780: How to Sell on Social Media (The RIGHT Way)

0:01Okay, I have been on this ruthless pursuit to purge any clothes that I'm not actually wearing. Like if I haven't reached for it in months, it's got to go. I am trying to be really intentional about what I bring into my closet right now, which means I am only buying pieces that I know I will actually wear and use. Revolve just gets it though. I'm literally wearing my brown Autry sneakers from there right now and my new suede purse. It fits my laptop in it. So it's basically a fancy shoulder bag that works for everything. I love finding pieces like that. Things that look good, but also work hard for my actual life.

0:35Their holiday shop is live right now with all the good stuff. Sparkly party dresses, cozy sets, cute gifts, everything you need for whatever is on your calendar. And it's all in one place, which makes shopping feel way less overwhelming. Whether it's a weekend away, a big night out or a holiday party, your dream wardrobe is just one click away. Head to revolve.com forward slash gold digger, shop my edit and take 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger. Fast two day shipping, easy returns. it's literally the only place you need to shop from. That's revolve.com forward slash gold digger to shop by favorites and get 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger offer available for a limited time.

1:15So happy shopping. I have not given up on social media yet. In fact, I show up on social very consistently, but the main reason why is to continue to connect to continue to serve and to continue to invite people off of the platforms. Hey, my name is Jenna Kutcher and I am obsessed with all things business, marketing numbers, and helping you to navigate both the messy and the magical seasons of this thing called life. I'm a small town mama who took a$300 camera, grew a successful photo biz, and now I work from home and run a seven figure online business. I teach you the tried and true secrets to building a career you adore.

1:54Shy away from the real talk? No way. Money, hardship, growth, loss, and marketing are all topics we discuss here. Think of this as your one-stop shop for happy hour with a gal pal mixed with business school. Pull up a seat, make sure you're cozy and get ready to be challenged and encouraged while you learn. This is the Gold Digger podcast. If social media were to go away tomorrow, would you still have a way to connect with your audience or would your business go away with it? On April 24th, 2024, President Biden signed a bill that gives TikTok just nine months to find a new owner or be banned in the United States.

2:28There are some major concerns around the risk of China's government forcing the current owner, the Beijing-based company ByteDance, to hand over data on American TikTok users. Now, TikTok's CEO has stated that ByteDance is not controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and that all of its data on American users is stored in cloud servers owned by a US-based software company, Oracle. It's all over the news. We can't avoid it. But what does that actually mean for creators and entrepreneurs? Now, regardless of the outcome of TikTok, you're not going to lose access to it in the US immediately. However, this should be a major and massive wake up call to content creators and business owners that we cannot rely on platforms that we don't own and can't control.

3:13And the future of any social media platform is uncertain. So what are we to do about it? How do we work with and not against the platforms we're on. Let's talk all about it today. It's all a little overwhelming, isn't it? Help desk software, payment processing, email marketing tools, blogging platforms, SEO tools, deal management tracking. Gold digger, take a deep breath because you don't need more tools to get more out of your business. You just need HubSpot. Their all-in-one customer platform is a dream come true for you and for every member of your team. With best in class campaigns and workflows to generate more leads for marketing, category leading pipeline management to help sales close more deals, powerful AI chatbots, and a knowledge base to help service teams scale, HubSpot is built to deliver results and revenue faster to help your business grow.

4:09So dump the disconnected tools and the chaos that comes with them. Discover what HubSpot's all on one platform can do to streamline your business. Visit HubSpot.com to grow better today. HubSpot.com. All right, here's where I think we should begin in this topic. The first thing is just breaking down what are these platforms? What are they made for? And how are they measuring success? Because if we know and understand how these platforms are measuring success, then we as contributors and content creators can contribute in a way that helps those apps feel successful, but also connects our efforts to real results.

4:46So the first thing to remember is that social media is meant to be social. And I say this as a starting point to lay the foundation for today's conversation. When social media first came out, I was actually joking with some friends the other day, but we were talking about how we thought like Instagram was literally just a photo editing app. And like, if you scroll back to the beginning of many people's accounts, there were probably like five similar pictures of their dog just using different filters, Shout out to the Sienna filter. That was my favorite. But what's so interesting is that I feel like we're kind of on this interesting cycle when it comes to social media.

5:22And earlier this year in January, I released an episode about what my 2024 predictions were. And it was one of our most popular episodes of the year. But in that episode, I talked about how I thought that we were in this cycle of social media where we're kind of going back to our roots, bringing more socialness and community into the way that we're showing up. Why is this part of my predictions? Well, over the years, we've all kind of figured out different systems and strategies. And the more that I talk to different creators, specifically creators that maybe have like content teams or social teams that are maybe further in their journey of entrepreneurship, they're realizing that the content that they're not creating themselves is not necessarily landing.

6:06they're missing that connection and that social aspect. It's really funny, but, and also not funny. I am the only person that creates content for my account. So I have somebody that helps me kind of come up with ideas, but like, I am the person who is actually creating the content and the reels and really thinking through like, what do I want to post? And a lot of my friends, they are so hands off on their social media content. And I think that their audience can actually sense it. Now, if you're listening to this and you're like, I don't have a strategy, I don't have a system, and I definitely don't have a team, then this is actually good news for you.

6:41One of the things that I think we really have to do is kind of go back to our roots. So many of the large accounts that you may follow likely got their following from just showing up, being inspired, sharing the things that they love. And I think that as content consumers, we're getting to a place where we want more levity. We want lightheartedness. We want authenticity. One of the best things about social media is it gives you this chance for people to say, Oh my gosh, me too. Or wow. I thought I was the only one. I'm not alone. And when we can create content like that, we're not only just content creators, we're actually community builders.

