Social Savvy: Turn your sales team into your social media strategy – May 2026

By Irene Williams

You have a robust, active social media strategy for your business. You create content with intention and post regularly to connect with the audiences who need what your company offers. Despite all this, the latest industry benchmarks reveal that only a sliver of your company’s followers see what you share. Your organic (unpaid) posts are reaching around 3.5% of followers on Instagram, 1.5% on Facebook, and 1.75% on LinkedIn.

The stats are sobering, yet a social media presence is nonnegotiable in today’s marketplace. How can you reach more people to support your sales goals? 

Enlist your sales team to post! Equip and train members of your sales team to participate in social sharing to amplify messages, reach more customers and move the needle to reach key business milestones.

FILL IN THE GAP

According to a Gallup 2023 study, most U.S. social media users just browse; they do not post. Many sources cite the “1-9-90 rule” to convey the gap between online active creators and passive consumers: 1% post, 9% engage, 90% scroll. 

The 1-9-90 rule likely applies to your business’s social media. The company is in the 1% slot as the creator and sharer of content, while 9% of your staff and sales team like/comment/repost, leaving 90% of others associated with the business to observe without actively engaging. 

With focused effort, you can begin narrowing the 1-9-90 gap in your social strategy. Set an objective to make it as simple as possible for everyone on the team to incorporate social media into their customer relations and sales efforts. Along the way, maintain realistic expectations. It will likely be easier to squeeze more juice from the participation of the 9% of team members who are already taking action. However, you have a solid chance of multiplying your social savvy sales team by offering guidance and removing friction so others can step up and join in, as well.

It’s important to convey that individual participation on behalf of the business is voluntary. Your company should not make social posting compulsory, but you should make it clear why you’re suggesting it in terms of the benefits individuals stand to gain if they choose to participate.

POTENTIAL PAYOFFS OF CREATING A SOCIAL-SAVVY TEAM

Stats reveal that posts from people often outperform those from brands or businesses. Importantly, this disparity is not due to company content being penalized by platforms; it’s because people tend to prefer posts from other people (score one for humanity!). Personal post-performance data is particularly better on LinkedIn and Instagram, both of which I recommend as anchors in your social media strategy.

• An Instagram study documented slightly higher median engagement for personal profiles overall, which increased in line with follower counts: 7.07% versus personal and business profiles, respectively, overall, and 4.94% versus 3.39% at the 10,000-to-100,000-follower count.

• On LinkedIn, an analysis showed that employees’ personal profiles generated 2.75 times more impressions and five times more engagement than a company’s page over a defined period. 

• Stats across all top social platforms indicate that posting to personal profiles is valuable for enhancing organic (unpaid) engagement with corporate content.

Long story short, it’s well worth your time and effort to create a socially savvy sales team. So, let’s go!

DEFINE BRAND STANDARDS AND PROFILE PARAMETERS

As you start addressing social media use with your sales team, you may be asked by individuals about how to set up or modify their profiles on social platforms. I strongly recommend that people present themselves as, well, themselves on their profiles. Primarily, I advise they do not use the brand name as part of their profile names/social media handles and, instead, reference the brand and their roles with the company in their bios and in content they share.

This approach is mutually beneficial—protective for individuals and brands. For salespeople, they create profiles that can travel with them should they move on to other opportunities in the future. For businesses, this approach prevents stray accounts from using the brand name in confusing, incorrect or obsolete ways. 

I advise this based on much real-life experience. Many times, I’ve had to deal with dormant social media accounts set up by former sales reps or employees that combined the person’s name and brand name in the handle. Recently, I came across an account on Instagram that was titled with a misspelling of a major brand’s name—ouch! 

A core component in setting of profile guardrails is your company’s brand standards. The brand standards clearly define how the company name and visual identity must be presented. (If you don’t have this important reference for your team, create one soon so that anyone who works with your business knows how to speak, show and sell on your behalf.)

OPERATE WITH A SIMPLE PLAYBOOK

While the focus in this article is to help sales teams do their own posts, let’s address some easy entry points to get the ball rolling for those who may be more hesitant to participate.

1. Invite (do not require) all team members to follow company profiles.

2. Invite everyone to regularly like and comment on company posts, as direct engagement improves the likelihood of content being shown to more people overall.

3. Occasionally remind your team of the invitations to follow your profiles and engage with content, as a means of keeping these opportunities on their radars.

Now, to spark direct content posting, set a 1-to-3 posting approach for a simple strategy: for every one post from the brand/company, guide team members to share three personalized messages to amplify the information within a reasonable time window. 

• Provide the company post for reference.
Example: The company has updated its website.

• Offer three to five potential angles for individual sharing.
Example: “You asked, we responded”; “Here’s what I like about the update”; “Here’s what you’ll appreciate about the update”; “I’m ready to help you navigate”; “Check out this feature with [LINK]”

• Request that supporting posts be shared within X number of weeks of the initial company post. Typically, it will help for people to share within 24 hours of the post of origin and publish follow-ups within three weeks or so. This timing helps amplify messaging and concentrate engagement to garner the most audience action and interest. 

The posts created and shared by the company will always serve as the core message—the source material, if you will, for individualized posting. Company content covers the gamut: product launches, business announcements, services, features and benefits, relevant ideas and trends, and calls to action. Posts by sales reps that share the company messaging should always add personalized, authentic nuance to keep things approachable and real. 

Provide talking points to help team members come up with three supporting posts but don’t require rigid regurgitation of wording. It’s imperative that each person shares in first person, in their own voice—from their own unique vantage point.

REASONABLE REQUIREMENTS

Adhere to this short list to ensure clarity and quality of messaging:

• Advise individuals to always add something personal rather than just hitting the ‘share’ button on company content. It’s measurably more effective to include a personalized note when sharing.

• For company content that’s more serious or sensitive in tone, you may advise your team to not share or, in certain cases, require that they seek approval before posting.

• Ask everyone to be original. Don’t copy the company’s or colleagues’ captions. 

• With awareness that some may use generative AI:

– Request that team members write their own first drafts and turn to AI only to correct grammar or polish what they’ve written.

– Require that they not input confidential, proprietary or sensitive information in any AI platform.

• Encourage everyone to post in such a way that they are comfortable and confident, especially since anything posted on social media is public facing (even if shared by accounts set to “private”). n

THE AUTHOR

Irene Williams is a marketing consultant with 25+ years of experience in the flooring and building-products industry. She’s also a coach, speaker and author on personal and professional development and digital wellness. Learn more and get in touch at irenewilliams.biz.