Stop Selling and Start Talking on Social Media

One of the biggest questions my clients at D2 Branding have for me is: “What do I post on my social media?

Social media can be daunting and can feel like another task on your to-do list as a business owner. Only some entrepreneurs have the time to spend all day coming up with creative ideas for their social media accounts. They might only have 15 minutes a day to post something, so their first instinct as entrepreneurs is to try to sell something online. They create a call-to-action post that encourages people to sign up for something or take advantage of a deal they have going on with their product or service.

The problem with this approach is that to social media audiences, posts like these feel like white noise. They feel like a car dealer yelling at you on TV, advertising his latest sale. As business owners, we have to offer value on social media to get people to listen. A customer has to get to know you, like you and trust you before doing business with you. If all you’re doing on social media is selling, people won’t listen.

Gay Vee talks about this concept in his book “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.” He writes, “You have to offer so much VALUE that when they are ready to buy what you are selling, they will feel guilty not using you!”

Jabs are meant to offer value — they make you laugh, entertain you or offer advice — while right hooks are your call-to-action posts. You need to offer 3x the value on social media to offset your one ask. Here are five ways we offer value to our clients and prospective clients at D2:

  1. The Do It My Way podcast. We’ve been recording this podcast for a few years now and continue to get great traction because we offer free marketing advice.
  2. Email marketing. Some of the best content can be sent to the VIPs on your email list! If you offer them something valuable, they will start to get to know your brand. Don’t always make your emails sale attempts. Offer valuable content so they get to know you, like you and trust you.
  3. Blog posts. Blog posts are a great way to offer value on your website and also increase your SEO rankings with Google. The more content you have on a particular subject, the more Google will push your website to the top when someone in your area is searching. Blog posts can be pushed out on your website, in your email marketing and on your social media.
  4. Social media is the perfect place to add value. You are the expert in your area, so share insider tips and tricks, discuss industry trends and share case studies from things you have done in your business or even a case study you read about on an industry website. You are the expert sharing expert advice.
  5. Speaking is another great way to give value to your prospects. Offer to speak at an industry conference to be seen as an expert and walk away with hundreds of people who know who you are and who you can market to and follow up with.

Offering value is a great strategy for your business regardless of what industry you’re in. You need to be repurposing your content so you can push it across all platforms. For example, I’ll create a podcast, turn the same topic into a blog post, an email newsletter and a social media post. The work was only done once, but it makes great content for all of your audiences to enjoy across all platforms.

So the next time you want to go on social media and sell something, step back and think of some value you can offer instead. A great way to come up with content ideas is by thinking back to where you were in your career five years ago. What problems did you have? How did you overcome them? How can people learn from your mistakes?

To recap, on social media, you want to Jab, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. It’s like a conversation with your best friend — offering value and advice and not expecting anything immediately in return!

What will you do this week to offer value to your clients and prospects on social media?

Deedra Determan, Founder

Deedra Determan started her career working in television for one of the top media companies in the country and later became a marketing consultant in the television industry.

Determan went on to launch a niche website for moms in her local market with over 100,000 moms visiting the website each month using the power of Facebook. After one year from launching, Determan sold the website to Oklahoma Media Company, Griffin Communications. Determan went on to launch a digital marketing agency, D2 Branding – Tulsa SEO, Marketing, and Website Design that was recently recognized as one of the “Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America” by Entrepreneur Magazine’s Entrepreneur360.

Determan is the host of the Do It My Way Podcast Show, empowering women business owners and CEO’s to do business on their terms with no regrets, hesitation or fear. Determan coaches these women on how to create a personal brand so they can live a life of financial freedom, working when they want to work and making the money they want to make!