Selling is hard. I understand! You are working your butt off to create an engaged audience, and they are not buying anything from you. This is because you are at the beginning of your journey. Your audience is still being warmed up, and you are still gaining their trust. You can and should start selling right away, but you have to be careful not to drive people away from your horse business when you do it. This post covers two common mistakes to avoid when you sell on social media.
Selling Your Horse Business in Every Post
Your audience is going to quickly tire of hearing from you if you sell or even mention your product in every post. We know that you offer a product. We know that you are here to make money, but we want to get to know you before we buy.
No one goes to a car dealership for fun. You walk in the door knowing you are going to have to put up with an exhausting ordeal to get the car you want. People who walk into car dealerships are ready to buy. People scrolling on social media are not. Your goal is to stop someone’s scroll, to catch their eye, and to start fostering a warm audience of people who are going to buy from you when they are ready. Your goal is selling something every time you post.
Everyone on social media is at a different level of readiness to buy from you. If you sell in every post or mention your product in every post, you are going to scare people off before they reach that stage where they are ready to take the leap and make a purchase.
80% of your posts should provide value, educate people, and help your audience get to know you. Only 20% of your posts should have a call to action that sells something or mentions your products.
Promising Value and Failing to Deliver
If you promise a five-step framework and then instead talk about how a five-step framework exists and give a sales pitch you are going to burn bridges quickly. Selling in a video or a post is okay. BUT, creating a super catchy headline to get people’s attention and then failing to deliver what that headline promises is horrible horse businesses etiquette.
You wouldn’t tell someone you can help haul their horse as a favor and then turn around and demand $5.00 a mile once their horse is loaded and ready to go. That is the equivalent of not delivering on a headline.
The best thing to do is to create that catchy headline, deliver on it, provide a ton of value, and make your sales pitch at the end. Sell by showing people how you can help them. Offering a ton of value in a video or blog post is a great way to do that!
The bottom line is that people don’t like being sold to. It makes them uncomfortable. People want to know how you can help them and who you are. People don’t care about your special sale or your exclusive offer. They care about genuine, authentic connections and benefits to them.
If you are struggling to sell your services in a way that feels authentic to you, grab my guide “5 Ways to Sell Without Selling” in the sidebar. Also, make sure you join my Facebook group, Must Love Horses Small Business Content and Social Media Tips. I provide a ton of value every week in that group, and we would love to have you join us.
