Presentation from the 2014 IASA Educational Conference and Business Show. Presented on Sunday afternoon to the exhibitors during the Mini Boot Camp, Presentation focuses on ways to engage socially and the changing dynamics that require a switch from selling to socially engaging. Includes all sources.

2. MARKETING AND SELLING TO INSURANCE
COMPANIES:
DRIVING GROWTH VIA SOCIAL SELLING
Darin M. Reffitt, VP, Marketing Segment Manager – Director,
Demand Generation and Campaign Management
Chair of IASA’s Social Media Subcommittee
@dmreffitt on Twitter and SlideShare

3. Today’s Speakers
Darin M Reffitt, Director, EIS Group
@dmreffitt on Twitter
Darin Reffitt is Director of Demand Generation and Campaign Management with EIS
Group (formerly Exigen Insurance Solutions.) Bringing over 17 years of experience
in marketing and communications, his focus at EIS Group is on lead generation and
management in marketing core system software to insurance companies of all
sizes. He is also a volunteer with the IASA and chairs the Social Media
Subcommittee, leading the efforts of the IASA to better engage with carriers,
vendors, and individual members across social media platforms. He volunteers with
the United Way of Delaware, is passionate about social media, and golfs, poorly.

4. Background
Per a LinkedIn study released February 13, 20147
of Small and
Medium sized
businesses
(SMBs) are using
social media
of SMBs using
social media are
doing so for
marketing
purposes
of “hyper
growth”
companies say
social media
helped increase
brand awareness
of “hyper
growth”
companies said
social media
helped generate
new leads

5. Background
More things to consider:
of CEOs do not
return cold
emails or cold
calls, per
InsideView1
the number of
web or social
media sources
buyers turn to
before making a
purchase
decision26
of B2B buyers
started product
research on
social media or
other online
communities in
201226
of B2B decision
makers think
sales
representatives
are unprepared
for meetings, per
SiriusDecisions1

6. How Do B2B Decision Makers Use
Social Media?
Per 2013 Forrester Research, as quoted from KinetixMedia14:
visit communities or forums that are NOT associated with a single brand or
vendor at least once a month
visit Facebook at least once a month
visit LinkedIn at least once a month
Use support or discussion forums & communities associated with a specific
vendor or brand
visit Twitter at least once a month
Access Google+ at least once a month

7. The Combined Challenge
Buyers are 57%
through their
buying process
before engaging
with salespeople,
according to the
Corporate
Executive Board30
More difficult
to reach
decision makers
Easier for
buyers to do
their own
research on
solutions
Greater
adoption of
social media by
companies and
individuals
A shift in sales
approach is required

8. Social Selling
Definition: the use of social media to increase revenue and sales team
productivity25.
What it is:
 Listening
 Connecting
 Engaging
 Advising
 Sharing
 Monitoring
What it isn’t:
 Pushing products
 Spamming
“Before LinkedIn and other social
networks, in the sales world, ABC
stood for Always Be Closing. Now,
ABC means Always Be Connecting,
because your connections lead to
your next hire, your next job, your
next lead, and your next close.”
- Jill Rowley, Social Selling
Evangelist at Oracle30

9. Social Selling
of B2B buyers are informing themselves
about enterprise products and services
through 3rd-party sources before consulting
a vendor’s salesforce31
of those say that these 3rd party sources
are a factor in their purchase decisions31
“B2B buyers are shopping at work
like they do at home.” –Avanade31

10. On the Other Hand…
 Traditionally, companies have limited access to social media by anyone other than Marketing or
Communications
 Perceived (and sometimes valid) brand risks limit the ability of the salesforce to post or share content
if it’s seen as being on behalf of the company
 Proper training is a better solution than denying access

11. General Strategies
Listen
 Prospect companies voluntarily deliver significant amounts of
strategic information about their goals, challenges and plans for
growth via social media. Sales teams can use this information
to target their approach to the needs of each prospect
 Individuals in targeted companies often share challenges or
seek ideas for solutions via social media. Proactive response to
those individuals can lead to sales growth and additional
referrals

