This post was written for SafeShops and first appeared on their blog.

Social Selling: Put the ‘social’ back in social media

For some companies social media is just another channel to communicate their promotions on, and often in a very pushy way. These companies will quickly discover that their posts get very little interaction. They will probably start spending a lot of money on boosting the same messages with the same bad results.

Close your eyes for a second and think about the companies you looooooove to follow on social media. What kind of messages do they post? I bet it’s not just products and prices! Personally I’m a huge fan of the social media approach of Coolblue. A true ‘social’ example. Even their Privacy Policy on their website is nice and easy to read. Now how to explain their social media success?

My guess:

  1. It’s a company with a very ‘human’ face
  2. They have a good sense of humour
  3. A clear content strategy / plan

Humanize your company
Companies make mistakes, but it’s easier to be mad at a logo than at a real person. Coolblue often features their team members on social media. Mostly in a fun way, but they also don’t hesitate to put their team in the spotlight when they messed it up. It takes guts to do that, and people appreciate it!

Coolblue says sorry

A good sense of humour
We all like to watch funny stuff. So think about how you can add a touch of humour to your content. This doesn’t mean that all your posts have to be funny. Though it could work as well for you as for this Dutch Wine Grower

facebook post wine grower

A clear content strategy

If you analyse the social media posts of Coolblue you will notice that they work with recurring content themes like their photo challenge, product reviews, behind the scenes in their offices, … Planning is half of the success!

Do you also want to sell more by using social media in a good & human way?

Start small. Experiment with different types of social media posts, and keep track on the ones that generate a lot of interaction (= likes, comments, shares). Your audience will tell you which road you should take, and don’t forget to have fun along the way 😉