HOW TO SELL PRODUCTS ONLINE: SOCIAL MEDIA

The future in your hands: social media. Due to the recent pandemic COVID-19, most businesses were forced to go into closure and small businesses were highly affected. However, online businesses due to this pandemic, increased their revenues since everyone depended on buying products online. There are various ways to sell products online, using different platforms, but our focus today will be selling your products online using social media.

Having a social media account isn’t a lot of hustle, you just need to sign up and start posting your content as well as following users. Most of us have a social media account on various or at least one platform. Different social media platforms have different type of engagement. However, there is something common about all the social media platforms.

1.  Anyone on your social media platform will be able to see your content. However, their engagement, will enable your content to be viewed by others.

2.  Most people will view your content from a mobile device.

3.  Your content is likely to have more engagement if it is accompanied by a visual.

SELLING YOUR PRODUCTS

GOODS

Assuming you have some goods, you want to sell. E.g. shoes, clothes, furniture’s, electronics… anything that is physical. The first step is creating your social media platform if you don’t have one. You can start with one platform at a time, but some platforms link to each other. E.g. when you post something on your Instagram account, you can automatically link it to your Facebook account and the same post will appear simultaneously on your Facebook account.

Now that you have an account, the next step is taking a picture of your product and posting it on your account. Make sure that your visual is engaging. On your post you can include a caption with the name of the product, the price and how to pay for it or book the product.

The next step is figuring out the best payment system that will support your business and be convenient to your customers. If you are in Kenya you can use Mpesa, its convenient. Or you can choose to use one of the online payment systems like PayPal, Payoneer, Skrill, just to mention a few.

Now that you have figured that out, you need to determine how your customers will get their product. You don’t have to start a whole delivery company because there are some businesses dedicated to ensuring that your product reaches your customer. E.g. Glovo. You just have to associate your business with one of these companies.

Last but not least, make sure that you have established a return policy, incase the good is damaged or does not fulfill the requirements. This will ensure that once a customer purchases your product, they are aware of the policy.

Finally, make sure you list your contact information, so that customers can reach you anytime in case they have questions. a phone number and an email address would be sufficient. 

That is how you sell a product on your social media account.

SERVICES / SKILLS

When it comes to selling your services, the end game is quite different. Selling your services online is truly the easiest. Assuming you are a graphic designer and you believe in your talents enough and you are ready to sell your services. The only thing you need to do is have a portfolio of your works. You only need to create something, post it online and tell your audience about what you do and how much your services cost.

The best thing about services is you can sell any type of skill, whether you are a writer, interior designer, plumber, carpenter, logo designer, web designer, artist, software developer and many more. Just dedicate your time to creating something new and original and posting it on your account regularly. There is a 90% chance that someone will like your work and hire you. Another advantage to selling services is that there are online platforms dedicated to selling your skills. E.g.  fiverr, Upwork, freelancer and many more. In addition, you can link all these platforms to your social media.

Finally, make sure you list your contact information, so that customers can reach you anytime in case they have questions. a phone number and an email address and links to your social media accounts, would be sufficient. 

N.B: If you don’t have a product or service to sell, not to worry because you can sell products or services being sold online through what is called AFFILIATE MARKETING. I will dedicate a whole blog post to tell you more about affiliate marketing.