12. General Strategies
Connect
 Social media has become—digitally—a combination of what
chamber of commerce mixers, class reunions, and conferences
used to be in person
 Networking via social channels can lead to sales opportunities
not only directly, but via referrals from clients, former
classmates, distant relatives, and digital influencers
 Include your social media links on business cards and email
signatures to make it easier to find you via various channels
 Crosslink your social media accounts to each other

13. General Strategies
Engage, Advise, & Share
 Social media enables members of the sales team to become digital influencers themselves
 Acting as an ongoing resource for advice and expertise keeps both the salesperson and the company
top of mind when a window opens for a sales opportunity
 Answering questions about the business in general keeps you top of mind as a resource
 Post relevant content from other sites that will interest targets
 Blog about industry or implementation best practices
 Link targets to solutions to other issues

14. General Strategies
Monitor
 Just as companies issue strategic clues on Twitter and other social sites, so too do competitors,
enabling you to monitor their strategies and prepare for future campaigns, initiatives, and/or challenges
 Intelligence gathering on social media is more current and enables real-time response
 Set up Google alerts for key names and topics to listen proactively for news38:
Your Name
Company Name
Competitor Names
Client Names
Key Unique Terms
“According to a study by conversocial, only 3% of
tweets directed at a company actually use their official
@username37

15. General Strategies
Develop a daily routine4
 Watch the Hootsuite video entitled “7 Steps for Sales Teams Going Social”
 10/10/10 rule:
Spend:
each day connecting with buyers
each day gathering intelligence about prospects/competitors/etc.
each day becoming a trusted advisor
“Distinguish yourself as a provider of
consistently good advice.” –The Social
Media Sales Revolution

16. LinkedIn
Forrester Facts:
B2B Decision Maker use of
LinkedIn: “88% have
connected with peers or
colleagues in the past
month, while 40% have
participated in groups that
are affiliated with a brand or
vendor. 81% of LinkedIn
users visit the site with a
business purpose at least
some of the time.”
 LinkedIn is “the world’s best business networking database”35
 Your profile is your online resume
Professional photo
Complete background and experience
All relevant skills and expertise
 Ask for professional recommendations from other clients
 Join relevant groups37
You may join up to 50 groups
Groups give you a place to answer questions and
demonstrate knowledge
You can contact people in your groups even if they
aren’t direct contacts

17. LinkedIn Profile
Professional picture
Professional name
Attention-grabbing
heading
Vanity URL for links
Contact info
Other social media
Summary
demonstrating
expertise
Experience

18. Twitter
 If new, start by following key companies and industry associations – Look at who is following them
 Search and monitor key hashtags4 – follow the people posting about those topics
 Use your profile space strategically – Use hashtags and key info in a very limited space
 Use the same photo across all social sites for easy confirmation
 “Stakehold” your handle on new sites to protect it38
 If selling into a geographic region, search geographically4 – use Twellow
Forrester Facts:
B2B Decision Maker use of
Twitter: “86% of users look
to Twitter primarily to read
others' tweets, with very few
actively sharing through this
channel. More than half
have posted a tweet
themselves or retweeted
something they've read
online. And 42% have used
Twitter to get product
support.”

19. Twitter
Same profile picture
Describe
your value
Cross-linked sites
Distinctive header photo

20. Facebook
 Consider separate accounts for personal and business purposes35
 Join public & private groups related to your field
 Be cautious with privacies and photos
Remember that your profile photo and your cover photos are public
 If connecting with business colleagues in a personal account, use the List
feature to organize and ensure you’re sharing appropriately.
Forrester Facts:
B2B Decision Maker use of
Facebook: while ”Only
2%…view their Facebook
presence as primarily for
business” many use
Facebook for business
sometimes. “Of those that
do, 71% use it to connect
with people…Slightly more
than half have liked a brand
or vendor (57%) or clicked
on an ad/posted on a page
owned by a brand or vendor
(51%).

