How to Sell On Social Media

 Remember when you created your Facebook Business Page? You probably felt a combination of relief, fear, and annoyance. Am I right?
Think about it….
… Relief
Relief because when asked the question, “are you on social media?”, you can finally say, “Yes, I have a Facebook Page!” You’ve officially arrived at the age of technology, and Mark Zuckerberg approves.
…. Fear
Fear because it’s this technology that deals with algorithms and lots of competition. There is this unknown that you don’t know how to master, or even know where to start.
… Annoyance
Annoyance because it’s one more thing that you now have to worry about. What to post? When to post? Who is going to post for us? Why doesn’t anybody see my posts? Why isn’t it working? – All questions that have popped into your mind at one time or another.
Let me know if any of this resonates with you… yes?
The good news is that you’re not alone.
A lot of business owners have felt this way, myself included. But then I figured it out and now selling via social media is so much easier. Want to know how you can sell on social media?
First… Give Value.
I know that sounds counter-productive, but it’s not. There’s a time, and a place to sell on social media and “in every post” is not it.
Begin by offering value.
In every good relationship, there’s some common element. And if we are honest with one another, it usually stems from the need to solve a problem. You have conversations. You understand each other and what the other person needs. There’s this exchange of ideas, a time when you’re working together, to come to a solution. And throughout this dialog, we’ve somehow managed to lay the foundation of a new relationship based on value.
This experience is very different than attending a networking event where you exchange business cards and never calling one another.
It’s much more profound because it’s a relationship forged on something much more valuable. It’s based on listening to one another. It’s based on you listening to what your ideal clients need and providing them with the information and tools necessary to fulfill those needs. This is Value.
Second… Move them off of social media.
Now that you’ve become a valuable resource, it’s time to move your prospect off of social media. I know this sounds counter-productive, after all, up until now, they’ve been engaging with us on social media, so why not sell them something on social media?
You can.
But, it’s also imperative that you continue to grow the relationship by taking them out of the social media environment. Remember, you don’t own the various social media platforms. Therefore, you need a way to capture their contact information so that you can introduce them to an environment that you do control, such as email.
Email is something that you own. If for some reason, your social media account is disabled, or if they decide to leave the social media platform, you’ll still have your email list. And, communication can continue regardless of their social media account status.
Third… Have a place people can visit.
Because your goal is to take the prospect off of social media and move them onto your client list, the third element you need is somewhere, online, for your candidate to visit. A website, a web store, or even a landing page is a must-have. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does need to be current and mobile friendly. It should also be set up in a way that enables you to remarket to visitors via social media after their visit.
I realize that this doesn’t sound like a recipe for millions, but I assure you that until you understand the importance of having these three elements in place, selling on social media may prove a challenge.
People don’t visit social media channels to be sold to. They log into social media to learn, to be inspired, to laugh, to problem solve, to get opinions, to feel closer to family and friends, to get recommendations, to stay informed, to be entertained. Therefore, if you want to sell on social media, you need to be their teacher, their muse, you must have a great personality, be a problem solver, have recommendations, support others, be informed and be entertaining.
You need to be everything except a pushy salesman.
That’s how you sell on social media… you do it naturally.

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