve looked at your top 2/3 posts of the year think about: - Why did they perform so well? - How is the post formatted? - What was the key message in the post? Create a similarly formatted post with a similar message and try to replicate your success. There’s nothing wrong with creating similar looking posts (especially if they are months apart.) Learn what performs well and recreate it.

Gaining a competitive edge is one of the biggest benefits of social selling. You'll always have competition in sales. That's just part of the game. But you can play the game differently. You can play it in your own way to stand out. Your competition might: Sound like you Look like you Even imitate you But they will never be YOU. Your uniqueness will help you win. Standing out from the crowd when social selling will make you more memorable to your potential customers. Doing something different to what everybody else is doing will help you to hit your goals. Play the game your way. Make your own rules.