When you’re trying to sell online you can easily find yourself with a few bad habits. Mistakes that ultimately hurt the image of the business you’re trying to sell. So let’s take a look at a few and what you can do in order to avoid looking foolish online. Here are the 6 Social Selling mistakes everyone makes when they start selling online.
1. Always chasing likes
Engagement is the lifeblood of your profile online and it can really drive sales, but there is a darker side to engagement. This comes in the form of chasing likes and comments without purpose. If you just post popular content without any reference or nod towards what you do, then you may as well become a content creator online rather than a salesperson. Don’t get blinded by the figures, instead learn how to get engagement from the right people.
2. Not creating a target audience
Casting a wide net is important, but you still need a targeting effort to make an effective sale. It doesn’t matter how many times you’re put in front of a person if the product doesn’t match or they simply can’t afford your product, then it’s a wasted effort.
3. Using too many hashtags
Hashtags are something that most people can’t get their heads around at times. I’ve seen businesses try countless times to create their own trending hashtag only for it to fail. Hashtags are a search tool more than anything. So you need to play the metrics right. The mistake everyone makes is to put the most popular hashtags and a lot of them at the end of the post. What you really need is a non-competitive hashtag that also generates a lot of traffic. This is easier said than done. But, once you find your niche hashtags that work it’ll offer some great results.
4. Messaging Cold Prospects
Simple, cold calling techniques online don’t work. It’s not just a social selling mistake, but a mistake any salesperson wants to avoid. People need to know who you are and what you’re about before you begin to start a conversation. Of course, some people have had success in the past, but it’s few and far between. Alongside the headache that comes with those who don’t appreciate being approached out of the blue. Make sure that you warm up your leads with content and engagement.
5. Posting the same content over and over again
Remember the first time you saw a really funny video online and gave it a “like”. Then rewatched that video a second time, a third etc. During your 100th play, I bet you didn’t laugh as much as the first-ever viewing. You need to keep that initial impact with your content, so you can’t rely on the same content hitting those same beats again and again. We all grow and develop, so your content needs to do the same. You need to move on from your tried and true content and remain fresh. Otherwise, you’re basically a child star still trying to get over with the same catchphrases.
6. Looking for Instant Wins
Instant sales are basically diamonds when it comes to social selling. You will find them, but it could take you years of searching. You need a strategy and patient in order to create a system that generates consistent results. Which is what social selling needs to be all about. Creating a stream of fresh leads and converting them into clients or customers. So don’t expect those big wins to just fall into your lap with a few posts and a couple of messages.
If you’ve fallen into any of these traps don’t worry that doesn’t mean you’ve blown your chance. Thanks to the attention span of the internet you can try again and again. This time, however, keep these mistakes in the back of your mind. Are you just chasing likes? Is it time to send this message? Are my hashtags working?
It can be a bit overwhelming but over time it can become second nature to implement what you’ve learnt and skip these mistakes that everyone makes selling on social media.
