Sell, sell, sell!
The more you promote your content, the more people will buy.
That’s the conventional wisdom. It’s why sales professions cold call. The more people you call and speak to on a daily basis, the more sales you make. Or the more direct mail campaigns you send out, the more responses you’ll get in return.
The more you promote, the more sales you close. Period.
Except when it comes to social media, the opposite is true. The more you do it, the less it works. And yet, the less it works, the more you do it. It’s a total catch 22.
Here’s the thing, just because I followed you on Twitter or friended you on Facebook, doesn’t mean I’m interested in hearing your sales pitch. That’s not considered an “opt-in” (in my opinion).
The louder you try to be, the less you’re actually heard. Pitching me isn’t winning me over. Incessantly promoting your content, isn’t moving me closer to a sale.
Subscribing to your newsletter on the other hand, is completely fair game. By opting in to your newsletter, I’ve effectively given you permission to market to me.
Here’s some advice on treading the social landscape successfully:
- Talk less, do more. That means focus on creating exceptional content that delivers value. People share that sort of content. And, it’s establishes you as the subject matter expert.
- It’s ok to promote your own work, but always in moderation. Do it too much, or too often, and people will flag you as a “spammer.”
- Listen and find opportunities to be helpful. Folks like @comcastcares and @zappos have nailed it in this regard. They listen and find opportunities to respond and be helpful to customers and potential customers alike who are experiencing issues with their service. Ultimately, this leads to increased word-of-mouth, more sales and better client retention.
- Seek to be helpful, first. That’s the art of the soft-sell. You earn a reputation for being helpful. People value that. It establishes trust. It makes you referable. “You should talk to [your name], he/she is very helpful.”
- Don’t cross-post the same content in multiple places at the same time. That’s lazy. And useless. Instead, find ways to recycle your content so you’re delivering something fresh in different places. @Corcoran_Group has nailed this. Look at some of the content they post on their Facebook Page and Google Plus for example. It’s always different. And yet, it originates from the same photo archive that they have stored on Flickr and that they’ve posted via their Foursquare tips and check-ins. In other words, it’s content they’ve used before, but it’s recycled so that it appears fresh to audiences on different platforms.
- Show up. Day in and day out. When you start to produce exceptional content, it becomes expected that you’ll continue to do it. You can’t write 6 blog posts one month, then not show up the next two. You’ll lose your audience that way. To put it more simply, consistency matters.
What about you? What are you doing to earn a reputation of being helpful? Someone people want to do business with?
The reason that volume was so important to traditional (read: old fashioned) forms of marketing is that there was little feedback mechanism. No way of knowing how many eyeballs you were getting on your stuff, so statistical volume was the only avenue of pursuit, and we as individuals had no control…no off button.
With social media, the control has been given back to us and we can shut off whatever we don’t want to hear. I think businesses in general understand that principal, but still continue to operate under the old “push out that marketing message” theory, and don’t get why that’s not working anymore.
You’ve given some great tips for people who don’t quite get the whole “social media” thing, Thanks Ricardo
Re: “I think businesses in general understand that principal,”
So I wonder, is it desperation to make “the sale” that pushes them to take charge and shamelessly self-promote? Or is it a complete lack of understanding of the different culture that exists in social media?
I don’t know. Maybe I’m just jaded as of late. So much “me, me, me” going on as of late. And less actually creation of the stuff that matters.
I think its probably a mixture of both from what I’ve seen.
One thing I do believe, is that those who do push their message relentlessly obviously have no consideration for their market…and if thats how they treat their prospective customers, it gives you a little insight into how you might be treated if you were a customer.
As for jaded, you can paint me the same colour green…I do get sick of seeing it myself. Although I don’t dwell on this too much. You know what they say, the cream always rises to the top…I’m focussing on the cream 🙂
Good advice, Ricardo!
Much like you, I try to help folks via Twitter and through the information I share on my blog. People appreciate others who are a resource more than an aggressive salesperson.
Amber: I read Chris Guillebeau’s new ebook today – http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/the-tower – it’s a good one, you should check it out. In it, he writes:
“Every day, wake up and think about these two things:
– What am I making today?
– Whom am I helping today?
Make something, help someone and repeat.”
Loved those words! It’s come to be just the way I try and approach each and every day. If I’ve helped someone, I feel like I’ve accomplished something. Of course, this is a slower relationship building/sales generating process, but totally worth it (in my humble opinion).
And there you’ve hit the nail on the head. People want overnight results, but the way to long lasting relationships and success is to work at it, nurture it, and grow it.
It’s the old tortoise and hare proverb. Sometimes a slower more thoughtful approach wins the race. When it comes to gaining trust, there are no shortcuts.
Brill! and SO what I preach all the time! 🙂
🙂
Thanks for the comment and repost Jenny!
My favorite line: Talk less, do more! It’s people out there doing something, anything that are moving the world forward and getting attention, too. Words can only do so much!
Thanks Bryan!
Been my philosophy most of this year. Head down, in creation mode. My daily mantra is:
– What am I making today?
– Whom am I helping today?
If I can answer both of those in a day, and show something for it, I’ve done good 🙂
Thanks for the comment Bryan!