Why Social Selling Is the Key to B2B Success in 2025

B2B Sales is changing. Buyers no longer respond to cold DMs on LinkedIn or email. And with the invention of AI SDRs, buyers are becoming less and less trusting. 

Because of this, our 2025 prediction is that B2B buyers will become harder to sell to and the game will be won by the less-AI-sounding company. 

This is where social selling comes in and why it will be an indispensable strategy for B2B companies. It’s an age-old truth; people buy from people they know, people who have built trust with them over time. 

This article explores why social selling works, how it impacts the B2B sales funnel, and actionable ways to implement it effectively.

What is Social Selling?

Ironically, social selling isn’t about selling, at least not directly. In fact, I’d say social selling is 90% social (i.e. posting & engaging) and only 10% selling.

I like LinkedIn’s definition best:

“In a nutshell, social selling is a strategic method for sellers to connect and build relationships with prospects through social networks.”

Social selling isn’t about spamming people with sales pitches on social media. It’s about building genuine relationships by sharing relevant content, engaging in conversations, and offering solutions to buyers’ problems.

You position yourself (and your team) as trusted advisors who have deep knowledge about your ICP’s problems; which makes you the best person to solve them.

How Social Selling Impacts the B2B Sales Funnel

Social selling doesn’t just enhance existing sales processes; it redefines how buyers move through the funnel.

1. Building Awareness and Demand
   Buyers at the top of the funnel might not be in-market yet. Social selling lets you prime them by increasing their awareness of the problem and building demand for your solution.
   
   You (and your team) can share your product’s strategic narrative with problem agitation posts. For example, if you sell a testimonial solution, you might write posts about the problems with collecting social proof manually; or you might talk about the importance of social proof in the first place.

2. Nurturing Relationships & Building Trust
   Once a buyer knows who you are, social selling keeps you on their radar. Apart from posting consistently, you can also engage on social.
   
   There are 2 groups of people you should engage with; people who fit your ICP, and people who your ICP follows.
   
   Again, this isn’t about pushing for a sale. It’s about contributing to the conversations that your ICP is listening to. You need to be present and helpful so that when they’re ready to buy, you’re already a trusted name.

3. Supporting the Decision-Making Process
   In the final stage, buyers are comparing options. Social selling can offer context, testimonials, or success stories that tip the scales in your favour.
   
   This is where milestones and success stories come in. You can share testimonials from users highlighting how your product addressed a specific pain point. Or you can make posts addressing frequently asked questions or customer objections.
   
   While not directly selling to them, you provide them with the exact information they need to make their decision; but delivered in a personal, relatable way.

Why Social Selling is Critical for 2025

Here’s why social selling is crucial:

• Buyers trust people over brands. Corporate messaging can feel impersonal. Buyers are more likely to engage with insights shared by individuals who feel relatable and knowledgeable.
• AI SDRs are reducing buyer trust. Sure, people trust other people over brands. But the advent of AI sales reps means that people no longer even trust the “people” who don’t have credible profiles or who only reach out to sell. 
• Buyers expect value upfront. Social selling allows teams to provide value before any formal pitch—whether through educational posts, thought leadership, or relevant comments.

Actionable Steps to Implement Social Selling

1. Optimize Team Profiles
   Your team’s LinkedIn profiles are often the first touchpoint for prospects. A strong profile establishes credibility and builds trust at a glance.
   
   Here’s what a great profile includes:
   

• A professional headshot. Extra points if your photo can stand out (e.g. wear a funny hat, laugh, do a funny face, etc).
• Coordinated visual branding (e.g. the same LinkedIn banner, similar colour palettes, etc)
• A mention of your product name in the intro (e.g. CEO @ Company A)
• A clear, benefit-focused headline (e.g., “Helping SaaS teams reduce churn through automation”).
• A concise About section that highlights the team member’s expertise and mentions the product.
• Link to your website in Intro or Featured section.
• Summary of your product’s value prop in the experience description

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2. Don’t Write for Employees—Enable Them Instead
   It can be tempting to just write posts for team members, especially when they’re struggling to create consistently themselves. But it’s a mistake that often backfires.
   
   Writing for others takes too much time. You have no idea about their experiences or thoughts, so you have to do a ton of back-and-forth conversations to write a single post. Plus, it’s unlikely you’d actually sound like them.
   
   Instead, you should empower your team to create themselves by providing structure and support.
   