21. Google+
 If only 49% are using it, why leverage it?
 72% of product research for a future business purchase begins on Google, according to Pardot's 2013
State of Demand Generation Report2
 Google+ ties directly to SEO for your website and for social media
 Enables a link into YouTube, for video blogging
 An alternative to using two Facebook accounts
Facebook for Personal, Google+ for Business
 Allows organization by “circles”
Circles are like Facebook Lists
If not already on Google+, you can start fresh with ideal groupings
Control who sees various posts and who you see in your feed
Google+ leader Vic Gundotra left Google
in April, leading to speculation that
Google+ was being phased out. So far,
this doesn’t appear to be true…

22. Blogging
 Hubspot reports that 92% of companies that blog multiple times per day have acquired a customer
from their blog1
 “Encourage team members to think about new ways to focus on prospects’ needs and business
challenges by answering common questions that prospects ask in their buyer journey”6
 The most successful B2B content marketers rated blogs as the most effective social media tactic, per a
2014 Benchmarks study8
 Blog about industry trends, challenges
 Blogs can be written or video
 Platforms:
WordPress
Blogger
YouTube

23. SlideShare
 Upload presentations on general educational topics to SlideShare as a PowerPoint or PDF
 Link them to your LinkedIn and publish them via Twitter/Facebook/Google+
 Ensure you include an author biography within your presentation and link it to your other social media
accounts39
 Be strategic with keywords to reach your target market
Searching “Insurance Accounting”:
Searching “Insurance Systems”:
Searching “Insurance Technology”:

24. Other Sites to Consider
 Quora: a question and answer site that enables experts to share their
expertise, and which is tied to your Twitter/Facebook/G+ account
 Other trending sites may not seem applicable, but there’s something to be
said for being first to market via a new channel
 Pinterest and Instagram may seem largely B2C, but according to a recent
FastCompany article2, that’s not set in stone:
“…whether they're sharing photos "From the Factory Floor" or
showcasing "Badass Machines," General Electric does a great job on
Pinterest. When it comes to images, Maersk is leading the B2B pack on
Instagram”
 Instagram and YouTube can serve as ideal content generators for other
sites
Video and photos tend to gain traction over other types of content
A study by Simply Measured showed that
Instagram photos shared by brands to
Facebook resulted in 274 engagement actions,
and to Twitter resulted in 22 retweets per
photo37

25. Who are you online?
Photos & Art
Music
Social
Videos
Review Selling
Communication
ProductivityCraft
EntertainmentDating/Meeting
Professional
Presentations
News
FoodSports
Shopping/Fashion
Medical
TravelCauses
Blogging Fitness
Automotive
Education

26. Salesforce Social Roadmap
 Each company’s roadmap will be different
 Things to consider:
How socially engaged is your company?
Who is allowed to post content at your company?
What legal/regulatory challenges does your industry face?
To whom are you selling? Where are they on social media?

27. Sample Social Roadmap
Who may access social media?
Howsociallyengagedisyourcompany?
Twitterisstill
kindascary
We’reon
LinkedInand
Twitter
JustLinkedIn
andTwitter?
Pshaw!
Only Marketing
may use social
media
Everyone can
see social
media; but only
a few authorized
people may post
Our client facing
staff is an
extension of our
brand on social
media
Silent
Observers
Active
Listeners
Skilled
Networkers
Client
Advocates
Responsive
Listeners
Brand
Promoters
Brand
Advocates

28. What Sales Managers Can Do
 Provide Training
Read Chapter 9 of The Social Media Strategist for a great overview of training approaches and
areas
 Recommends three levels of training:
Intro level for everyone (“Undergraduate”) - Policy, platforms and ettiquette
Intermediate level for those with social media exposure (“Graduate”) – Brand & reputation, case
studies, crisis preparation
Advanced level for those engaged directly in social media (“Doctorate”) – In depth training & real-life
examples with outside speakers

29. What Sales Managers Can Do
 Advocate for social selling
 H&R Block’s approach can serve as a model32:
“H&R Block’s approach reflects a solid understanding of the environment. It recognizes that
employees and associates are going to be active in the social Web and that trying to restrict or
control all of their conversations is futile—not to mention limiting their potential effectiveness. To
protect its brand and ensure consistency, H&R Block educates everyone at the company on its
online communication (social media) policy—to the extent of even including that policy in vendor
and partner agreements.”

