You’ve heard me and others say that the key to making sales on social media is in the DMs (private messages). I’m sure you just thought of that spammy friend from high school who hasn’t talked to you in years and keeps asking you to buy her shampoo. Sound familiar? For many online business owners, the fear of being spammy discourages you from even trying to sell on social. Instead, you want to take a passive approach of posting on your page and praying someone messages you first. How often does that happen though? It’s pretty rare unless you have a following with thousands of engaged people.
The secret? Get to know the person first!!! So often the reason we fail at selling via DM is because we lead with the sale instead of listening to the individual’s problems first and then seeing if we have a product or service that can help them. Plus, this method might actually create real friendships instead of instant unfollows.
- Story replies – If someone’s Instagram page is public and they post to their story, you can see it. Reply to their story to start a simple conversation. For example, ask where they got the recipe. If you see they follow one of your friends, ask how they know her. Talk about the song in the story. Etc. You are starting the conversation right away with something you both relate to, making a very genuine connection.
- Ask a REAL question – By “real question,” I mean that you should ask a question you actually want an answer to. Sometimes asking a question like, “Do you use a protein shake?” can hint that you might try to sell them your shake. A yes or no question like, “Did your recipe turn out good?” doesn’t lead to a further conversation, and do you actually care if the recipe turned out?
- Tag them in a comment on a post that relates to them – Here’s a great example of this. I saw someone looking for planner recommendations in a story. I had recently posted an IGTV all about how I make my custom planner. I replied to her story and told her I had a great post about that topic and I would go tag her in a comment so she can easily find it. Create content that responds to what people are talking about!!
- Make a valuable recommendation – People ask questions in their feed posts all the time. Why not take the conversation to the DMs? For example, send a message and say that you read their post about looking for non-toxic hair care and XYZ product worked great for you and where to find it. If they talk about budgeting, message them and recommend the Rakuten app to get cash back when they shop. When you offer valuable recommendations that don’t benefit you personally, it builds an enormous amount of trust.