Like business meeting negotiation, social selling is an art. It is a soft version of the sales pitch– a complex process in which you turn perfect strangers into happy clients. But, just like any art, there are people who excel at it, and there are others who make blunders.
Social selling is one of the most important marketing skills to have. Almost every first interaction with a potential customer starts or develops on social media. Followers are people who click on your ads. They are your audience, and you must wow them with your social skills before you get them to click on the add-to-cart button.
However, there are a number of mistakes which keep rearing their ugly heads on all social media platforms. They are not confined to beginner entrepreneurs and marketers– even established companies commit them sometimes. We decided to round them up in an article so that you do not commit them.
- Social Selling as an Occasional Strategy
Social selling should not happen only before Easter, Halloween or Christmas. It is not a quick sales boosting method, but an ongoing effort. Social media followers are not going to sigh ecstatically once you decide to start promoting your products. They are waiting for some form of engagement from you before they are prepared to become clients. Some of them may even unlike your pages.
Yes, it takes time to keep the conversation going, build your reputation and win people’s confidence, but it is the only way to convince them to buy your products and services.
- Your Social Media Profiles Are Way Too Sketchy
Imagine that you get a friend request from someone with a generic profile photo, no social media friends, and vague biographical details. You would certainly reject the request. For all you know, it could be a fake profile attempting to scam you.
So, why would you leave your social media profiles unfinished? The people you try to convince to like your page and become your clients will not trust you one bit, and justly so. The first thing you need to let a potential follower know is who you are and what you do. Only a full profile can answer these questions in a satisfactory manner.
- Too Little Human Touch
Social selling is all about meaningful conversation, being there for your followers when they ask you questions, and keeping them entertained. The problem is that many marketers, in an attempt to build a professional brand image on social media, forget about the human touch, and their posts read like press releases.
This is not what professionalism looks like on social media. This is not what people expect from brands they interact with. No matter what, you must let your followers see that behind the account there is a real human being.
- You Target the Wrong People
This is one of the costliest social media marketing mistakes. Maybe you have the best product in your niche. Maybe you forged the best communication and marketing strategy. This will be all for nothing if you are targeting people who would never be interested in your products in the first place.
For instance, trying to sell baby products to an elderly couple will not go very well. If they have grandchildren, they will occasionally buy them clothes and toys, but they will never become the kind of frequent customers you need to keep your business going.
- Too Much, Too Soon
Let’s say you get invited at a business event where you meet a lot of potential customers. What do you do first? You introduce yourself and offer your business card. And what do you do next? You certainly do not give your new acquaintances a product catalogue and ask them to fill in the enclosed order form, as it would be ludicrous to do so.
Yet many marketers do just that once they have received a new like on the company page. They pop a direct message with a link to the products page on the website. The unlike will follow faster than you can click send.