You know as a Direct Seller that building relationships and rolling out the red carpet for your current customers is key. How do you do that? Well if you have stayed on top of this Social Media game, you know that Direct Sales Facebook Groups are the best way to stay in contact with your best customers and keep them happy with you as their “go to GIRL/GUY”. Yet, post after post after post, you are struggling with engagement. How do you keep them coming back? Why do some posts get a lots of feedback and others….it’s like crickets.
Honestly the only way you are ever going to make things “work” in your Facebook group is if you finally grab the idea that you need to stop selling and you need to have authentic conversations.
Here are my best tips for how I took my Facebook VIP Group from 10 to 310. Now some might say, “well that isn’t very many people.” You are right. The truth is that you don’t need a lot of people to run a successful Direct Sales business. You will do quite well with 50 paying, loyal, engaged customers than you will with 500 people who never come back to your page. Let’s take a look at the things that I do consistently in my VIP Facebook Group.
Personal Branding. That is right. I make sure that my group, my posts, my timeline and anything else that gets put in that group is personally branded to me. I make it clear what vehicle I use to drive my business, which in my case is Scentsy but the big picture is all about Jilleysue. Your customers are buying you, not what you have to sell. Yes, of course they love Scentsy but when your customers buy you, they are buying everything you stand for. They buy what you are about and they trust you. That means you don’t have a list of things you sell and you aren’t switching companies every 5 months. How can you create a personal brand that people trust if every other month, you decide that your current vehicle that you swore was the best and you were passionate about this time has since been thrown in the garbage and you are on to something new?
The only personal brand you are creating there is that you can’t commit to anything and that you are looking for your next big ticket to easy money and success as fast as you can. Create a story that shows what you are about. Colors, font, content. Create everything that resonate with your name and what you provide and that will make people remember you.
Providing Value. This might be the most important and almost ALL Direct Sales Consultants miss it. You must provide value in everything you do. You must make sure every post is either educating, entertaining or inspiring. Buy 5 Get 1 Free is not any of those things. It is salesy and spammy and it does not SELL YOU. Giving people the sales information is something you can do once you know they plan to buy something. Ask yourself this. Have you ever stopped on a post in a group where something was for sale? You are added to a million groups a week right? Well, so are your customers, so you need to find ways to stand up and stand out. Bring them into your world. Let them see behind the scenes. Entertain them, Inspire them or show them how to do something. That is what people will stop and engage with. By providing value, on a consistent basis, your group members have a reason to keep coming back to you. They know they will find something in your group that they will find useful. Give them tips and tricks and how tos. Funny videos and things that are completely opposite of selling something to them. Remember sell you, not your products.
Consistency. You must be consistent when creating your personal branding. You can’t be a consultant one day and then not show up with your content for the rest of the week. If you are posting engaging posts or videos and asking for your customers engagement, then they will be use to seeing you there and expect you to there. When you don’t show up or just quit or think, “well I’m not getting any engagement” Then your customers stop showing up as well. This goes for every page, platform or group you are in. If you don’t show up, your team, fans and customers won’t either. Commit and watch the change.
Press That LIVE button. It’s a must ladies and gentlemen. When your team or customers see you, they connect with you. Afraid of going live? Well it is time to just do it. No one ever died from going live. In fact quite the opposite. Their teams and customers became more connected, more loyal, joined their teams and bought more. Facebook is choosing videos and photos first my friends. These people are YOUR people. You can’t hide behind your computer forever and think that a marketing flyer is going to do better than you LIVE on video. And who cares how many people actually watch LIVE. That doesn’t matter at all. Most people watch the recording. So just do it. I go LIVE In my VIP group every Monday at 6:30 pm EST. I announce a customer of the week, give my scent reviews, talk about new products, tell my story, answer questions. I literally spend 20 minutes every week thanking them and connecting with them. That is it and guess what…..they love it and look forward to it weekly.
Get Personal & Be Real. The most important piece of all of this is to be true to you and to show your true self. Many days I will get messages or get tagged in posts with dachshunds, pink jeeps, shoes or makeup. That is because I make it pretty clear through my groups and business pages that those are my favorite things. If you try to active like someone you are not, people can see right through that. Be true to your values and take the time to help your community trust you. Once that happens, everything seems to fall in place and you will start to see more and more of your followers revisiting your Direct Sales Facebook Groups and all of your Social Media platforms.
Ask. If you don’t know what a call to action is, time to learn. Most Direct Sellers post their flyers or pictures of their products with a statement. Like, “Love my new warmer.” Why not try, What do you think of my new set up? When people leave a comment or like something or even better share, they are telling Facebook that your post matters to them. They are saying, “Hey Facebook, this is relevant.” Facebook wants to see its people stay in Facebook so if you are sharing links, put them in the first comment but more importantly ask your people to do something. Have them give you their opinion. Ask for help. Tell them to comment on a multiple choice. Engagement is going to win every time.
Facebook is going to be the one who determines what gets seen and let’s just face it, spammy, salesy, unengaged posts are going to be put at the bottom if seen at all. You must think like at fan at all times. Don’t post just to post. Ask yourself, “Would I stop on this? Would I engage?” If the answer is no, well then your customers won’t either. Is it more difficult to come up with creative, valuable content? Yes. Look for inspiration. Make lists of things that you know your customers would find useful. Don’t post to post and worse, don’t disappear. These are your people. This is your community and if you take off and show them, your group is not important. They will do the same.
Do you have things that work in your Facebook group? I’d love to hear. Come connect with me over on Facebook and let me hear. Check out my videos on Facebook groups and Personal Branding on my YOUTUBE Channel.
