Random pictures of your products in different WhatsApp groups will not boost sales. Instead, try to share product information in a clearer, more concise, planned, and authentic way.
A pitfall that most small-scale entrepreneurs walk right into is the habit of sharing pictures of the products they are selling to random social media groups. This might work as a one-off solution for selling products but would be ineffective for a business looking to sustainably build a customer base in the long term.
Regardless of the size of the business, customers often want to get product information (including marketing information) in the most informative and least intrusive way. It, therefore, goes without saying that if you are trying to win over loyal customers, do not spam them with random information about your products.
Imagine yourself as a customer browsing via texts in a WhatsApp or Facebook group dedicated to a specific purpose like school alumni conversations. What would be your reaction if you see 10 consecutive posts from a person advertising duvets, handbags, shoes, wallets, etc? This first reaction, for the most part, is always an irritation. What are the chances that you will scroll past these posts without thinking twice? Will you even remember who posted them?
A reason why big businesses sometimes win with customers is via a concept called personalization in marketing. This is where a business like Safaricom will use data to find out the preferences of the customer and then SMS or email the customer marketing messages based on these preferences. Such emails often seem unintrusive because they are addressed to you as a customer and sell you a product that you actually need. They also send such SMSs and emails in a well-scheduled manner to avoid spamming their customers.
In addition, big businesses have mastered how to enter into customer conversations without being seen as intrusive. This is why you might see something trending then all of a sudden, several brands will be rallying behind the trend in clever ways. Remember the Murife Don’t Run trend? What of the David Moya dance? What of the ‘Jerusalema’ song-dance trend? All these are causal conversations that were happening on social media that brands turned into marketing messages.
Of course, big businesses do it on a larger scale, your small business should thus try to achieve personalization and enter into conversations but now with social media groups.
Product posts in random social media groups are often intrusive and they develop a wall between the seller and potential buyers. This is detrimental to the already fragile buyer-seller relationships that exist online. The better way of doing these posts is via an information-sharing plan that is clear, concise, planned, and authentic.
To make a clear post means taking only the necessary details of a product including the picture and bundling them into a single mini-poster. Mini-posters are proven to be friendlier in social media groups because they do not deviate attention from the main subject of the group. The information on a mini-poster could include pictures, price, features, social media page, and contact details. Also, a pro detail is to make the poster design – color, logo, fonts, size – consistent.
If you plan to write other details on the post, make sure to be concise – 200 words maximum – and relevant to the subject matter of the group. This also extends to being authentic. If you are posting to a group consisting of friends, you could for instance use half the words to say hi and refer to the subject matter of the group and then the other half of the post to point at your product. Avoid forwarding the same message across different social media groups. Taking time to tailor the message for each group pays off eventually.
In general, doing the above consists of planning. However, consider planning for which groups your product can get potential customers. It is better to sit and write down 20 groups (both WhatsApp and Facebook) that have a large following and whose purpose at least aligns with your business than posting the same message randomly in 50 groups. Write a unique message to each group and then share it alongside the mini-poster.
Planning also involves consistently sharing the mini-poster in a predictable and well-scheduled routine. For instance, share the mini-poster with the duvets that you sell every Friday evening to the groups that you choose. Do not send out mini-posters every day because this is what people consider spamming. Also, follow up on the responses to see what the group members are saying.
While this strategy may be harder to execute at first, it will be the reason people identify your brand, remember it, and share it via word of mouth. It will generate more sales via WhatsApp and Facebook groups than by sending pictures randomly.
