I am not a fan of the “hard sell”. Infomercials, long-form sales letters and persistent aggressive sales calls cause me to zone out, rather than creating any interest, on my part, in the product.
As a sales alternative, I have advocated “soft sell” techniques, focusing on the product, needs of potential clients, and letting demand build organically, instead of by force.
For years, I’ve often been told that I am wrong on this point. However, recent reactions from social networks, with respect to the emergence of marketers, have shown that soft sell techniques are already playing a big role in the new marketing arena.
EARLY RETURNS ARE IN
Many marketers agree that social networks are the next big playground. Unfortunately, most have seen disappointing early results. I believe it is because their marketing approach has been off the mark.
Strong-armed sales techniques are nearly universally ignored on social sites. These types of campaigns can actually have a negative effect on brand; not to mention an enormous waste of time and resources.
Members of social networks prefer to interact amongst each other, peer-to-peer. Hard sell techniques serve as an interruption to that conversation.
A means to encourage conversation and interaction, such as a person or application is far better suited for this marketing channel. Marketers shouldn’t be afraid of jumping in to social networks, but they need to be respectful of the people who make up the community, and the unwritten rules of engagement.
SOFT SELL
In social networking, a marketer’s best play is to become part of the community, not just to market to it. This approach takes considerably more time, effort, and creativity, but has far greater long-term potential.
Quality conversation, sincere opinions, and just being an interesting person to follow, builds loyal bases. Followers don’t want to see just your latest and greatest deal; they also want to get to know you.
Social networks are communities, and, as such, have different expectations and tolerance levels for the marketers among them. Carry yourself more as if you are a new guest at a party.
You wouldn’t be to popular if you just walked in saying “Buy my stuff!”
REPEAT BUSINESS
Repeat business is the core of any business’ success. Selling a customer on a product which doesn’t deliver on its expectations or providing poor customer service will result in less overall success – even if the original sale technique is working.
On the flip side, marketers drawing in followers or friends in social networking will have difficulty in the long term if their feeds don’t continue to deliver.
Even worse, a marketer can experience a drop in followers if their feed is consistently filled with over-marketing that annoys their readership.
Using social networks to interact with and help current customers is one of the soft sell techniques gaining a lot of traction as well as media attention.
Companies who have a real presence on message boards, blogs, and other social platforms can build brand loyalty and increase the chance for repeat business.
Brian Littleton is the President/CEO of ShareASale.com, Inc., a retail-focused affiliate network for businesses of all sizes.
Download the entire FeedFront issue 4 here – http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue4.pdf
FeedFront issue 4 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/category/issue-4/
