Social Selling for Software Development Companies 🤯

Social selling is all about putting in the actual effort to develop long-term relationships with potential clients, without compromise. It’s a form of digital networking that can open the right doors and start the right conversations that will eventually lead to closing a deal. Let’s take a look at how social selling can help your software development company transform and stand out in an increasingly crowded and noisy market.

1. What is social selling for software development companies?

Social selling is more than just a buzzword. It’s a game-changing strategy that empowers software development companies to leverage social media platforms (when it comes to B2B, most likely that platform is LinkedIn) to connect, engage, and nurture relationships with potential clients. It goes beyond mere transactions and focuses on building trust and credibility. This is a very important aspect because we live in an increasingly agitated and superficial world where a lot of players prefer to send thousands of DMs severely lacking in personalization, instead of taking their time to use social media the way it was intended to be used: to create a network of people, socialize, and build relationships.

2. Why is social selling important?

A clear and performant social selling process is important especially for B2B tech & software development companies who want to grow and start conversations with amazing potential clients.

It’s more than just selling. It’s about making a good, long-lasting relationship with potential clients using social media, mostly LinkedIn. Trust is very important in this field. Social selling lets companies show what they are good at, share useful information, and talk to their audience in a real way. By focusing on making good relationships rather than just selling straight away, social selling helps make a stronger bond with potential clients. This leads to long-term growth and a strong network of professionals. Simply put, social selling is not just about making sales; it’s about making a brand that draws in the right people and helps the business do well in the future.

3. Does social selling really work for software development companies?

Absolutely! And we say this after working with 10+ clients in the software industry, for whom we reached more than 100.000 qualified businesses in their ideal customer profile.

Using social selling and social listening, especially in the software development industry where competition is fiercer than ever before is a smart decision for your business. While others may resort to questionable tactics for shallow short-term gains, social selling allows you to differentiate yourself by showing your potential clients that you care about more than just their bank account. You get to show potential clients that you are truly there for them while you generate growth and revenue for your own business. It’s not rocket science. It’s mainly about nurturing prospects through valuable interactions and positioning yourself as their go-to expert when they’re ready to make decisions (the buying kind of decisions). 

A volume focused spammy approach can yield fast results, but it won’t do you much good

You send out the maximum amount of connection requests, you might get to see a lot of them accepted, but what’s next? You might grow the numbers of connections or followers, however, large numbers no longer guarantee large reach or exposure. Sending the maximum number of messages no longer means getting large amounts of replies. It is an almost guaranteed “spam sentence” and you get sent to LinkedIn’s timeout corner where your messages get flagged as spam. The volume based approach is what everyone else does. And this translated into some key industries being bombarded with tens of messages daily. Most people in those industries don’t even bother opening those messages anymore, let alone replying to them. 

Moreover, while a volume-based approach can show some fast results in terms of connection growth, they are not sustainable in the long run. People who do not see value in being connected to you will not hesitate to remove the connection. It’s already crowded out there and many of those focusing on doing business on LinkedIn are becoming more and more conservative with their time. They will only give it to those who are worth it, who interact in a valuable manner, and who share valuable content. 

4. Social selling best practices

From our experience over the recent years, social should be your focus channel for outbound prospecting. There are many reasons for this and we could talk about them for days. The main one, however, is that traditional outreach doesn’t really work anymore in an increasing number of industries. It’s become more and more difficult to stand out among everyone else who’s reaching out. In fact, in many cases, your prospect or lead might not even get to see your email or message due to the sheer amount they get daily. The spray-and-pray approach is at its end. 

If you are a sales professional or a dedicated founder and you want to leverage your preferred social network, without becoming an influencer, here are some of the social selling best practices when nurturing and engaging with potential customers:

1. Personalize your approach as much as possible

Tailor your messages and interactions based on individual prospects’ needs and pain points. Find relevant opportunities to start conversations and never pitch slap. This makes your potentials feel like you are worth their time because you are truly interested in helping them get more and better business. 

2. Share valuable content in the nurturing stages

Establish yourself as an industry thought leader by sharing your ideas and approach, insightful articles, case studies, or success stories. Anything that could generate value for your clients, without being spammy. Don’t just send out materials connected to their industry, add your insight to them or ask some pertinent questions.

3. Engage in an authentic manner

Interact genuinely with your audience by commenting on their posts or joining relevant discussions. LinkedIn is much like any other platform for socializing. For example, as a salesperson, you can think of it in terms of attending in-person events. When you go to a B2B networking event you don’t just walk through the room and start talking about you and pitch your company or services. Nooooo. You first start with an introduction, get into some weather talk, and ask some questions. You find some common ground and find out more about the person, problems, needs, expectations, challenges, and objectives. And you start talking about your offering only when you have something interesting to say or when the conversation goes in that direction. The same applies when it comes to social selling.

