Social Media Sales: Mastering The ‘Give To Get’

Social media sales have vastly changed the selling landscape.

Newsflash: Slapping your marketing message into a post and publishing it to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram is not going to make you a social media sales star.

Instead, we need to focus on a value exchange. Or as some marketers call the “Give to Get.”

Here’s how you can do that.

Using the Give To Get In Social Media Sales

Think of ‘Give to Get’ as the bait on the end of your hook. Without it, your fishing trip is destined to be fruitless.

Give To Get Examples:

1. Content: Checklists, white papers, ebooks, templates or PDFs
2. Brand recognition: Naming and rewarding fans on your social sites, website or blog
3. Product sampling: Freemium services, free trials, or free samples
4. Unique experiences: Including fans in branding and marketing (or user-generated content)
5. Sweepstakes & giveaways: Contests linked to your online media

Take some time to think about how you can take one of the five examples and give value to get the lead, or sale.

What The Give To Get Is Not

People are smarter than you think!

1. Games, puzzles and other ‘like and share’ content  don’t provide value and are quite obviously for the brand’s gain (check out Condescending Corporate Brand Page for a snarky look at what NOT to do)
2. Paying fans or customers to give reviews on your pages or blog is not really a give to get; it has to be authentic
3. Discounts are often ways to move product that is not selling or is less desirable, whereas a free trial or sample is allowing someone to test something new for a possible future sale
4. User-generated experiences where the fan does not get something of perceived value (note: some fans don’t consider recognition as value!)

One key to success is making sure your prize is considered valuable AND related to your brand!

Some peeps think they’re giving to get when really they’re in it for themselves.

Bottom line: Give REAL value with your Give to Get marketing lead magnets.

In what ways are you using the ‘Give to Get’ method of sales on social media? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!

See you in the social sphere!

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Brooke B. Sellas

Brooke B. Sellas is an award-winning Customer Marketing Strategist and the CEO & Founder of B Squared Media. Her book, Conversations That Connect has been recognized nationally and is required reading for a Customer Experience class at NSU. Brooke's influence in digital marketing is not just about her accomplishments but also about her unwavering commitment to elevating the industry standard of digital customer experience and customer marketing.

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