Subtly Selling on Social Media

Selling on social media can be fraught with pitfalls. Sell too hard, and you turn everyone off and no one pays attention to your feed. Sell too obliquely, or avoid selling at all, and your feed will miss bringing in the customers it may otherwise capture. Finding the balance can be difficult and confusing.

For those who aren’t familiar, subtle selling is the art of selling without being explicit or pushy about it. Another name for it is often soft selling. The idea is to focus on customer service, relationship building, and more on long tail sales than an immediate purchase. It’s long term relationship selling, rather than a one and done transaction that may result in a customer that never buys another thing from your business.

Subtle selling can also encompass posts on social media that suggest reasons to buy or put customers in a mindset to buy, but aren’t aggressive or pushy or repetitive. It’s about showing the customer what you can do and how your products can be used, rather than reaching right for their wallets as soon as you encounter them. It’s seduction, rather than wham, bam, thank you ma’am, and should leave the customer feeling positive about their purchase and eager to form a long term relationship with your business.

How to Subtly Sell

Tip #1: The goal is forming relationships, not making sales - Every interaction with a customer should be about getting to know them and allowing them to know you. If your focus is always about getting their dollars and nothing else, that will shine through. If, instead, you focus on customer service, responsiveness and transparency, you set up a relationship of trust and customers are more likely to buy.

Tip #2: No one cares about you, but you - You could have the largest skill set, gotten the coolest piece of equipment, or created the coolest product ever, but that won’t be what makes you sales. You care about that stuff, your customers generally don’t. What you want to do is explain how you can solve their problems and provide what they need. Make it about them, not you, and you will see sales.

Tip #3: Your target market matters - You didn’t think I was leaving this out, did you? Knowing who you want to sell too will also tell you what they care about, and likely what they want and what they need. The more information you have, the more able you will be to target your messages to their pain points, irritations and needs. If you know them, you can sell to them. It’s that simple.

Tip #4: Sell,Sell, Sell leads to Bye, Bye, Bye - No one likes to be constantly sold to, especially on social media. If your feeds are a litany of the same sales message over and over, you’ll find that your following will quickly dwindle and you won’t have much engagement. Vary your posts. Info, give value, entertain and create a well rounded feed.

Resources

What is Social Selling - Hootsuite - A brief overview of social selling detailing what it is, the best networks on which to do it and 5 useful tools for 2024.

Master the Subtle Art of Selling Without Selling - Zoetica - This is basically selling for those who hate sales. Ways to get your sales message across without feeling awkward or like you’re pressuring people.

Introvert Friendly Linked In Sales Techniques - Converse Digital - One of the interesting discussions in this piece is about the use of automation. The author recommends using automation to get over the fear of reaching out. It’s an interesting take on the subject.

About Me

My name is Kristine Shreve. I’m a writer, a marketer, an editor, and an educator. Visit my website to learn more.