By combining the logistics of social media with the tried-and-true methods of direct sales, you can achieve increases in sales, recruiting, and brand recognition online. With that in mind, here are five tips that you can learn and share with other people you bring into the business. You could even send this out in an email to your team, use it at your next team meeting, or even post in your Facebook Groups for training purposes.
Facebook is not like a highway
Say you’re a big name soap company and you decide to purchase an ad on a billboard on a busy highway. The company that owns the billboard space can’t provide any info to you except how many people drive past it per day. They can’t tell you how many impressions their ad made on people or how many engaged with it. Not only can’t they share that information, they don’t care. The ad will not be replaced by another because enough eyes didn’t look at it during the day. The ad will not be replaced because a certain driver doesn’t like soap.
Facebook is completely different. Its metrics absolutely care if people are looking at your posts. They measure whether people are interested and whether they want to see more. They can also tell you how many people your post reaches and whether your post or ad is turning into clicks on your website. Facebook also cares if people don’t care about your post. And if you aren’t drawing in your customers with killer content and interesting graphics, Facebook will replace your post in newsfeeds with someone else’s.
Engagement is king
So now that you understand that Facebook absolutely cares and measures how many people are engaged with your posts, it’s important to understand how you stay in the newsfeed. In social media, engagement (Likes, Comments, and Shares) is everything. It is engagement on your content that determines whether the algorithm says yay or nay to posting your content into your fans’ and friends’ newsfeeds.
To increase your engagement, you need to make sure what your posting is interesting and relevant. It’s also a good idea to literally ask for engagement. Try using phrases like “Comment below,” “Like if you agree,” and “Share this post with your friends.”
Content is everything
To encourage engagement on your posts, you need to share interesting and engaging content. Resist putting up posts that only show photos of your products. Don’t ever update your status to say something like “Order today!” or “Buy now!” Similarly, don’t use “Join my team!” or “Host a party!” as statuses either.
You want to use benefit selling, not descriptive selling. Don’t focus on what your products are made of, or how they are produced, or anything like that. Focus on how they will make your customers feel and on why the product will be beneficial for them.
Also, think about the types of posts that are shared most by your customers. If you are with a food or cookware company, recipes and health tips are popular. If you are with a cosmetics company, easy tips and techniques are also content that many people find interesting.
Share content, not products. Product sales and interest will follow once people trust you as a reliable and trust worthy expert.
Focus on ROR (return on relationships)
Studies show that people respond more to customer relations than to traditional advertising. It is also more likely for a customer to become a brand ambassador and loyal customer (who you can constantly re-service) if they feel they are a valued part of your community.
Put time and energy into following up with your customers and establishing authentic relationships. Don’t ever message someone you don’t know and ask them to purchase your product. That makes the experience about you and what you can get from it. Instead, take an interest in that person and build a relationship.
Building relationships with your customers is a long-term endeavor. You can’t always expect a sale the first time you connect with someone. Some studies say that people need to see a product or service as many as 20 times before they make a decision to purchase.
Continue to service your customers and wow them with your support. People want to do business with people they want to be friends with, so put time into building those connections.
A picture is worth a thousand words
Always use graphics and images with your posts. Text-only status updates get less engagement than posts that have photos.
Think about how you interact with your newsfeed. You go on your phone and quickly scroll through, only stopping if something catches your eye. When creating posts for your personal profile and business page, it’s your job to make sure they are appealing.
Use bright colors and tools like Canva.com to create custom images. And stay away from using the color blue because it blends into Facebook’s newsfeed.