The truth is no one really comes to social media to always have you be salesy with them. You, as the business owner, may see it as being straightforward and ‘going for the kill’, but truly you have simply embodied the sleazy salesman character.
Do not go for a sale initially. It is the long-term goal, yes, but almost no one buys from you the first time they come across your business online.
So, what do you do? Aim for all your content to Entertain, Educate, and Inspire.
Add value FIRST, then go for the sale. If your posts are not educating, inspiring or entertaining your followers i.e. adding value, they will learn to IGNORE YOU in the long run. As you do all these things, it is wise to also tie them to the business you are promoting (especially in the caption of your post).
Make people feel at home, then slide your business in after they do.
This is the type of selling that works on social media. Make your audience feel FIRST, then sell to them. Establish trust first to create an environment where sales can happen.
Also, inspiring, educative and entertaining content can either be original or reposted by others. Identify people whose posts already perform all these and reshare their posts from time to time to have the same impact on your audience and target market, which will then positively reflect on your brand.
If as a business, you have looked down on entertaining posts as too playful a strategy in engaging your audience, think again. Humour is always a real crowd-bringer and brands are realizing this now more and more. It is wise to steer clear of anything that may taint your brand, but on the other hand, take advantage of clean, funny skits or videos that are already gaining traction on the platform you are using. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.
If you already do all these, that’s great, but make sure to keep at it as consistency is key in standing out on social media.
Demilade Olafisoye is a content writer and writers’ coach who helps growing content writers be the best they can be. Alongside coaching, she works at Farafina as a social media manager and Editorial Assistant. She blogs content writing wisdom at The Demilhadey Olafisoye Blog. Her social media handles are Facebook-Demi Olafisoye, Twitter- @Miz_deymie, IG- Deymz_