Your brand likely has room for improvement on the social media front. Contrary to popular belief, your social media pages are not for boasting testimonials, showing off new products with their descriptions, or selling on every post. It’s okay if that’s what you’ve been doing, because we haven’t really had examples of too many businesses who are playing the social media game in the right way. Your new motto needs to be: ‘value first, sell second.’ Think of your social media pages as that one of your salespeople that makes friends with everyone first, then casually mentions what they’re selling when it feels appropriate.

Yes when, and only when, it feels appropriate. No, this doesn’t mean that you’re leaving money on the table or confusing followers. This means that you’re building a loyal brand. That means you are always giving value first, which gives potential customers an incentive to follow your page.  Once you can get their attention and prove how you can help them, they will trust you, and then buy from you. It’s really that simple. Here’s how to do a thorough reboot to make sure you’re doing everything you can to build trust first.

1. Offer Sneak Peeks Of Value 

Just like items at a grocery store get sold when there are free samples, the best products and programs aren’t entirely coveted. Think of it this way: imagine that you have an online course that’s about building a viral TikTok strategy. You don’t get customers to buy by solely talking about what they’ll get from the course. You do, however, get customers to buy by sharing a few of the entry-level tips on your social media, letting them apply them, and letting them get the results. Their thought process will be: “If their free content helped me this much, I can only imagine how much their paid content will.” 

This is an approach that Gee Bryant, the founder and CEO of X28 Fitness, lives by.  He’s self-educated on the social media front, and found that offering value through tutorials of key workouts on his company’s instagram page, have really paid off.

“Not only does this content strategy show potential participants what they get from working with us, but it fosters community. It creates something that current participants can follow along with and show up for. Our goal is to excite anyone who sees the content so much that they’re not satisfied with just a quick 20 second clip of these groundbreaking exercises.”

2. Give The Vision–Then Let The Consumer Shop It 

When it comes to physical products, there may be some confusion around how to offer value. In this case, your job on social media is to craft a vision on social media for the potential customer. For example, if you’re a home decor and furniture brand, piece together some of your products to create a vision of how they all tie together. A brand that does this beautifully is Anthropologie’s living section. High quality photos of fully set tables or complete living room sets paint a picture for followers - who may follow just to get inspired, rather than because they’re currently looking to move or redecorate. 

The trick here is not to come across salesy in the caption and disrupt the allure. Instead, utilize Instagram’s ‘shop’ feature, where you can tag the products within the frame, and users can shop directly in the app. This presents a massive opportunity, as statistics find that 130 million Instagram users tap on ‘shop’ tags every single month. Appeal to their curiosity and make them tap. 

This can also be done by showing how the product works. For example, if you have a gua sha and facial massage company, create video content about what a proper gua sha technique can look like. Create images that exacerbate key traits of the brand experience: in this case, a ‘spa night,’ or even just a mini spa day within a morning routine. All of this creates an experience and a vision for the viewer that will be enticing.

3. Find Value In Your Wheelhouse To Give 

In true ‘value first, sell second’ form, consider that not all of your posts need to center around your product or your service. Get creative within your wheelhouse. For example, if your service is catering, create some videos teaching viewers how to put together the perfect veggie tray or charcuterie board for guests. Many entrepreneurs shy away from this, worrying they’ll teach users too much, and they won’t need them anymore. The opposite is true. If someone sees your video, makes a stellar charcuterie board and it’s a smash hit, you bet she will become a loyal follower and likely hire you eventually. 

Most solely think about business social media strategy as a form of marketing or sales across Instagram squares. It’s not like that anymore. The brands that are taking off are those that are creating value-first content. In a “me first” world, remember that every consumer is primarily wondering, “How does this value ME?” So, when you adhere to the ‘value first, sell second’ motto, you will always win.