How To Sell Your Products On Social Media Without Being Salesy

One of the most common mistakes I see marketers make when promoting their products/services on social media is being too “salesy”.

It’s what we all fear most, right? Being spammy, salesy, or annoying to our network. But yet, I see people posting about their business in the most sales-like way. Mostly on accident.

So how do we NOT promote our business all salesy-like?

By creating awesome content and sharing awesome images.

Content is the words, descriptions, phrases you use to describe or share your products and services while images are those that you share with your content.

Let’s dive into some hacks into each of these areas:

Create Awesome Content

Content Hack #1: Clearly identify the emotion-evoking problem and solution.

Let’s discuss what an emotion-evoking problem/solution is compared to the typical problem/solution-based content that most marketers use to promote their businesses.

Typical Problem-Solution Examples:

I sell a regimen for acne (solution) that helps people with frequent breakouts (problem).

I sell homes (solution) for people that need a bigger home (problem).

I sell coffee (solution) that gives people more energy (problem).

While these examples clearly articulate the solution-problem relationship, it’s NOT DEEP ENOUGH. We have to get to the root-cause analysis of what you actually sell and what people are ACTUALLY looking for as it relates to emotions and feelings.

EMOTION-EVOKING PROBLEM/SOLUTION EXAMPLES:

I sell confidence (emotion-evoking solution) for people that struggle with low-self esteem (emotion-evoking problem) due to acne.

I sell happiness (emotion-evoking solution) for families that are struggling to find a home that meets their growing family’s needs (emotion-evoking problem).

I sell energy (emotion-evoking solution) for people that dread getting out of bed every morning (emotion-evoking problem).

Powerful, right?

This is shifting the focus from product/service ATTRIBUTES to the product/service BENEFITS in a relatable and personable way that evokes the emotions of your ideal customers in order to get them to understand how your products can help them.

Content Hack #2: Fact Tell, Stories Tell.

I know you could probably share facts all day long about how great your products and services are. It could be that your company is the #1 in its industry, or your product is the first of its kind; or even that 90% of people experience a certain (INCREDIBLE) result… But consumers don’t buy facts.

Consumers need to be shown how your products and services can solve their problem, and just like in content hack #1, we can do a DEEP DIVE on their problems and frame your solution via stories and testimonies.

Here’s an example of how I have used a story/testimony to promote my products;

Content Hack #3: Less is sometimes more.

If you have a powerful image, sometimes less content is better. This isn’t always the case, but don’t feel obligated to fill space with words if the image can do a lot of the ‘talking’.

As shown below, I let my own results demonstrate what it was that I had to offer along with minimal words.

Create Awesome Images

Image Hack #1 – ALWAYS HAVE AN IMAGE!

It’s obvious, but more often than not, I see promotional social media posts that have NO image whatsoever. First, most people will automatically scroll right past it because text-only posts are naturally just not as eye-catching; second, the FB algorithm won’t favor it as much as if it had a picture with it; and third, without a visual, it’s difficult to SHOW your ideal customer what it is you have to offer.

Image Hack #2 – Transformative visuals are golden.

Whenever possible, share a picture that reflects the transformation that your product or service has given a customer or client in the past. Before and afters do REALLY well on social media, but if this doesn’t particularly apply to your business, give a visual of the benefit your ideal customer is in search of (i.e. a happy person, a beautiful home, etc.).

I love how Kyla Shoemake demonstrates her own before and after as shown below. There’s not much better than showing your ideal customers your own transformation as the ultimate proof of concept.

Image Hack #3 – Avoid pictures of products.

If you are a product-based businesses, posting pictures of your products will not provide your ideal customer with the benefits that they will get (this is related to content hack #1). If we are trying to evoke emotion and grab attention, we have to illustrate (as best as possible) the benefits that our customer will get when they use or leverage your products or services.

Instead of just posting a picture of lip gloss tubes like below….

Amy Jo Audagnotti does a fantastic job showing a lifestyle photo but casually demonstrating one of the colors she has to offer (while throwing in a little casual humor). This is everything!

With the powerful combination of awesome images and content, you can build a pretty powerful social media strategy in order to promote your business online. DON’T FORGET, though, that these type of promotional posts should only make-up around 10-20% of your total posts. It’s critical that your personal profile is made up of your personal brand and you aren’t just spamming your network with your business posts. That’s NOT what people go to social media for.

-Kinsey

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