In our latest interview, Shaheen Samavati had the chance to speak with Jake Potter, a social media expert who specializes in IT and B2B marketing. He’s currently the global social media manager for Colt Technology Services, a telecoms company that provides network services to clients in more than 30 countries. In this role he collaborates with multiple teams and stakeholders across the world, and emphasizes a unique strategy for social selling.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on our YouTube channel, listen to the podcast on Apple and Spotify, and read our recap below.

Key takeaways

  • Don’t focus all your efforts on one channel—even B2B brands with large audiences on LinkedIn (such as Colt) need to be present on a variety of social channels to engage with younger generations.
  • Social selling is about helping salespeople transform online relationships into sales by optimizing their profiles, prioritizing engagement, and sharing content not only about the company, but also industry information and personal interests.
  • People want to connect with other people who they can relate to; sharing personalized, genuine content on social media can lead to real and lasting relationships with clients.
  • Localizing content involves everything from adapting the specific wording of each message to gathering data that provides insight on each market. 
  • Collaboration is key; it’s essential to work with different teams and partners across the world who are more likely to know what resonates with local audiences. 

The current situation is impacting social media for everyone, not just businesses, and I believe it’s an opportunity to increase social selling.

Rapid-fire recs

What’s an app or tool that you can’t work without?

My favorite application is Content Cow, a social media scheduling tool that’s incredibly easy to use. It incorporates things like approval flows, content hubs and analytics. Because it’s a small company, you can ask them to make changes or request a certain feature, and they’re happy to do it.

A marketing influencer who you follow?

I follow a guy called Joe Glover, and I actually met him a few months ago. He’s incredibly influential, personable and relatable. He shares a lot of valuable insight on LinkedIn, and when you read it, it just feels like something your friend wrote.

Also check out: 8 inspiring content and marketing influencers to follow

A valuable resource, event or group?

Joe Glover, who I mentioned above, quit his day job to launch The Marketing Meetup, a small network for marketing professionals. It started in the UK but has since expanded across Europe and even to the US, and the fact that it’s grown so much really shows the kind of influence Joe has on this industry.

Also check out: 7 online networking groups for content marketers on Facebook & LinkedIn


Connect with Jake and Shaheen on LinkedIn.

This post was edited by Melissa Haun, a freelance content creator based in Lisbon.


For more insights into social media and social selling, check out:

Encourage engagement through social media – Harriet Drudge, social lead at The Athletic UK

The art of social media campaigns – Justyna Ludwiniak, global social media manager

Unite your brand portfolio – Michelle Keomany, Pernod Ricard’s social media manager

To see the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.