30. What Sales Managers Can Do
 Lead by example
Show them how to get engaged on the various sites and demonstrate appropriate usage
 Incorporate social engagement into goals
What gets measured gets done
 Develop incentives to salespeople to engage on social media9
Prizes
Rankings
The best at social sales get access to the best tools9 (ex. LinkedIn Premium memberships)
“We incentivize salespeople every day to record
the number of appointments, outbound calls,
proposals sent, and other activities that we know
drive sales. Why not include their number of blog
comments? Or new Twitter followers? Or
recommendations on LinkedIn? Make it fun, and
make it competitive at the same time. Rank the
sales team in order of their ‘social strengths.’”
– Jeff Hoffman16

31. What Marketing Can Do
 Help drive the cultural shift at your company to embracing social media and enabling use by the
salesforce
Incorporate the salesforce into the overall social media plan goals2
As you define your overall social media marketing goals and tactics, including the salesforce as a
channel for distribution and lead management will help you to succeed
Ensure a comprehensive Social Media policy is created that enables the salesforce to engage
socially
 Provide tools to assist2
Corporate accounts with services to help the salesforce manage and measure social media success
will standardize processes and ensure compliance with corporate requirements
If you don’t give them the tools to do the job they will find or make their own
“If the culture in the organization doesn’t
encourage communication, whether internally or
externally, then adding in social media
technologies is going to be difficult. And it’s often
management that has difficulty understanding
how to integrate, not the employees.”5

32. What Marketing Can Do
 Support the Sales Team
Give them content to share - according to a recent IDG Connect B2B study, 89% of IT buyers want
educational content, and the study notes that, "IT buyers will soon look to social media as the single
most important content source to inform their buying decisions.“2
Provide fully-developed Company pages and Official Twitter Accounts to lend the sales team
credibility
Follow the sales team back on Twitter

33. Other Considerations
Account Ownership
 Decide up front who will own the accounts
Company-owned accounts should follow standard naming conventions
Personal accounts have more freedom to share content without appearing to be endorsing
 Legal precedent is being set*
LinkedIn is generally viewed as personal
 Avoid ambiguity
Set a policy and get forms signed for corporate-owned accounts
Legal/Compliance
 Make legal a partner instead of an adversary
 Use appropriate tools for legal and compliance purposes
*“Who Owns a Social Profile? You or Your Company?”
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130807115218-5214630-who-
owns-a-social-profile-you-or-your-company

34. Tools
 Hootsuite: social media dashboard that enables organization of social media
accounts, keywords, posts, hashtags, etc.
Within Hootsuite you can form followers into groups4
Prospects
Customers
Competitors (private twitter list)
Influencers
Partners
 Twellow: Twitter directory
 Topsy.com: Twitter Search Engine
 Twitonomy: Twitter Analytics
Followers
Retweets
Mentions
 Twiangulate
Finds accounts using multiple variables

35. Tools
 RSS Readers37:
• Feedly
• NetVibes
• Newsblur
 Twitter Automation/Schedulers37:
• HootSuite
• Sprout Social
• MarketMeSuite
• TweetDeck (now owned by Twitter)
 Tools to Measure Social Influence37:
• Klout
• Kred
• PeerIndex

36. Vendors
 Enterprise Social Marketing and/or Compliance Platforms:
• GaggleAMP9
• Hearsay Social
• PeopleLinx
• Socialite
• Socialware
• Smarsh
 Training Programs:
• PeopleLinx – LinkedIn specific
• Sales Performance International
 Listening Platforms:
• Radian6
• Sysomos

37. Social Media During #IASA2014
Social Media Contests:
• Twitter: “Tweet Your Way to an iPad Mini!” Contest
• One random tweet including hashtag #IASA2014
will be drawn to win an iPad Mini
• Instagram: Snap Your Way to an iPad Mini!” Contest
• One photo using #IASA2014 hashtag will win an iPad Mini –
whichever photo has the most likes as of Wednesday morning
Social Media Education:
• “Beyond LinkedIn: Leveraging Social Media to Build Your
Professional Brand”
• Will cover best practices, pitfalls, and strategies for social success
BOTH ARE OPEN
TO EXHIBITORS
TOO!