   My top tips for this:

• Define content pillars: Identify repeatable key themes they can focus on (e.g., failure stories, productivity tips, personal experiences, customer stories, etc). Pillars should be tailored to each person’s background and areas of expertise.
• Give prompts: Help them find ideas by asking thought-provoking prompts like “what’s a common industry myth you’d like to debunk?” “share one small win you achieved this week” etc.
• Let AI help: If your team members aren’t great at writing, propose AI tools to help write. My favourite tip is for them to record voice notes with their thoughts and then let AI turn those recordings into posts that sound like them.
• Give feedback, don’t rewrite: Rather than directly editing their posts, give them feedback on what they’ve written so they can improve themselves.
• Do occasional coordinated launches: This could be related to a feature launch, company news, event, or even an article. Have each team member give their own unique POV on whatever you're pushing out.

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3. Encourage Authentic Engagement
   Social selling isn’t just about posting—it’s about interacting.

• Comment thoughtfully on prospects’ posts.
• Comment on the post of people your prospects follow.
• Send direct messages to offer help or share resources, without pushing a sale.

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4. Equip Your Team with the Right Tools
   Scaling social selling across a team can feel daunting. Tools like SocialKit, Letterdrop, and Taplio are built for team social selling.
   
   When trying to choose the best tool, look out for tools that have as many of these features as possible👇🏽
   

• Content Creation: Features that help you create better content at scale. E.g. AI writing, prompts
• Social Sharing: Ability to publish or schedule posts
• Social Engagement: Ability to engage with your ICP on LinkedIn
• Prospecting: Features that let you find new people who fit your ICP
• Individual & Team Analytics: In-depth analytics on individuals as well as across the whole team

B2B Companies That Do Social Selling Well

Here are 3 of my favourite examples of B2B social selling:

1. Warmly
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Warmly uses the LinkedIn profiles of its leadership and sales teams for social selling. Team members have a circular purple band around their profile images, and they share a coordinated LinkedIn banner.

Some team members go the extra mile to add an individual touch to their branding. E.g. one of their founders calls himself a “Click-through king” and their Head of GTM wears a cowboy hat and calls himself the “Software Cowboy.”

2. tl;dv

While everyone zigs, tl;dv zags. They’re one of the few B2B companies that have adopted video well. Their video strategy has earned them 140k followers on TikTok and 26k followers.

On their personal LinkedIn pages and company TikTok page, they record short funny skits about workplace politics, the dynamics between product teams and other teams, and so on.

Apart from the regular coordinated branding, tldv goes a step further by turning 2 of their employees into the literal face of the company. Their LinkedIn logo now shows the faces of Ian and Tomas, the team members who appear in tldv’s videos.

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3. lemlist

Lemlist’s strategy is a little interesting. Not every team member is a creator, but they all use some form of coordinated branding.

Rather than use the same banner for everyone, each team member uses a different version with similar messaging.

Some banner versions focus on the individual’s specific positioning (e.g. “marketing leader in tech” “helping outbound sales teams hit their target” “grow your business with product-led sales motions”)

Some use the central “Keep growing” messaging, but with different colours or design.

Some focus on showing lemlist’s parent company, lempire, and the full range of their products.

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What’s Next for Social Selling in 2025?

Social selling is evolving rapidly, and staying ahead means adapting to emerging trends:

• Short-Form Video Content: LinkedIn’s algorithm now prioritises short videos. Teams that integrate video into their social strategy may stand out.
• Team-Based Social Selling: The future isn’t about individual reps working alone—it’s about marketing, sales, and product teams aligning to amplify their efforts.
• AI assisting, not leading: Everyone hates AI content that looks like AI content. The teams that will win are those that keep a human touch but use AI to create quicker or at scale.

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Conclusion

Social selling isn’t about quick wins or spammy tactics. It’s about building trust, creating value, and forming relationships that last. With buyers now prioritizing authenticity and connection, this strategy has moved from “nice-to-have” to “absolutely essential.”

If your team isn’t already leveraging social selling, you’re missing an opportunity to connect with buyers on their terms. Start by optimizing profiles, encouraging consistent content sharing, and equipping your team with tools to simplify the process. 

When done right, social selling doesn’t just increase reach, it drives pipeline growth. 

Use tools like SocialKit to drive your social selling engine and equip your team with the tools they need to create.

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