Social Selling: The Right Way to Sell Through Social Media

Some companies are still hesitant to join social media sites because they don’t see how it can help their business. Not only does social media help you promote your business and reach your audience, but it can also help you land a sale.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to sell through social media. Constantly sending hundreds of status updates and tweets about how wonderful your business is and why everyone should buy your products and services is not going to work. If you want to sell successfully through social media, you need to do the following.

Get your sales people on social media.

Make sure that your sales team is on social media, not just your company as a whole. When your company has real people as an extension of your brand, it allows your current and prospective customers to  have a real person to contact when they’re in need of information. This is more engaging and more personable than using your company’s account to do all of your customer service.

Listen to what your customers want.

Social media isn’t just about talking—it’s also about listening. It’s very important that you listen to what your customers are saying to gain insight into what they want. You will be surprised at how much you can learn by reading through your news feed and the comments left on your own wall.

You may also want to get off of your own social networks and visit some popular online communities that your customers enjoy. Some people are more willing to talk openly on these sites about things that interest them more so than on Facebook and Twitter.

Engage.

Social media should be about the soft sell, and the more engaging you can be with your customers, the more likely they’ll be to choose your company. For example, if you’re a restaurant using Twitter and notice that a customer complains about one of your competitors, simply say something like “So sorry to hear that you’re having a bad time.” You’re not telling them to come to your restaurant instead, and you’re not saying anything negative about the other restaurant. But this simple gesture of paying attention to what is being said will make your company stand out, and these patrons will be more inclined to choose your restaurant next time they dine out.

Brand your social pages.

Sometimes a customer will come across your social channels by accident. For this reason, you want to make sure that all of your social networks are branded appropriately. When your social channels complement your company’s branding, your customers will know who you are and associate your company pages with your actual company.

When you try and self promote through social networks, you’re going to turn your customers away. But when you use these tips, you will know the best way to stealthily sell your products and services through social media in the most effective and successful way.

This article was written by the marketing team at SEOMap.  Visit SEOMap go check out their social media fails series on their blog.