Why All Social Media is Sales

Sales shouldn’t be a dirty word in the world of social media.

I fully understand why we often knock salespeople and their tactics. No one likes to get those calls or question whether someone is being “genuinely” friendly or “just trying to sell us something”. Sleazy salespeople have managed to ruin the professional reputation of their colleagues at large as if they were racing to the bottom of consumer popularity rankings against lawyers and Realtors. Sales has existed since time immemorial and it’s not going away. But the biggest mistake we can make online is thinking we’re above selling.

Say it with me: All social media is sales.

“Content is king.” You’ve heard it, I’ve heard it, and we both agree with it. Without compelling content, there is no following. Those that don’t provide value through social media (by posting interesting links to Twitter, for example), will be ignored and drowned out. The most successful users of social media, the folks that can easily point to ROI without having to apply voodoo to the numbers, are the ones that cultivate public trust by delivering value consistently, and it seems that they do so without the expectation of being paid for their efforts. These are the best salespeople.

I’m working here with a more inclusive, holistic definition of sales. The way we think about selling needs to evolve with the means we employ, and nothing has evolved more quickly than social media. But I’m not just talking about directly selling products and services. I acknowledge that many out there on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere aren’t doing this. But make no mistake: they are selling their personal brand.

What’s the difference between these two tweets?

Widget Summit http://bit.ly/5beBtV

Can’t wait to Learn, Measure, Build at Widget Summit! http://bit.ly/5beBtV

The second tweet sells the event, while the first is akin to a bulletin post. Even if we have no financial stake in Widget Summit, we posted the link for a reason and we should want more clicks. In other words, we’re selling click-throughs. And you can bet that’s what the second tweet gets more of.

Everything we post comes back to us, no matter how circuitous the journey. When we share great content, our reputation is bolstered. If content is the value we’re providing, we damn well better sell that value.

The most basic, and perhaps important, way that we sell our personal brand online is through our social media profiles. Those tiny blurbs speak volumes to would-be and current online contacts, and those that make the biggest splashes online tend to have the best profiles. Here, we’re selling an “add” or a “follow”, but these are just different ways of saying we’re selling ourselves as a focus of the ever-shortening modern attention span. This is a tough sell, indeed.

Of all the billions of people out there, why should I pay attention to you?

If you can answer this question well, you’re likely a social media sales star. If not, you’ve got some work to do.