June 11, 2024
Why A Hard Sell Will Fall Flat on Social Media
Diving straight into the crux of the issue the title presents, if you’re a brand looking to use social media to employ aggressive sales tactics, it’s time to rethink your strategy.
Bombarding your audience with sales pitches and relentless self-promotion will only serve to distance your audience from your brand. No one appreciates feeling pressured into a purchase—especially when it’s accompanied by the desperate energy of hard-selling tactics. The outcome? Disinterested followers or, worse yet, no followers at all!
Here’s the thing: your social media audience primarily seeks to be inspired, entertained, to learn, and to socialise. It’s a privilege to have a presence on their news feed. Yet, if your content consists of incessant promotional posts and CTA’s, you’re likely to annoy them rather than inspire brand loyalty and appreciation.
We know that emotions drive action, and annoyance isn’t going to compel your audience to do anything other than disengage. However, evoking the feeling of pleasure, FOMO, inspiration, or hunger, can pave the way for lasting brand sentiment, and even a purchase action.
So, how do brands soft sell on social media, and how do they do it well?
1. The Trust Factor: Building relationships and fostering connections – revolutionary, we know, but hear us out! A hard-sell approach, with its emphasis on pushing products or services, often comes across as insincere and opportunistic. On the other hand, a softer sell strategy focuses on providing value, whether it be in the form of entertainment, education, or inspiration. By building trust and rapport with your followers, you lay the foundation for long-term relationships that can lead to loyal customers and brand advocates.
Brands who build trust well: Who Gives a Crap about toilet paper? Unless it’s 2020 and we’re going through a global pandemic and toilet paper shortage, the answer was no one. Cue, Who Gives A Crap, who built a social media strategy that brought to life the brand mission through engaging and humorous posts, lightening the conversation around an otherwise dark and unspoken topic.
They could have shouted the hard facts about contaminated water until the cows came home, but instead, they fostered a sense of transparency and accountability that resonated with consumers. Leveraging BTS, entertaining memes, relatable UGC, and digestible infographics, they built a social strategy that built trust. This approach not only strengthens the brand’s reputation but also cultivates a loyal community of advocates who feel empowered to make a difference alongside the brand.
2. The Engagement Dilemma: A soft sell strategy encourages engagement by inviting users to join the conversation, sharing their thoughts and opinions, as opposed to a brand narrating the conversation solo. By creating opportunities for interaction, you not only increase brand visibility but also strengthen the sense of community around your brand.
Brand who nailed the engagement dilemma: Day for it, eh? Better Beer jumped right in and took a zero-carb larger and turned it into a lifestyle brand. Better’s social media content has undoubtedly mastered the art of engagement, honing in on compelling audience narratives and organic product placement.
Leveraging authentic user-generated content to further drill home the brand’s lifestyle messaging, whilst also championing user engagement and participation via competitions and giveaways, Better Beer has crafted a social strategy that is built around audience participation. The result? An online community that sells the brand ethos themselves, as opposed to being told what it is.
3. The Long Game: Often brands forget that social media is not just about making quick sales—it’s about building relationships and nurturing emotions, over time. A soft-sell content strategy focuses on building brand awareness, establishing credibility, and fostering loyalty among your audience. By prioritising the needs and interests of your followers, rather than simply pushing a sale, you create a foundation for sustainable success in the ever-evolving landscape of social media.
Brand who nailed the long game: When we think of long-term decision-making, often homes and cars come to mind. But an industry that sells the long game better than any, is tourism. Look at the likes of Tasmania, who exemplify the power of a soft-sell approach in captivating and engaging their audience. Rather than bombarding users with overt advertisements, Tourism Tasmania focuses on showcasing the natural beauty, cultural richness, and unique experiences that the region has to offer.
By prioritising engagement and connection over direct sales pitches, Tourism Tasmania builds trust and fosters a genuine connection with its audience, ultimately inspiring travellers to explore all that Tasmania has to offer.
While the allure of a hard-sell approach may be strong, its effectiveness on social media is limited, to say the least. By embracing a softer, more empathetic approach, businesses can forge deeper connections with their audience, build trust and loyalty, and ultimately drive long-term success in the digital age. So the next time you’re tempted to shout your message from the rooftops, remember: sometimes, the quietest whispers speak the loudest.