Social Selling Through Social Marketing

Social marketing has left a permanent impression in retail and wholesale marketing. The question is no longer “what is social marketing” but rather “how do I social market my business”.  With so many options, it can be overwhelming to get started. The goal, however, should never get lost – which is to sell as a result of social marketing, therefore known as social selling.

Social selling is when sales are completed as a result of social marketing. It does not represent the hits you get to your site from your social marketing, however. It ONLY represents the sales that take place from the hits from the social marketing. Have I lost you yet?

Social Marketing 101

First thing is first – in order to gain social sales, you need to be actively participating in social marketing. This means you should have profiles on such social sites as Facebook, My Space, Twitter and LinkedIn. You should determine which sites are most valuable to you and your business by understanding which sites you will not only use the most, but use effectively. Personally, I don’t believe you have to do them all but you should be a part of a couple to be effective. That said, the more the merrier. But it takes time, so be realistic with how much time you have to dedicate to social marketing so that you don’t create profiles that just sit there.

In general, to be effective with social marketing you should do the following:

1. Update your profile often with news about your business, photos if applicable, contact information and general profile information as necessary. Do not create a profile and then just let it sit without updates. Update it. Tell your audience about news of your business, what is new to your store, recent merchandisnig changes, exciting plans for the future and more. That’s key.

2. Be involved in your social marketing. If you have a profile on My Space and don’t use it, it is no longer a social marketing tool for you. You must be proactive in using the individual social sites you sign up with so that you gain recognition from your profile.

3. Most profiles will allow you to invite or be invited to gain “friends”, “followers” or “connections”. Don’t just wait to get invited – invite away!!! Look around the site to find who you believe your business and yourself would connect with, then reach out to them. This is how new people learn who you are.

4. Sell yourself, not just your business. Whether your are tweeting or posting updates on Facebook, get a little personal with your connections. This is what makes social marketing social. You don’t need to tell the world about your lousy afternoon at work due to being in the red from too many returns, but you can let them know you are having a bad day. This makes you real and utlimately, more approachable. Find balance in what you share about your business, promoting sales, and sharing details about yourself.

Making Sales Through Social Selling  

For many of you, the opportunity to sell your business via e-commerce is great. Which is why social marketing is great. But in order for it to really be effective, you need to make sales from it. Otherwise, it’s a lot of time without a lot of value (unless you do it for fun, in which case this is more personal than business).

To help increase your opportunity for social sales, here are a few tips:

1. Announce new product arrivals or any other worthy news and monitor how much your traffic increases to your site as a result of your announcements. This allows you to also see sale increases during these times. It’s important to understand the relationship of sales and social marketing so that your time is spent wisely.

2. Offer incentives to your followers on your social sites that would make them want to shop with you. Give coupon codes for purchases made during a specific time frame, for certain products or just because. Track the purchases made as a result compared to your total number of followers.

3. Make sure your design details, check out choices, and the general user friendly options that your site  has are easily understood by your customer. If it’s complicated, messy in appearance, lacks professionalism or doesn’t “wow” your customer quick enough, you are losing your chance for a social sale.

4. Know your competition and what they are up to. Online retailers are opening up everyday and as a result, it’s a tough market. Are you making your store stand out from the rest?

5. Allow old fashion communication to enter the picture. Social marketing is an extension of plain old socializing, which in shopping is part of the fun! People are familiar with this and some are even more comfortable with this. Include your phone number and email address as options for customers to connect if Twitter and Facebook isn’t their thing.

You should be open to the both the fun and the challenges of social marketing to allow for social sales if you want to be successful with online retailing. It’s tough, though. And competitive. Not only does your product need to be great, but your website needs to look amazing, as well. A balance of everything can equal to a wonderful reward of social sales, though.

If you have social selling ideas that have worked for you, we’d love to hear from you! Please comment below.