You can’t deny that social media is essential for your business’s visibility and sales. Over 3.5 billion users are engaging on social media today with 50 million small businesses using Facebook alone to connect with their audience.
When you look at statistics like these it can feel overwhelming. Perhaps you already use social media platforms to promote your products or services. Maybe you are stretching yourself across lots of platforms eating into your valuable time but seeing no ROI.
Here’s another statistic for you – 67% of online shoppers have bought a product after seeing it advertised on social media.
Can you afford to avoid using social media?
When used correctly, social media and marketing campaigns reap the benefits needed to grow your business.
Where to start with social media for business
When half the world’s population is online, you need to make sure your business is being seen by the people who matter to you – your ideal customer.
People buy from people they know, like, and trust, and to ensure you are promoting your products or services to the right kind of people you need to spend a while in your customer’s shoes. Use your own stories of being a buyer when you are selling. This brings you to a new level with your customer. They know you really understand them.
When you dig deeper into your customer’s experiences you will discover where they hang out online. Are they Facebook favourites, Instagram initiates, or LinkedIn lovers, or do they prefer to tangle with TikTok?
Far too many business owners believe they need to be on every platform, but that’s not the case. Yes, there will always be a crossover, but after carrying out your ideal customer exercise ask yourself the following question.
What platform do I enjoy using?
Why force yourself to use a platform that causes you anxiety? If your ideal customer is on Instagram but you don’t like it then try a few alternative tactics. For example:
- Outsource your content to someone who can dedicate the time and energy necessary to build that platform.
- Link between platforms. Posting to Facebook might be more enjoyable for you but you now have the ability to share what you post on Facebook over to your Instagram account with one click.
- Place a ‘holder’ post on the platforms you don’t enjoy directing your audience to connect with you on an alternative platform.
Sell without selling on social media
Using social media to sell your products or services can be done easily without opting for sleazy and pushy strategies. Through the work I do with my clients, we follow a journey that helps them truly connect in an authentic and meaningful way. They get amazing results and learn how to fall in love with sales.
Sell without selling might sound a bit odd, but it perfectly captures the Live It Love It Sell It methodology.
To sell authentically, you need to use your storytelling techniques and create content that taps into your Unique Human Proposition® – In basic terms, YOU sit at the heart of selling, and that’s what your Unique Human Proposition® is all about. Life skills are sales skills, and nobody has lived their life the same way you have.
What’s your story? What can you include in the social media content that allows you to connect with your ideal customer so they appreciate that you understand them? Most importantly, your customers will buy your UHP® first because they will connect with you and share your values – because you showed them within your content. Authenticity right there.
If you’ve watched my TEDx talk you will have heard me refer to the business I took into Dragons’ Den – Truly Madly Baby. There is a reason Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones were bidding to invest in my business even though it was only two months old with no history and projections. And the reason was they connected with me – my values, my passion, and my story.
Use your passions, values, strengths, stories, beliefs, and ‘isms’ to connect with your audience on social media. Let them into your world. Once they know more about you, build a relationship, and recognise you fully understand their challenges (know, like, trust), they will buy from you.
Social media engagement
At the core of selling authentically and using your UHP® is connection. Spending hours creating online content and sharing regular posts is redundant if you are not engaging with your audience and wider network.
Engagement is where the magic happens. It only takes a few minutes to like, share, and comment on other business posts but these simple actions reap the most benefit for your business. Ultimately this is where our conversations start.
Allocate yourself a minimum of 30-minutes to one hour a day and start chatting with your community. Offer advice where needed, express your delight at other people’s successes, share recommendations, provide testimonials, and join in the conversations.
When it comes to engagement and the ability to sell without selling you must make the effort to network, online and in-person. Build your relationships from a place of trust. Let your audience get to know the person behind the brand. When you start to enjoy using and engaging on social media, it shows and can attract the right people to you.
Practice your storytelling technique and content creation in a safe space within my newly refurbished Sales Academy! Joining my membership will help you include storytelling in your business, fall in love with selling, learn how to engage effectively, and allow you to meet like-minded business owners.
How can you learn more about selling your products or services?
If you want to learn more about engagement and how it impacts your sales, schedule a virtual cuppa with me, and we can discuss how I can help you.
“Jules is all about doing it right! Right education, right training, right attitude, right outcomes for all! If you want to do it right, speak to Jules White.” Asvin Chauhan, CEO Pharma Wealth
Alternatively, you can join my newly refurbished Sales Academy and build on everything you’ve learned in this post to create success in your business and deliver an unparalleled sales experience.
“I can say the Sales Academy is great value for money – just the monthly Q&A sessions make the fee worth it. I always leave with valuable insights on sales and business. And the modules (I’ve done so far, at least) are packed with useful info and myth busting around sales.” Nick Diakanastasis – Public Speaking & Presentation Skills Coach
Join me for a ‘Walk down the High Street’ and see what the new Sales Academy looks like.
Want to find out more? Schedule a virtual cuppa with me, and we can have a chat about the membership or my other coaching services.