Social Selling

We are social creatures, which means the opinion and influence of our friends, family and business associates matter. In fact, in an article by Gurit Degan, she reports that “consumers are, on average, five times more influenced by their friends and family than celebrities when they are making a purchase decision.”

That said – shouldn’t your brand be where the people are?

Your company should create a gorgeous product carousel, but don’t stop there!  Add shoppable links and rich product data to help boost sales. After the sale is complete, be sure that customers have the option to share their purchase across several social channels. All those “thumbs up” reinforce the behavior and keep customers coming back for more.

In addition, encourage your guests to review their products online. This expands your sphere of influence and gives people the satisfaction of “helping” friends and family with a few words and stars.

Of course, social selling demands you mind your company’s product data. Before you begin, take the time to incorporate a catalog data management service on your website. This keeps key details up-to-date without effort from you. After all, the last thing you want to do is hit the sales jackpot on social media and not be able to fulfill orders or communicate the lack of inventory effectively.

That said, good communication in every social setting is key.

Use Facebook messenger to your advantage. When you create a “virtual design assistant” or “personal shopper,” it’s a great way to guide guests’ eyes to your products. If you don’t want to include that on social media, think about adding a ChatBot or Live Chat option to your website to make it easy for guests to access professional opinions.

When you do post on your favorite social channels, always add a Buy Now button to make it easy for would-be shoppers to click and buy. Better still if it’s a 1-Click purchase!

If your sales aren’t showing growth with social media alone, don’t be afraid to buy ads. Facebook makes it easy to start with a small budget and scale up to something bigger once you get the hang of things.

Yes, we are spending quite a bit of time talking about Facebook – even though all social media is relevant to social influence.

We focused, initially, on Facebook because, according to Shopify, it accounts for 85% of all Social Media ordering. But, that doesn’t mean that you should forget the others.

Pinterest’s image search allows customers to zoom in on areas of a Pin and suggests similar items for sale.

Surprising to some, Instagram offers a high sales rate – even though the only link opportunity exists in the bio area. To get the click, make sure you share rich, compelling imagery and great romance copy in the blurb.

For builders and other artisans, explore your options with Etsy.

Whatever channel you choose, you can gain additional traction when you make good use of 3rd party ads. A word of advice on design – be careful to keep your advertisement in accord with the site’s brand. And, make the information relevant to the site’s guests. Shoppers are quick to ignore advertisements if they feel they’re being sold.

All your efforts combine to create a seamless social shopping experience – simply by being where the people already are!

Take a little time to do some research to find out where your target audience hangs out online and be there. Just don’t forget to interact some, too. You don’t want to be the creepy company lurking by the punch bowl at this virtual party!

Offer advice, comment, like or ask for input and opinions from your fans. As their sphere of influence begins to interact and engage, you could get sales that people don’t even know they’re giving – simply because of social influence.

How will you implement some of the things you read here today? Do you have additional tips and tricks for social selling that you want to share with your colleagues? Leave a comment in the space below to let us know how you’re doing with social selling.

Finally, if you found this article to be beneficial for your business, we would appreciate a share on YOUR favorite social network!