38. How to Ride the Social Wave at #IASA2014
 Find your audience
Everyone using #IASA2014 hashtag could be a prospect
Follow them and get them to follow you!
 Join the conversation
Tweet about your activities using the #IASA2014 hashtag
 Engage on Twitter
Shoutouts to people on Twitter
Respond to their posts
Direct messages to people tweeting interesting content
 Establish your company on Instagram
Not many of the exhibitors are on Instagram – Be among the first

39. Final Thoughts
 Start by listening and learning the rules of engagement
• Figure out what your audience is doing and what your opportunity is32
 Voice matters
• Building a personal brand requires a personal voice
• On social media, organizational voices are less trusted than the voices of real people32, which carry
more weight and seem more real
 The 4-1-1 Rule37
• Published in 2009 and popularized by content marketing guru Joe Pulizzi
• For every 6 posts:
should be original posts to interesting content
may be self-serving to your own content or campaign
should be a retweet/repost of someone you’re following

40. Final Thoughts
 Cone Inc. 2009 “Social Media in Business Study:
of business buyers believe all companies should have a
presence on social media
of business buyers believed social media should be used to
interact and become more engaged with them

41. Online Sources
1. 10 Ways To Teach Your Customers To Buy From You: http://marketingthink.com/10-ways-to-teach-your-customers-to-
buy-from-you-social-selling/
2. 5 (Relatively Simple) Steps To B2B Social Media Marketing Success: http://www.fastcompany.com/3026450/dialed/5-
relativity-simple-steps-to-b2b-social-media-marketing-success
3. 5 Ways Your Company Can Use Social Media: Tools to Employ – Infographic:
http://socialmediatoday.com/rtmixmktg/1824456/5-ways-your-company-can-use-social-media-tools-use
4. 7 Steps for Sales Teams Going Social – Video: http://blog.hootsuite.com/7-steps-for-sales-teams-going-social/
5. 7 Steps to Making the Most of Social Media in Your B2B Business: http://www.business2community.com/b2b-
marketing/7-steps-making-social-media-b2b-business-0768144
6. 7 Ways Your Sales Team Can Get Results with B2B Social Media: http://socialmediab2b.com/2014/02/b2b-social-
media-sales-team-results/
7. 81% Of Small And Medium-Sized Businesses Use Social Media: http://mashable.com/2014/02/13/linkedin-social-
media-study/
8. B2B Content Marketing Statistics and Trends: How Do You Measure Up?:
http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/b2b-content-marketing-statistics-trends-measure-0777094
9. Empowering Sales Teams with Social Media to Drive Leads – Video: https://gaggleamp.com/blog/video-empowering-
sales-teams-with-social-media-to-drive-leads/
10.Even Though It’s Called B2B, There’s Still A “C” On The Other End: http://steveolenski.blogspot.com/2012/05/even-
though-its-called-b2b-theres-still.html

