How to Master Social Selling Without Being Salesy

Social Media
/ By Madalyn Sklar

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When you want to learn more about a particular brand, you most likely turn to social media to see what they’re all about. And guess what? You aren’t alone! A recent study found that 75% of internet users use social media to research brands. That’s why your brand must have a stand-out online presence if you want to attract customers.

But if you’re new to the world of social selling, or have struggled to see results in the past, you could probably stand to learn a few tricks of the trade. To make generating sales effortless, this article shares some tips all the experts know and use to their advantage.

How to Master Social Selling

Learning how to sell on social media is a challenge for many brands. You want to promote your offerings but don’t want to do so in a way that’s seen as “sales-y.” So, how can you find the perfect balance between the two? The following tips will help you out!

1. Make Sure Your Profile is Captivating

The initial step to mastering social selling isn’t about your offer itself. Instead, it’s about your overall presence on the social media platforms you’re using. Your profile is likely the first impression someone will get of your brand. Is it portraying you in the best light?

A great profile needs to be completed. That means every element needs to be filled out. This includes adding a photo, header image (where applicable), bio, website link, etc. Your bio is arguably the most important thing to consider. Use the available space to communicate who you are and what you do. This helps people determine if you’re someone they’d like to follow.

2. Create a Content Strategy for Consistency

It should come as no surprise, but in order to sell on social media you need to show up consistently. It’ll be hard for people to discover you if you aren’t regularly sharing content. Plus, some people won’t be inclined to purchase from an inactive account.

This alone should give you a push to finally create a content schedule you can stick to. Having a schedule helps you become more consistent, ensuring you’re posting daily. It’s also great for being more strategic with the content you share. You can be more mindful of what types of posts resonate with your audience. You can also make sure you’re providing value to your community in a way that warms them up to your offerings.

3. Prioritize Being of Service Over Selling

Building off that last tip, social selling is so much more than just talking about your products and services. You need to prime your community and warm them up, rather than going for a cold sales pitch. This is something that Gary Vaynerchuk stresses in his book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. Before you go in with the right hook, you want to throw a few jabs first.

But what does that mean? Well, it means you want to be of service by adding value to those within your community before pitching your offerings. You can do this by sharing helpful tips and tricks for free that they can then implement. They’ll begin to appreciate the fact that you’re serving them so much value. It’s perfect for building the Know, Like, and Trust Factor. And ultimately, having that level of trust with someone is key if you want to sell on social media.

4. Focus on Building Relationships

As a brand, you never want to treat those within your community as just another number. You want to view them as real people because that’s exactly what they are. They have feelings. They’re struggling with things just like you. And if you take the time to build relationships and get to know them, it’s going to make a huge difference in the long run. That’s because you’ll have a better understanding of their needs and how you can be of service.

How do you get started with this though? Well, the best way is through engagement. Make sure you’re having conversations with people within your community regularly. You may even want to follow some of your prospects to see what they’re posting.

Plus, as you establish those relationships, others get to know you on a deeper level as well. They learn more about the person behind the brand, which is great for building trust. And when people feel more connected with you, they’ll be more inclined to buy.

5. Use Social Listening Tools

To assist in the relationship-building aspect of social selling, you may want to invest in a tool that will help you get the job done. Social listening tools are a powerful way to ensure you never miss any mentions of your brand on social media. This way, you’re able to easily spot new opportunities to reply to people and kickstart conversations.

You could do this by setting up Google alerts for your brand. But if you’re looking for something a bit more robust, I’d recommend signing up for Brand24. It’ll give you instant access to any mentions of your brand in a single dashboard. Never again will people be left waiting for a response from you. Nor will you miss a chance to engage!

6. Participate in Platform-Specific Communities

Many of the top social media platforms today have unique ways you can connect with other users. This is something you want to take advantage of as a brand. After all, the more you put yourself out there, the more awareness you generate for your brand. And the more awareness you generate, the more chances you have to make sales.

For example, if you’re on Twitter, find relevant Twitter chats to join. These hour-long chats are perfect for connecting with prospective buyers who would be interested in what your brand offers. The same goes for Facebook groups. However, the secret to utilizing these communities isn’t to jump right in and start promoting. It’s to make a name for yourself by sharing high-quality, valuable content. You have to be in it for the long game.

7. Work With Influencers to Expand Reach

Did you know that 61% of consumers reportedly trust the recommendations made by influencers? It’s true! And data like this is why many more brands are jumping on board with influencer marketing. By working with someone who already has an established, engaged audience, you can easily grow your reach from a single social media post.

If you want to generate more sales, it’s time to consider working with an influencer. The key to making this relationship successful is to partner up with someone who has an audience you want to target. Then, you can collaborate on what a high-performing campaign would look like for both of you based on what would resonate with the influencer’s audience.

8. Share Success Stories From Past Customers

When it comes to social selling, you don’t want to forget to share testimonials from those who have purchased from you in the past. This is a valuable form of social proof that could be exactly what someone needs to encourage them to finally purchase if they’ve been on the fence. The best part? It’s super simple! Just create shareable graphics featuring a testimonial and occasionally share them on your social media platforms to establish credibility.

9. Track Key Metrics to Know What Works

Are you guilty of posting on social media without ever diving into your analytics to see how well your content is performing? Well, it’s time to make a change! Monitoring the performance of your posts is crucial because you need to know what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t. This way, you’re able to create more of what works.

Pay close attention to the types of posts that generate the most engagement (text, videos, infographics, etc.). Also, note the topics that your audience seems to be most interested in. All of this will help shape your content strategy moving forward so you can be more successful.

10. Be Patient

As you’re learning how to sell on social media, there will be times you get frustrated. The sales won’t always roll in as abundantly as you’d like. And that’s okay! The thing to remember is that you need to be patient and should never get discouraged. With practice, you’ll get better, and generating sales will soon become an effortless practice for you.

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