Social Selling… But, what is that?

Before social selling, do you remember how stores were before all the technological advances? Do you remember your lifelong shopkeeper? And the advertising they did? Those were the days, right… it’s not nostalgia… or maybe it is, I don’t know.

Every era brings its own lifestyle and ways of relating, and ours is a time of remarkable changes. It’s up to us to make sure they’re for the better.

Well, that way of shopping will have to coexist with this other one that is gradually taking hold and gaining ground. Unless you belong to the Amish community (a group of people from the Anabaptist Protestant religion, ethnically descended from Northern European immigrants, who lead a simple, modest, and traditional lifestyle and are reluctant to adopt any kind of technology. In other words, the Amish are to technology what crocodiles are to the sea — I know it’s a weird analogy, but it works), you’ll have to learn to live with this new way of trading.

Nowadays, we need to expand the horizons of our business, and the new showcase, I’m sure you already know, is the internet. The specific medium to make ourselves visible, advertise for free, and sell (yes, that’s right) is social media; on these platforms, we share our products, content, introduce ourselves as a business, engage in communication with our customers and potential clients, sell, run advertising campaigns, promote our online business — which is our website — and more. Yes, dear audience, it’s a powerful tool.

Another way to connect with our customers.

We already know, therefore, that our way of relating has changed and, of course, business is no exception. Technologies have revolutionized communications, and we must accept this and learn how to use them. First of all, we must be clear that they have changed the way the customer interacts with us and with our services and products.

To do this, we need to understand the tastes and preferences of the target audience (or potential customers) we want to reach. When you go to a physical store, the first thing you do is look at the product; then, if you’re still interested, you ask the shopkeeper or sales assistant; and that way, the search becomes more effective.

On the internet, everything changes, you browse virtually, and the sales assistant isn’t there in the traditional way. That’s why we need to make our customer feel that we are present, that we are trustworthy, that we’re here to help. In other words, they need to feel confident about the service and treatment they’ll receive online. It’s therefore important to take good care of this aspect of online sales. This is what determines whether customers leave positive reviews about your business on the internet. Nowadays, our customers gather information, share opinions, and ask questions within the digital community (that virtual word of mouth).

On the other hand, communication becomes multidirectional — meaning it doesn’t just go one way (unidirectional), but in all directions: a vast network of communication connects us, even if we can’t see it.

So, what is social selling?.

Okay, okay, I’ll explain… Social selling is a key tool in the communication strategy of your digital business. It’s based on connecting with your potential customers — or those who are already loyal — through social media. These platforms are where people and businesses interact with various communication goals. They are powerful tools if we know how to use them. They are powerful tools if we know how to use them. The first thing to understand is that there’s no point in being on every platform if you’re going to do nothing or very little on them. If these platforms are meant for interaction, then, just like your content, they need movement. There has to be visible social activity on them. Here’s a piece of advice, no bullet points: choose one clear communication strategy for your social media. Just one, but well-fed (meaning you stay active on it, you post, you interact). You can also go with two: a main one where you put all the meat on the grill (forgive me, I’m vegetarian hehe), and a secondary one where you share updates from the primary account. With that clear, I’ll leave you with the advantages of social selling.

It has several goals:

1. To build your personal brand.
2. Generar confianza mediante la comunidad.
3. To position yourself as an expert in your market niche.

It’s important to make it clear that it’s not useful to go around sharing information left and right without rhyme or reason (haha — onomatopoeias and popular culture are so interesting, aren’t they?). We need to provide valuable content (you can check out this link on the topic: https://infosama.es/seo-positioning/content-is-the-center-without-a-doubt/) through the right channel and at the right time so that your target audience can find you. The goal: to connect with them, let them know you exist, and show them that you can solve their problems or concerns.

Five tips to improve your online sales.

Now we leave you with a brief list of these tips so you can apply them to your online business. Remember that:

1. Participating in online conversations helps people get to know you.
2. Sharing interesting content that shows your digital business builds trust and strengthens your brand image.
3. You need to stay up to date. If you share all this, your image will be (once again) reinforced.
4. Create sales optimization strategies (oooooh, scary face haha, don’t worry, I’ll explain). In other words, make a plan, take some well-thought-out actions—not random ones—that generate sales opportunities. Visibility is one of the first steps to take (you can check the previous link, the section about visibility).
5. Keep user inquiries in mind. These are important when deciding on a purchase. Build a strong and active online community where people talk about you. Alright, another day we’ll talk about online advertising campaigns. https://infosama.es/seo-positioning/the-communication-strategy-in-digital-marketing/

Some extra tips for Social Selling.

And here are a few more tips for you:

1. Update your social media profiles.
2. Define your style and tone of communication.
3. Create content for your audience, so they get to know you and understand how you work.
4. Pay attention to complaints and inquiries.
5. Focus on the customer.

Finally, the most important advice: drop by here, where we’ll be providing you with everything you need for your online business.

Crazy about digital marketing, see you in the next article!

Thank you very much, and have a wonderful September, just like Los Piratas sing.