If your skin care business includes an ecommerce website, social networks should become standard marketing tools. The term “social selling” was coined to describe the use of social networks to maintain contact with prospects and customers throughout the buying cycle. To improve skin care ecommerce results, salespeople are exchanging business cards for keyboards and developing personal relationships with target audiences.
Social media has permeated our society and transformed the face of networking. Salespeople no longer rely on in-person visits to leave marketing collateral and business cards. Instead, they comment, Tweet, and post images to stay connected with target audiences. This is a faster, more convenient approach that is, surprisingly, more personal even though it does not involve face-to-face contact.
Developing connections and relaying information form the heart of social selling. Salespeople must have a greater understanding of skin care products and the customers these items are designed to benefit. While social selling is a relatively new discipline, it is already clear that salespeople must become thought leaders in order to use it effectively. Elevator speeches are no longer enough to convert prospects into loyal customers.
Social selling involves a variety of tactics, each based on social media networks. Salespeople should use words and images to provide customers with information during each step of the buying process. To maintain engagement, they should develop unique relationships with each member of the target audience. Tweeting about news and events relevant to a prospect’s industry is one simple, yet meaningful, way to do this. Using multiple social media networks to engage each prospect or customer illustrates a commitment to the relationship.
For social selling efforts to be effective, focus must shift from the act of selling to adding value. Providing consumers with information they want and need will go a long way. Salespeople should invest time and effort in developing new connections before they pitch any skin care products. Prospects who like or even trust a salesperson are more likely to purchase what this individual is selling. Social selling gets back to the basic nature of interpersonal relationships.
In itself, skin care ecommerce is merely a convenience tool. What makes it powerful is visibility and these days, social media is the best way to increase corporate visibility. Incorporate social selling into the marketing strategies for 2013 and watch site traffic increase steadily. By this time next year, your skin care brand may be a household name.
