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You know that using social media platforms to sell your products or services is a good idea, but it’s not as simple as putting up a Facebook business page. There’s an art and skill to social selling, and approaching it wrongly can lead to a rocky foundation and even lost sales. Not every business is ready for social selling right now, but you need to know the signs for when it is time to make that leap.
Your business should be ready to embrace a social business culture, starting with seeing your employees as people with unique social media audiences. But don’t worry, this isn’t about de-personalizing your workers. Instead, it’s about understanding that each and every person has a digital footprint that gets stronger with every social media platform they’re on.
Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Vine, and niche websites are peppered with your workers’ influences. For better or worse, they’re already leaving an impression on social media about your brand and business.
You’ve heard about search engine optimization (SEO) or “optimizing” your web presence, but it all starts with optimizing your employees in the right way. Of course, you can’t violate their privacy and they need to want to cooperate, but if everyone works together to build a positive online reputation for the business, you’ve made the first step towards successful social selling.
If a potential customer stumbles onto your VP’s personal Facebook page and sees drunken spring break albums, they’re going to get an entirely different view of the employee and company compared to an album of the startup’s latest philanthropy event. Charge your workers with being brand advocates while avoiding things that make them brand risks. This requires a written plan complete with a social media governance policy.
Workers can be key in generating leads for your business. CNBC recently reported that the Social Media Channel Influence Survey shows 82% of shoppers prefer “personal” online recommendations when making a purchase. When buying ebooks and software, a social media recommendation is the number one factor. Finally, ensure that the “brand” of each employee aligns with your business brand (this all ties into hiring right in the first place).
Best practices in selling with social media will continue to evolve as e-commerce and social media platforms do. However, always make sure there’s a clear call to action (CTA) because some people are perusing social media for products, others for company information, and others for deals or discounts.
Utilize status updates to give consumers what they all want: a great deal. Make each post feel urgent to get attention, more followers, and use verbiage like “for a limited time” to reel in incentive seekers.
To really make your social media selling count, dish up exclusive offers only for fans or followers to make them feel special and like you’ve offered them an unprecedented deal. This also allows you to better tap into target markets as part of your social media strategy, and it encourages sharing. Asking your market to retweet or share never hurts anything, especially if the customer get something extra (like more discounts or another chance to win a prize). However, always ensure you post regularly and all information is current because nothing screams unprofessional (or lazy) more than outdated information.
According to Jill Rowley, former Social Selling evangelist at Oracle, “Be your authentic self. There's no substitute for the truth. Social Selling isn't modern trickery. You need to use Social Networks to build relationships; not sell. Relationships take time and effort -- no one gets married on the first date.”
Julio Viskovich, of newly launched NexLevel Sales, says this about social selling, “The three most important things to consider when using social media for selling is:
1. Social media is not for selling - it's for making a connection and building trust with prospects so that they will choose to buy from you.
2. Social media provides real-time insights that can dramatically increase the success of your current process.
3. Social media empowers salespeople to add value to potential prospects and attract them through their personal brands through micromarketing.”
Author, Digital Agency CEO and keynote speaker, Bryan Kramer, offers this sage advice: “The fact is that businesses do not have emotion. Products do not have emotion. Humans do. Humans want to feel something.”
When you’re on top of best practices, don’t forget to measure your progress via analytic tools (many of which are free and offered via the platform itself). Know what’s working, what’s not, and get guidance on how to fix it. You know Einstein’s definition of insanity, so don’t engage in it with social selling. Remember: relationships are the root of all revenue. Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a social selling master.
Travis Wright is Ensighten’s Social Media Strategist, Co-host of Technorati's Social Brands and Influencers Podcast, and the Chief Growth Officer for his consulting company, MediaThinkLabs. For 15 years, Travis Wright has ran his own agency and created, developed, and optimized digital strategies for 100s of companies, from SMBs to Fortune 50 companies, and was the Global Social Media Strategist for Norton/Symantec. As a stand-up comedian in the 1990s, he thought needed a website to promote his “career”. So, he learned HTML and built his first website within the first 48 hours of ever being on the internet. Travis loves to research, connect the dots and find solutions.
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