What is social selling?

Social selling is using social media to find, connect with and build relationships with potential customers, leading to sales over time.

Social selling focuses on relationships rather than hard pitches. By sharing useful content and joining conversations, you become someone buyers already know and trust when they are ready to purchase. It is especially useful for service businesses and business-to-business sales.

LinkedIn is the most common network for social selling, but it also happens on Instagram, Facebook groups, X and others. It usually involves building a strong profile, sharing expertise, commenting on prospects' posts, and starting helpful conversations in direct messages. Some networks also offer shopping features that let people buy directly.

Lead with help, not a sales pitch. Personalize connection requests and messages. Share content that answers questions your buyers actually ask. Track conversations so you can follow up at the right time, and never send mass copy-and-paste messages.

Example

A freelance web designer comments helpfully on local business owners' LinkedIn posts, which leads to several discovery calls.