One of the worst sins of social media marketing is using your profile as a platform to SELL, SELL, SELL! And it is the sin that nobody tells you about until it’s too late. Although it may seem counterintuitive to people who have gone to social media to market their products and services, the best way to sell on social media is by selling your brand. Often, the best way to market your business on social media is to use it as if it were a PR platform for your brand to attract an audience through the stories you share.
When you are using social media to market a business, it feels like advertising your offerings and programs is the most logical way to use it. That is what you are there for, after all! The problem is that buying things is not what your audience was there for.
The best way to sell on #socialmedia is by selling your brand. #business #marketing #smallbiz Share on XPeople go to social media for a lot of reasons, but they don’t usually go there with a credit card in hand ready to shop. If all you are giving them is things to buy or donate to, they don’t have much reason to communicate with you.
Social media is built on the premise of giving people a means to spread information quickly and freely. These platforms are fundamentally designed to create a social connection. Connection is best made by sharing stories and thoughts for others to relate to.
Once people have a reason to relate to what you share, it gives them a purpose for interacting. If you focus on selling stuff on social media, the hard sell usually stifles conversation, because there just isn’t much for your audience to react to. But if you instead thinking about selling your brand on social media, you tap into all the stories of your business that could be relatable. (For more information about “selling without selling,” read here!)
Businesses that use social media as a PR platform are far more likely to succeed. When you focus more of your content around generating stories and selling your brand, you give your audience discussion points. These stories can be centered on your business values or tone, the benefits of your products, the drawbacks of not having your services. You can share stories of why you do business or what life is like for someone who does what you do.
Businesses that use #socialmedia as a PR platform are far more likely to succeed. #smb Share on XIt is these stories that draw people in. It is these stories that will ultimately make them want to buy what you sell.
If all you are doing on social media is sharing one event after another, one sale after another, or one product after another, what can your audience really say to you? The only acceptable response is to buy something.
If you share stories, your audience can like your story. They can share your story. They can tell you what they think about your story, or how your story makes them think about their own story. Or they can buy something from you related to your story. All of these actions help you, and each person in your audience gets to decide what level of commitment they have to want to be part of your process. They get a chance to have options, to build trust, and to learn more about you before they ever pull out a wallet.
So next time you scroll through your feed – on whichever platform – ask yourself if you are selling THINGS or selling your brand. What stories you are telling with your posts? Would someone who just found your page for the first time feel like they know you after spending a few minutes browsing? Are you establishing a connection and making people want to know you better?
The beauty of social media is that it gives businesses a chance to have a free platform for all of their PR needs. Selling your brand and sharing your stories is a big part of making the most of it.