At the beginning of 2020, the average adult in the U.S spent over three and a half hours on their smartphone each day, with half of that time spent engaging on social media networks. Though we don’t yet have the data to support it, for many people those values have likely increased as the year has gone on.

Not only has personal social media usage been on the rise, but professional social media usage has become more prevalent as well — and the field of sales is no exception.

With so many teams now focusing on inside sales, using strategies such as social selling to connect and win over customers are more important than ever.

When we consider all of the social media platforms available to support sales efforts, LinkedIn remains the top social platform to help salespeople connect with prospects. Here are the important statistics you need to know to help you crush your social selling efforts on LinkedIn.

Social Selling LinkedIn Stats

Customer Engagement Statistics

1. 76% of buyers are ready to have sales conversations on social media.

2. According to LinkedIn, 62% of B2B customers respond to salespeople who connect by sharing content and insights that are relevant to the buyer.

3. 81% of buyers are more likely to engage with brands that have a strong, cohesive, professional social media presence.

4. Sales reps who were introduced by a mutual connection left a favorable impression with 87% of buyers surveyed by LinkedIn.

5. Harvard Business Review reports 90% of B2B decision makers never respond to cold outreach.

6. IDC found 75% of B2B buyers and 84% of C-level executives consult social media before making purchasing decisions.

7. 92% of B2B customers are willing to engage with sales reps who have positioned themselves as an industry thought leader. This credibility is often attained by posting regularly to social media.

8. When making B2B purchasing decisions, 50% of buyers turn to LinkedIn as a resource.

9. According to Bantu, 33% of buyers prefer to contact brands on social media than over the phone.

10. When asked about quality content, 65% of B2B buyers said informational, easy to consume content is an important factor in their buying decisions.

11. The Demand Gen Report 2019 Content Preferences Survey found 95% of respondents seek credible content from industry thought leaders — up from 62% in 2018.

12. 41% of B2B buyers view 3-5 pieces of content online before interacting with a salesperson.

13. For B2B buyers, the most important aspects of vendor selection are rep’s knowledge of the buyer’s business (80%) and industry (78%).

14. 74% of business buyers conduct over half of their research before making a final purchasing decision.

15. According to CoSchedule LinkedIn posts with 149 characters in length, containing a link, and use no emojis or hashtags earn the highest engagement.

Social Selling Best Practices Statistics

16. Among blog posts shared on LinkedIn Publishing, those between 1900-2000 words accumulated the most likes, views, comments, and shares.

17. Sales reps who responded quickly to social media inquiries saw a 9.5% increase in annual revenue.

18. Sales professionals with a strong social selling index on LinkedIn have 45% more sales opportunities than those who don’t and are 51% more likely to reach quota.

19. The top uses for social media by sales reps include networking, prospecting, research, referrals, closing.

20. On LinkedIn, video campaigns have a view rate of 50%.

21. LinkedIn posts that have a neutral tone receive more comments and post views than positive or negative posts.

Sales Organization Social Media Usage Statistics

22. CSI Insights reports one in three B2B salespeople say social selling has increased the number of leads they work with.

23. 28% of companies surveyed by HubSpot are prioritizing social selling.

24. 65% of salespeople rely on social selling activities to fill their pipelines.

25. The use of social selling tools can increase win rates by 5% and deal size by 35%.

26. Social selling is responsible for generating half of revenue for 14 major industries including computer and network security, health care, and financial services.

27. According to SalesForLife, 78% of salespeople who use social selling perform better than their peers.

28. 61% of organizations engaged in social selling report revenue growth.

29. Sales professionals who use social selling are able to effectively qualify leads, deliver bids, and negotiate renewal deals, leading to 40-50% more new business, and retention rates between 80-90%.

30. It costs 75% less to generate leads on social media than any other medium.

31. Salespeople who use social selling are 51% more likely to reach quota than those who don’t.

32. According to research by CSO Insights and Seismic, 31% of B2B salespeople say social selling helps them build deeper relationships with their contacts.

33. LinkedIn is the top social media platform used for social selling by reps. Twitter and Facebook were the runner-up platforms, respectively.

34. Of the 21% of sales reps who don’t use social media to sell, the top reason why was because they didn’t understand how to use it.

35. 75% of sales reps report not receiving any social media training.

36. The Social Media and Sales Quota Survey reports 50.1% of sales reps actively engaged in social selling spend 5-10% of their time on social media.

37. Using LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index Score as an indicator, only 1.4% of sales professionals are ranked as top sellers, which requires a score of 70 or greater.

Did any of these statistics surprise you? As the business landscape changes, so will best practices on connecting with potential customers virtually. Head to this post for a complete run-down on social selling to learn more.