42. Online Sources
11.Getting Social: Top Social Media Platforms for B2B: http://spacebarpress.com/getting-social-b2b-friendly-social-media-
platforms/
12.Hot or Not: The Best Methods for Finding New B2B Customers in 2014 – Infographic:
http://profitecture.com/recommended-reading-whats-new-in-b2b-social-media-marketing-112713/
13.How B2B Companies Are Using Social Media – Infographic: http://www.spiral16.com/blog/2013/10/how-b2b-
companies-are-using-social-media-infographic/
14.How B2B Decision-Makers are Using Social Media: http://bringyourbrandtolife.kinetixmedia.com/blog/bid/151129/How-
B2B-Decision-Makers-are-Using-Social-Media
15.How Do B2B Companies Use Social Media? – Infographic: http://unbounce.com/social-media/b2b-social-media/
16.How to Ease Your Sales Team Into Social Sales: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/easing-into-social-selling
17.How to Enable Employee Brand Ambassadors Through Social Media;
http://www.marketingpower.com/ResourceLibrary/Pages/newsletters/b2b/2014/February/brand-ambassadors.aspx
18.Make Social Media Easy For The B2B Sales Team – Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/markeelliott/venture-
accelerator-partners-sm-for-b2-b-sales-130923
19.Other Than LinkedIn, Why Are B2B Marketers Still Unsure About Social Media?:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2013/10/21/other-than-linkedin-why-are-b2b-marketers-still-unsure-about-
social-media/
20.Preparing sales teams for social media – it’s not just about the hard sell: http://www.eyefortravel.com/social-media-
and-marketing/preparing-sales-teams-social-media-%E2%80%93-it%E2%80%99s-not-just-about-hard-sell

43. Online Sources
21.The Rise of Social Salespeople: http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2012/11/05/the-rise-of-social-salespeople/
22.Selling Social Media to the Sales Team: http://socialmediatoday.com/fbocchino/2016111/selling-social-media-sales-
team
23.Six Brilliant Ways B2B Brands Are Tapping into Social Media: http://socialmediatoday.com/tlittleton/1871731/six-ways-
b2b-brands-tapping-social-media
24.Social Media and the B2B Sales Courtship: http://www.business2community.com/b2b-marketing/social-media-b2b-
sales-courtship-0777660
25.Social Selling: An Overview for Sales Executives:
http://socialbusiness.hootsuite.com/rs/hootsuitemediainc/images/hootsuite-socialsellingexecutive-whitepaper.pdf
26.Using a Social Media Marketing Strategy to Reboot Your Sales Team:
http://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/blog/using-a-social-media-marketing-strategy-to-reboot-your-sales-team/
27.What Is Social Selling? Connections And Content: http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2013/05/08/what-is-social-selling-
connections-and-content/
28.Why Sales Teams Need a Social-Media Strategy: http://www.sellingpower.com/content/article/?a=9665/why-sales-
teams-need-a-social-media-strategy/why-sales-teams-need-a-social-media-strategy
29.Why Your Sales Team Needs To Get On Social Media: http://dynamicsignal.com/sales-team-needs-get-social-media/
30.The ABCs of Social Selling: Always Be Connected: http://blog.eloqua.com/abcssocialselling/

44. Online Sources
31.B2B Buyers Seen Adopting B2C Shopping Practices: http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/online/b2b-buyers-seen-
adopting-b2c-shopping-practices-38359/
40. Social Media Policy 101: “Be smart. Don’t be stupid.”:
http://www.leadershipcloseup.com/2013/10/25/social-media-policy-101-be-smart-dont-be-stupid/

45. Printed Sources
32.Barger, Christopher. The Social Media Strategist: Build a Successful Program from the Inside Out. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2012
33.Bodnar, Kipp and Jeffrey L. Cohen. The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads
with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, E-Mail, and More. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012
34.Gillan, Paul and Eric Schwartzman. Social Marketing to the Business Customer. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
2011.
35.Landy, Chase and Kevin Knebl; The Social Media Sales Revolution: The New Rules for Finding Customers, Building
Relationships, and Closing More Sales Through Online Networking. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011
36.Online Business Buddy. Social Media Sales Techniques: The 25 most effective ways to boost sales like a Pro with
Social Media!. Self Published eBook, 2013
37.Schaffer, Neal. Maximize Your Social: A One-Stop Guide to Building a Social Media Strategy for Marketing and
Business Success. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2013
38.Shih, Clara. The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Market, Sell, and Innovate, 2nd Edition. Boston:
Pearson Education, 2011
39.Stock, Darren. Social Media Marketing: Strategies Tips Hints For Any Size Business. Self Published eBook, 2013

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