5 Social Media Selling Tips & Warnings
Social media is one
of the best marketing tools out there: you can grow and reach a large
audience with content and ads, and people who like and/or follow you are
your fans, so they’re already your target group.
However,
people can be resistant to selling on these platforms. They see sites
like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as places to share content and
interact with friends, families—and nowadays, brands.
You
really have to approach this the right way or you could alienate your
audience, causing them to unfollow or unlike you because they expect a
two-way conversation and engaging content, not to be marketed to.
It’s also important to clarify that social selling doesn’t mean advertising your product or service online for people to buy.
Social selling means you’re using social media to connect with sales
prospects and nurture relationships to hopefully convert them into
customers.
For example, I recently did a Tea Time Tip about
things that you need to consider before you start building your website.
People could comment and asking questions in real time, and the
Facebook Live had a lot of information about hiring a professional web
development company.
So, I wasn’t simply talking at people to
hire eVision Media for their website-building needs; I was sharing
pertinent information and nurturing those leads who might be looking for
a company to help them out.
Now that we’ve defined social selling, let’s discuss what you can do to increase your odds of success:
1. Think relationships, not dollar signs.
Make sure you’re posting relevant, non-sales content. You want to
become an expert resource in your industry, so focus on adding value to
your users’ feeds.
According to a study performed by LinkedIn,
buyers who are active on social media welcome input from industry
experts. In addition, 76% of buyers are ready to have a conversation
with potential providers.
Get to know your potential customers
by asking them engaging questions, answering their questions in a timely
manner and responding to comments. The more trust and loyalty you
build, the better your odds of converting a follower into a paying
customer.
Read: The Power of Social Media Storytelling
Once
upon a time your strategy was probably largely focused on sharing links
to third-party content with your audience. Well, those days are over,
and if you want to stand out in the crowded and noisy online
environment, you need to focus on content marketing storytelling.
Read more to learn how to tell a compelling story with your content.
2. Take the time to build out your accounts.
Make sure that your bio and profile are filled out on all the platforms
you want to use for social selling. You should include your website
url, About Us, phone number and any other relevant contact info.
It can also help to pin relevant posts, make sure your branding stands
out and have high-quality images to attract followers’ attention. Again,
this builds trust and loyalty, making people feel more comfortable and
secure doing business with you.
See how one of our clients, A
Family Law Firm, has taken the time to not only fill out their contact
info, but also the "Our Story" section on Facebook.
3. Choose your messaging wisely.
What works on one platform may not work on another. Where do your
potential clients hang out? Where do they talk business, or go for
restaurant recommendations? Generally:
? LinkedIn is more business-focused, so people are more comfortable with marketing messaging there.
* Twitter has a great search function, so you can more easily connect with prospects, and find relevant topics.
* Facebook has many communities that you can join and network in (remember, don’t be pushy!)
* Instagram and Pinterest is for visuals, not long content pieces.
By tailoring your messaging for each platform, you’ll be more likely to attract the right kind of customer.
4. Let user-generated content sell for you.
You don’t have to do all the work of social selling alone! There are so
many ways to use user-generated content (UGC) to your advantage,
including:
* Contests and giveaways that encourage followers to share your content, hashtags and/or messaging.
* Ratings or reviews for your product or service
* Testimonials
For example, J.Crew posts user ratings and reviews on their website, so
when they post a dress or shirt on their social media account and
someone clicks on through, they see other people’s votes of confidence.
Not only does user-generated content help you, but it helps your
customers. Almost 80 percent of people say that UGC drives their
purchasing decisions. It’s a win-win situation!
5. Try, test and try again.
Every business owner should be tracking and measuring their efforts,
whether it’s a digital Newsletter push or a Google Adwords campaign.
Look at your data and stats to determine what’s working and what isn’t.
Maybe people are being referred to a page on your website from your
Facebook post, but they’re only spending a few seconds on it.
You need to look at why that is: is your messaging unclear? Boring? Is
there a broken link? By tracking your visitors’ paths, you can see where
you need to take a closer look.
Google Analytics is a free
tool you can use to measure your website statistics, and there are also
paid tools out there that can help you break down and understand your
data.
The more you test and tighten your social media selling
attempts, the better your ROI will be (and the happier your followers
will be).
While social selling is different than traditional
methods, it’s still about building relationships and credibility. Focus
on the person behind the platform, not on converting them into a sale or
guiding them down a marketing funnel. Take the time to build
connections and you’ll create a community of prospects who will welcome
hearing from you.
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