4. Build your network strategically

Connect with key decision-makers within your target market who can potentially become future clients. Since social selling is a hard game, with a lot of effort involved in the process. So you need to choose your battles wisely.

5. Leverage data

Use data enrichment tools to gather valuable insights about your prospects, enabling you to craft personalized messages that resonate with them.

5. Whom is it for?

Social selling is ideal for software development companies looking to expand their reach internationally and establish themselves as industry leaders, but also grow their businesses in a sustainable way. 

Social selling is for you if:

• You are a software development company looking to go international
• You are a software development sales professional
• You are a software development founder
• You are a software development marketer

Social selling (probably) isn’t for you if:

• You expect over-night growth with no marketing budgets
• If you expect shady tactics, fake followers, bots, and other scammy growth hacking tactics

6. Solution description

At Milk & Cookies Studio, we understand the unique challenges faced by software development companies. Our Social Selling solution is designed specifically for tech companies like yours. It provides a dedicated expert who will work closely with you to develop a custom social selling strategy tailored to your goals and target audience. We have a long-term process that focuses on quality and brings in steady results without damaging the reputation of your account.  

7. Some of our happy clients:

They are some of our software development companies who trusted us with their lead generation and growth:

Softia, mReady, BeeCoded, LiftUp, Avira, Coders Lab, Accesa, Carbon Code, DC Tech, PQB.

We understand the industry, we know what are the struggles, what works, and what doesn’t. 

8. What you get exactly

– A dedicated Social Selling expert well-versed in the nuances of the software development industry
– A customized social selling strategy crafted specifically for your company’s objectives
– A clear roadmap with milestones, tactics, and actions that guide your social selling efforts toward success
– Exponential growth in terms of business opportunities and meaningful sales conversations initiated through strategic social interactions
– Increased visibility on both your personal profile and company page (if desired), allowing you to grow your network and generate new business opportunities organically
– Monthly lead lists and data enrichment services ensuring accurate prospect information for effective targeting
– Original, personalized nurturing sequences optimized for maximum engagement with potential clients at every stage of their buyer journey
– Brand building activities such as social listening, follower base growth, and positioning of thought leadership content to establish your authority in the industry

9. Our process

1. Discovery Stage:

We dive deep into understanding your company’s unique value proposition, target audience personas, and goals.

2. Social Selling Strategy Design:

Based on our findings in the discovery stage, we craft a customized social selling strategy that aligns with your objectives.

3. Setup & Testing:

We set up the necessary tools and systems. And then spend three months testing and refining the strategy to ensure optimal results.

4. Monthly Implementation:

Once the strategy is fine-tuned, we execute it on a monthly basis while continuously monitoring and optimizing for maximum effectiveness.

10. KPIs

– Number of connection requests accepted per 100 sent
– Number of nurturing points per prospect
– Number of replies received from prospects
– Number of intro messages answered per 100 sent

11. Expected results

Our clients who use our social selling services average 1 new high-ticket client ($20.000+ per client) in every 100 leads.

When the list building is done by finding the very best ideal customers and the nurturing stage is done without cutting corners, we should expect to have at least a 60% connection request sent acceptance rate, a 40% reply rate, and a 10% meeting booked rate.

12. Packs & Pricing

We offer two comprehensive packs tailored to suit your specific needs:

1. Basic Pack

Starting from $1200 per month, minimum 6 months engagement period. 

This is what you get: 

• creating the ideal customer profile
• creating the topics matrix
• list building (100 companies per month, with 1-3 leads for each)
• data enrichment
• market and ICP research
• 2 nurturing stages where you get minimum 7 valuable interactions
• sending connection requests
• sending highly personalized intro messages

2. Premium Pack

Starting from $1850 per month, minimum 4 months engagement period. 

• Includes all features in the Basic Pack
• Upgraded list building (150 companies per month, with 1-3 leads for each)
• 10 x LinkedIn Authority building posts on your profile to enhance your sales activities

13. What’s included in the packs

– List building services to identify potential prospects within your target market.
– Data enrichment tools providing valuable insights about your prospects for personalized messaging.
– Hyper-personalized list nurturing strategies for effective engagement throughout their buyer journey.
– Timely connection request sending based on strategic timing cues for higher acceptance rates.
– Relevant connections nurturing and positioning techniques for meaningful interactions that drive conversions.

Grow your software development social sales with Milk & Cookies Studio’s Social Selling solution

In today’s competitive software development landscape, social selling offers an opportunity for companies like yours to stand out by building lasting relationships with potential clients who value trust and expertise. Investing in Milk & Cookies Studio’s Social Selling solution gives you access to dedicated experts. They will guide you through every step of the process, ensuring exponential growth in business opportunities and sales conversations started.

Don’t miss out on this powerful approach that can revolutionize your software development sales! Reach out to us today for a consultation and unlock your full potential with social selling.