There once was a day where Facebook was a virtual playground for the direct sales business owner. However, with the explosion of social selling over the past few years, things have certainly changed. If you are having slow sales, or not making any sales using Facebook, this can only tell you that your strategy needs tweaking.
Facebook can still be an amazing tool for you, provided that you are willing to play the game correctly. The biggest problem today that we see on Facebook from direct sellers is that they are not offering anything of value to their followers!
What you see is a few new groups here, a couple parties there, and yes, the most popular product pictures or before and after with the description below, “come and try my product”, or “come and join me”….without ever answering the question, why?
The image below is what we are used to seeing right? Before and After photos of someone who used our product.
And if we are honest, perhaps one or more of us still use this technique. After all, everyone else seems to be doing it…
Let’s be honest.
What does the image below teach us?
Are we inspired to try (or purchase) anything new from it?
Even if you are not in a makeup company, we see this type of marketing in almost every industry.
(photo credit: www.telegraph.co.uk)
Now TOUCH the image below…
This is the new generation of product marketing.
This is an image that teaches your audience. It shows them how to do something, then gives them options to purchase the products and make it happen in their own life.
If this was your image, simply insert strong calls to action for where to buy each product. You could list the prices, or you might choose to add a video tutorial.
Voila! You have just cracked the code on how to start making sales again on Facebook.
The Facebook environment has changed. The most important change is that Facebook has changed their algorithm, which in simple terms means, if you are not posting information of value, and rather running a never-ending billboard for your product or opportunity, you will soon be unfollowed. Facebook is prioritizing content topics it shows to the user newsfeed based on the time spent that a user spends on similar content. What does this mean for you? If you want your posts to show up in the newsfeeds of users, then you will make sure they want to stick around to read, watch or feel your content! Conversely, if people unfollow you, Facebook will see that people are not enjoying the content you have to share. This means, your posts will begin to be NEVER SEEN in your Friends’ newsfeeds.
In essence, storytelling must be the cornerstone of your marketing. Write digestible industry related content, a personal story, or shoot an interesting how-to video. These are the things that provide value. These are the things that teach your potential buyers something. The things that keep people engaged with you. These are the things that CREATE SALES. Doing this is how some direct sellers get ahead.
It is true that Facebook is a visual social media site. You will see countless images as you scroll through your newsfeed. Business owners think all they have to do is post pictures! While this is not absolutely UNtrue, let’s read below at what actually drives the attention of your niche audience (and it is not another picture of “before & after” XYZ product).
If you have a personal brand, posting on your Facebook profile is certainly acceptable. (provided you follow strategic actions to attract new traffic) If you do not have a Facebook business page, is recommended that you set this up. Not only does this qualify your business as serious; every click, view and interaction can be measured using the ‘insights’ button and be optimized to improve your Facebook actions.
Organic Reach is More Difficult
Are you seriously considering Facebook as a revenue generating source? Then you must, absolutely must, plan on spending money. Accept this fact as quickly as possible and move on. The powers at Facebook realize the power they hold in their hands and they are no longer giving it away for free. An average of 5% of your posts will be seen organically.
There are major companies spending $5,000 per week and see a 3-10x return. Consider this: you can still make a few sales organically on Facebook, but if you really plan on generating income from it, sit down today, budget advertising spend, and take a course in Facebook marketing.
Measurement = Money.
It is shocking to see how many men and women spend their days on Facebook, posting and posting without ever measuring their reach and results! Using your Facebook profile, you are not able to measure your results. Set up a Facebook conversion tracking pixel on your blog or website so you can start measuring everything in terms of your sales. Be mindful of your Key Performance Indicators. KPI’s are your primary objective, example, engagement through likes, comments, shares, photo clicks, video views. You are measuring this for sales. How many site visits and conversions (sales) occur as a secondary KPI.
Boosting posts is a waste of money.
Facebook has the Ads Manager interface for a specific reason. It is there to show the serious marketer how to get the most from their money and efforts. Think of boosting a post this way: it is like buying $500 worth of emails from list builders. You have no idea if any of those leads care about your information, but you are blasting it out to them anyway. You are wasting your time and money, and you are annoying the “leads”. Instead of boosting, start by putting a Facebook pixel on your next capture page or freebie, from the clicks you receive, Facebook can develop a lookalike audience for you. Then, spend your money on developing a great ad that only targets this segmented group.
Invest in good imagery.
For the pace the world is working in, you need to at the very least have great imagery, if you cannot afford amazing imagery yet. Let’s take a look at a great Facebook post that is attracting a lot of attention. After all, attention is a scarce commodity these days!
This image shows a beautiful car, in front of a striking cityscape. Either one is enough to grab your attention for at least 30 seconds. In this 30 seconds, we see that we can immediately save $100 on the car, and do you notice the not-so sneaky wording? We can “Turn our Dream Into a Reality!”
A strong call to action “Act Fast” rounds off this nice and effective post.
- Do not be shy, write a clear and strong Call to Action (CTA)
Like this:
In this call to action, you are promised that you will have the secrets of how to build an empire revealed to you, and then the best part? It is FREE!
This post generated 10,000 followers in 2 weeks.
Use the 80/20 rule
80% of posts should be non-sales messages. What?? When you post 80% value and educational information, you are allowed to occasionally post sales messages (20%) Your valuable and educational posts must be engaging and full of helpful information.
Let’s take an example of someone in the beauty industry. Let’s also say, for argument’s sake, that this person is posting to Facebook once a day, during the week. Her posting schedule may look like this:
Monday: Inspirational quote about inner beauty and loving yourself.
Tuesday: YouTube video demonstrating how to apply foundation correctly posted to Facebook business page.
Wednesday: Personal selfie out and about wearing product, describing how it makes you feel
Thursday: Facebook live-stream video applying the latest mascara product.
Friday: Tasteful image of the Beautiful Eyes combination pack on special this month, directing followers to your website, which includes a link to purchase your product.
Final Thoughts
Facebook traction is no longer very simple and easy. Facebook has evolved and so must you! If you are dedicated to building your brand and business using this social media giant then you will need long-term planning, strategic investment, possibly a good team of people, and training to support the type of marketing you need in this sector. If you plan on using Facebook (outside of organic reach) you can do it with a focused marketing plan that produces compelling content.
