More Customers In 30 Days, Part 3: Ultimate Social Selling Tips

Note: This is Part 3 of a 5 part series, More Customers in 30 Days: 5 Awesome Strategies to Book More Parties and Attract Motivated People to Your Direct Sales Business

Contrary to the name, Social selling is not always about selling. It should really be called social interacting, which means using social media to add value, engage with customers, generate leads, build trust and rock your brand. No big pitches please. Speak in your own voice and just be your awesome self. Here are 10 Ultimate Social Selling Tips for Direct Sales and Party Plan Reps to help you get it right. #IhaveYourBack

1. Be consistent. Use the same personal profile picture on all your social sites, including your Facebook biz page and website, because consistency builds the know, like and trust factor. Smile and put some thought into your personal Facebook profile photo. That tiny circle needs to make a great first impression in the news feed and in the groups you’re in. You might have also noticed that Facebook Groups now have a profile for each member (automatically created by Facebook) and your personal profile photo and name are featured at the top. You can see what your Group member profile looks like by going to a Group you’re in and clicking on your name.

2. Optimize your personal profile. Add your Facebook biz page to your personal profile to increase your online presence and followers. Go to >>> About > “Work” Section (of your personal profile), click on the + sign and start typing in your Facebook Page name. You’ll see your biz page pop up. Voila! Now go and delete all those other work references that link to nothing (hover over existing “work” titles and you’ll see what I mean). While you’re in the About section don’t forget to add your social links and website. Click on “Edit contact and basic info” to see the website and social links section. If you want more best practices for using your personal profile to attract your ideal client read Smart Ways To Optimize Your Personal Profile

3. Rock your personal brand. Are you funny, inspirational, sarcastic, quirky? Be YOU. Consistently. Avoid posts about religion, politics and how crappy you feel. Daily posts about how much coffee you’re drinking and how many times you went to the gym should be reserved for Facebook and Instagram stories, not your timeline. If you’re new to Stories, think of it as a day in the life of the real you. When in doubt take a selfie in your (parked) car. The lighting is great and for some unknown reason car selfies get tons of engagement. Bonus tip: take off your seatbelt before you take the pic, and bring a tweezer.  It turns out daytime car lighting is also great for plucking your eyebrows. Because busy Moms multi-task like that.

4. Keep the social in social media. Tagging people on events and posts (unless someone is in the pic), adding people to your group without their permission, and sharing “Join my team!” and “Buy my stuff!” posts with links to your website are all SPAM. That means the photo of your Hostess special flyer does not belong on Facebook. #truthbomb

5. Avoid spamming all your Facebook friends. Personal Profile posts about your business should be limited (about one in every 10 posts) and written in a conversational style. In other words, write posts as if you are talking to your BFF. Selfies, furry friends, family pics and cute babies are all encouraged. If your post looks like an ad and sounds like an ad, don’t post it. Instead, keep it real and post photos and videos that tell your story and create interest in what you do. Examples include: Going LIVE to unbox new products (invite a few friends over to add to the excitement), talking about a milestone or obstacle you’ve overcome, and sharing a heartfelt customer testimonial. You want friends to be so curious about what you’re up to that they ask you vs. hiding or unfriending you because you posted one too many marketing messages. Seriously. Don’t be that direct seller. For more tips read to How To Use Attraction Marketing To Skyrocket Your Direct Sales Biz

6. Use video. Directly upload videos from your smartphone to get the most engagement on your Facebook Business Page, or go LIVE using Facebook Live. For example, instead of posting a Hostess flyer go LIVE at the beginning of each month with breaking news about your monthly Hostess program and special offers. I recommend StreamYard to schedule LIVE videos ahead of time so you can pre-promote your live broadcast and get more viewers. They have really cool features too, including screen-sharing, up to 6 people on screen, and adding custom colors and overlays.

7. Less is more when it comes to Page Likes and Followers. The more fans interact and engage with your Page, the better your Page rankings, and the more your posts show up in the news feed. You’d rather have fewer followers who are engaging with your Page then hundreds of followers who never come back. And, did you know that when you Like your friend’s biz page (who also sells for your same company) they’ll be able to target “friends of friends” when they boost a post. That means your friends and customers could see posts from all the pages you like in their news feed, including fellow team members. I’m thinking you don’t want that.

8. Use hashtags. When you post on Instagram, include hashtags that help you connect with your ideal client. But…avoid hashtags that have been used more than 250,000 times because your post will get lost in there. Example: #love has been used 1,750,663,038 times – and counting. So yeah, don’t use that one. Most importantly, keep hashtags relevant to your posts and pics or you’ll look spammy. Need a hashtag resource? Check out Display Purposes, which has a simple copy/paste feature that includes the 5 dots for adding hashtags to a comment.

9. Build relationships. Reply back to comments and messages promptly and say thanks to fans and followers who leave a review/recommendation. Manners count on social media, just like in the real world. Based on the Facebook algorithm updates your social media goals should be to create meaningful, authentic and relevant content. Focus on building relationships, adding value, and having more conversations with your community. Give, give, and give some more.

10. Let your customers do the selling. Ask customers to share a photo of a product they purchased from you and tag your Facebook Business Page. In today’s world, savvy shoppers check reviews before they make a purchasing decision so you’ll want to ask for a Facebook Page review/recommendation as part of your customer service follow-up. Then turn those raves into content for your Page by featuring a graphic of your customer with their testimonial.

Bonus Tip! Did you know Facebook has a built-in scheduler for Pages, Groups and Events (on pages)? Click on the clock icon next to the word “post” to save time and plan like a boss. My go-to scheduling app for Facebook and Instagram is CinchShare. Social selling success!

Read the entire More Customers In 30 Days series >>> Part 1: Vendor Event Tips Part 2: Killer Booking Script Part 4: Using Samples Part 5: Collaborate with Small Business

Ready to really rock your direct sales biz?