3 Reasons Social Media Should Become the Lifeblood of Your Company in 2021

Many direct selling companies have mixed feelings toward social media. On the corporate side, it’s a popular channel for staying connected with distributors and their teams. But when it comes to teams performing social media marketing as brand representatives, the corporate office usually has a lot of concerns, as this is where great exposure comes and automatically puts brand consistency, compliance, and reputation at risk.

Meanwhile, the opportunities social media opens, if used wisely, significantly outweigh these risks. Here are three reasons why getting representatives involved in social media marketing is a must for direct selling companies who want to get compelling sales results.

1. This is where your end users are.

Direct selling companies have always been known for proactively reaching out to people who need them. This approach worked with family circles, at parks, and at public events. Today these places are not the most promising in terms of finding new clients, as people prefer to minimize their risks due to the pandemic and stay home. There’s a place where they have migrated, though — to the online world, and to social media in particular. And this brings us to the number one reason it’s time for your direct selling company to become active on social.

40% of respondents of the Deloitte Digital Tools in Crisis and Recovery Report confirmed they are using social media and online messaging to find information about products they need and to interact with businesses.

According to GlobalWebIndex, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millenials use mostly Facebook (55%, 63%, and 67% correspondingly), while Gen Z is more into Instagram (67%). These two social media platforms are the most promising in terms of covering wide audiences of different age groups.

Moreover, 62% of Facebook users and 40% of Instagram users confess they spend time on social media looking for social interaction and meaningful connections.

SmartInsights predicts social media marketers will invest in “building relationships with employees, customers, and influencers to ensure our key brand messages are backed up by the voices our customers value the most” in 2021.

There’s no one better than representatives at building such connections and relationships. Marketing leaders just need to empower them with the right skill- and toolsets to start building their networks on social media.

2. It’s the way to provide a great brand experience.

When representatives start actively posting to their pages on their own, there are also risks. First, they might not be tech- and marketing-savvy enough to stick to the proper quality level of content and messaging. Second, reps who passionately believe in their products may start overpromising about their effects and this may cause legal issues.

But consistently onboarding reps on company values and messaging, educating them on social media marketing, and giving them effective tools are great ways to mitigate these risks. Activating distributors to engage in social media marketing can become the best decision in a company’s history. Not only can distributors spread their brand message to a wider audience, but they can also build a positive brand reputation through their own personal experiences.

People tend to trust other people much more than they trust brands. That’s why reps sharing their lifestyles featuring how they use your products in their daily routines is better than any paid advertising. Luckily, social media offers a wide range of tools and formats for creating such personalized content: Stories, Live Streams, IGTV—all of these are in high demand among today’s online users. Lives are even reported to be among the top trends for 2021.

In this case, it’s important that distributors remain authentic in their communication, as this is their main strength.

3. Selling on social media actually brings results.

Almost half the respondents of the Deloitte Digital Tools in Crisis and Recovery Report say their online spending has increased since the COVID-19 outbreak. According to SmartInsights, social commerce will be one of the key trends of 2021.

This is totally natural behavior as in today’s world online is the safest way to shop. Especially when you can get the look and feel of products, speak to a consultant, and make a purchase all in one place. Direct selling representatives should turn their social media pages into such places.

To achieve such growth, marketing leaders should develop a social-first habit in distributors. That means advocating the importance of social media marketing at the corporate level and educating representatives via various webinars, courses, and workshops. Also, picking the right tools to simplify social media marketing workflow is a good idea. With such support from the corporate level, representatives will catch on and become more marketing savvy and customer-centric themselves.

Marketing specialists predict the year 2021 will be the year of “people-first social media marketing”. Direct selling companies should be at the forefront of this trend, as giving personalized experiences is their strong suit.

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Max Pecherskyi
Help Distributors Focus on Relationships, Automate the Rest

No matter how much time direct selling HQs spend on building brand strategy, the actual brand experience depends first and foremost on distributors. They are the face of your business. So the more inspired but also consistent they are, the more positive the image people get of your company.

That’s why it’s definitely worth creating a supportive environment for them. This includes leadership, education, training, and — what matters a lot — providing easy-to-use technology that helps your distributors in their day-to-day communication with clients. Especially when it comes to social media communication. Social media has become the main conversation channel since the lockdown started. Research by the New York Times shows that Facebook usage has grown 27% during the pandemic. People have gotten used to chatting in messengers or Zoom rooms instead of going to parties and surfing the net instead of going to malls. This has changed customer behavior for good.

Your distributors have had to change their way of doing things as well. Before the pandemic they could give a party, showcase products personally, and exchange contacts. But now that offline communication has become a risk, they have had to find other ways of sharing their lifestyle and connecting with clients. Social media is definitely the most obvious solution, but it presents a challenge. Not all distributors are tech-savvy.

Building success on social media seems like a full-time job, from creating outstanding content to engaging followers with interactive formats. Thus, complicated posting can well be discouraging, making distributors lose interest in selling via social networks. As a result, they miss opportunities to find new people, build relationships, and create new clients.

To implement a win-win strategy, where distributors invest their time and effort in social media marketing, you need to create fertile ground for them. First of all, prove the value of building relationships. Second, guarantee your support and collaboration. Then provide educational resources to help your distributors master social media marketing. Once you join forces and start working as a team, you’ll achieve beneficial results for both parties.

Here’s what you can do:

Make daily social media posting a sure thing

To become successful on social, distributors need to show up there on a daily basis. That’s how social media platforms’ algorithms work: if distributors post once a week, their posts go unnoticed as their audience is not necessarily online when the post appears. However, regular posting increases the chances that posts will be seen. Such consistency is the only way to grow the reach of their posts, keep subscribers engaged, and get their attention.

You at the corporate office can ensure their posting is regular by pre-scheduling posts yourselves to your distributors’ social media calendars. Then all they have to do is to approve them. This becomes even more important during promotional campaigns. As they are limited offerings, on-time posting is a must. Your vendors who enable a one-click, on-the-go posting will help you be sure the campaign flow is consistent across your network.

Help distributors create content that stands out

No one can be full of ideas 24/7. Sometimes your distributors need to take a break and focus on other things besides coming up with brilliant ideas for their social media posts. But their social media audience still needs its portion of content.

“Our Wellness Advocates have great potential as authentic social sellers; they just needed better tools to market themselves online — tools that enable on-the-go posting and give them an opportunity to add a personal and authentic touch to their content and communication”, says John Dye, Senior Director of Marketing at dōTERRA in North America.

You can provide your distributors on-brand content by giving them access to an asset manager with branded templates so that they will always have fresh ideas at their fingertips. But the templates need to be aligned with each distributor’s unique style. By providing them with customization tools, you’ll make it possible for reps to retain their authenticity.

Finding their voice and approach and building a personal brand is what’s most valuable when it comes to distributors’ marketing themselves online. Telling a genuine story of success, showcasing products, and sharing lifestyle images is what attracts attention in the first place, as everyone wants to see a real human being behind the brand. It’s the way to connect with like-minded people and turn them into loyal clients.

Automation of social media content creation and posting is how HQ can help distributors fill their pages with a combination of lifestyle and branded content. Once they’re freed from the rote work, they’ll have time for sharing brand values and building relationships that convert to sales.

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