7:20And I feel like people are getting really frustrated with social media because they are only using it to sell when really bringing the social aspect back into it so that we are building communities and real connection. That is how we're going to start to see better results across the board. Now, one of the things that I love to teach on and something that I like to do in my own marketing is what I like to call bread crumbing. Now, I have talked about this for many, many years, and it's so fun for me to actually go on Facebook and look at my Facebook memories because I was the queen of breadcrumbs when I was first starting my business as a wedding photographer.

7:57What do I mean by breadcrumbing? So a lot of times my memories from over a decade ago will be these little statuses where I am sharing different things going on in my growing business. And when I say growing, I mean like bootstrapped business where I would share like, oh my gosh, I just got this new camera. Welcome to the family Nikon D300 or like, I can't wait for Natalie and Joseph's wedding in Lake Geneva. Can't wait to celebrate. And what I was doing is I was just celebrating along the way. But in doing that, I was leaving breadcrumbs and these little nudges and reminders for people of like, oh, Jenna's a photographer.

8:37Oh, she got this new camera. Oh my goodness. She just booked a wedding in Lake Geneva. That's amazing. And just sharing along the way. And one of the things that I think we often forget is that when we're starting out and even at my point, like we often don't have a whole PR team dedicated to getting the word out about what we're doing. And so we have to be our own PR. We have to be our own publicist. And in doing that and in consistently sharing and letting people into the journey, whether you're taking a course and you're learning something new or you're journaling every day, or you're excited about a new idea or a new product or new service, you need to be showing up and leaving these breadcrumbs.

9:16And every time you do that, it just is this gentle reminder of like, oh yeah, they're doing that thing. There's that thing that they're doing. You're staying front of mind. And so we want to focus on creating content that creates connection, builds community, leaves breadcrumbs. And this next part, we have to focus on being people and creators who serve before we ever go to sell. Recently, I was in a room of really, really talented entrepreneurs. And one of them was like, I just like have nothing to say. And then when I go to sell, like nobody does anything. And I was like, okay, so we're not actually serving before we go to sell.

9:53And that's like a problem. We want to make sure that we are consistently connecting before we ever go to sell something. And one of the biggest mistakes I see people make often is that they're working behind the scenes on different projects or maybe even starting their business or their new website or whatever it is. And they're working so diligently behind the scenes, but they're not letting anyone in on the journey. And all of a sudden they go to launch this new thing, this thing they've been working so hard on and nobody cares and it doesn't connect and nobody really understands what it is or why it's a big deal to this person.

10:29And that's because they weren't serving or leaving bread crumbs before they ever went to sell. And so it is so important that we let people in to our lives, our work, our projects, so that when we go to launch something, they're like, oh, there it is. They've been talking about that for months. I'm so excited for them. I'm so happy for them. Right. And it's so unnatural for us. Right. Like it's so interesting because I feel like we live in two camps. There's this camp of us that's like living in the show and tell world of like, look at how great my life is. Look at how amazing it is. We're building out those curated highlight reels.

11:06And then there's also this behind the scenes world where maybe our work feels like more sacred, or maybe we're just afraid. Maybe we're battling imposter syndrome. Maybe we're thinking nobody cares about this. And so it's interesting because when we look at these two camps, the highlight reel one isn't necessarily connecting. It's more about this person, this creator and centering them as this magnificent person, which I'm sure that they are, but there's nothing about serving in it. And the other camp is just hiding. And then they go to launch and they're wondering why people aren't responding.

11:37And so we've got to find this balance. Look, I've become kind of a systems nerd and anything that gives me more space in my day, I'm all in. And a reliable connection is a huge part of that because when the internet lags or cuts out, everything pauses and suddenly the simplest tasks take forever. I learned really early on that dependable internet, it's not a luxury. It is a must. Whether you're a content creator like me, a restaurant owner, or running a busy dry cleaning business, you need that steady connection to support your team and your clients. That's why I'm excited to share a solution for my fellow business owners.

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12:53Like if I haven't reached for it in months, it's got to go. I am trying to be really intentional about what I bring into my closet right now, which means I am only buying pieces that I know I will actually wear and use. Revolve just gets it though. I'm literally wearing my brown Autry sneakers from there right now and my new suede purse. It fits my laptop in it. So it's basically a fancy shoulder bag that works for everything. I love finding pieces like that. Things that look good, but also work hard for my actual life. Their holiday shop is live right now with all the good stuff. Sparkly party dresses, cozy sets, cute gifts, everything you need for whatever is on your calendar.

13:31And it's all in one place, which makes shopping feel way less overwhelming. Whether it's a weekend away, a big night out, or a holiday party, your dream wardrobe is just one click away. Head to revolve.com forward slash gold digger, shop my edit, and take 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger. Fast two-day shipping, easy returns. it's literally the only place you need to shop from. That's revolve.com forward slash gold digger to shop by favorites and get 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger offer available for a limited time. So happy shopping. Okay. So how do we bring more socialness into social media?

14:09So first, one of the greatest habits that I've gotten into is to ask myself is now a good time post meaning am I fully available? Can I stay on and engage? So I always tell people don't post in ghost. So if you are somebody who is trying to sell on social media in just a bit, I'm going to give you some other ideas that might work a little bit better. But regardless, whenever you go to publish a post, you want to make sure that you are online, you are available and you are engaging. So the minute people are leaving comments, even if it's one comment, make sure you're responding. And one really cool tip or trick here is to ask them a question.

14:46So if somebody says like, OMG, I love this. You could say like, what hits you the most about this? Or what did you love? Or what's something great in your life? And getting the conversation going. Not only does that help the algorithm see that engagement and get your post seen by other people, but it also kind of shows that you're active in your community. I see people who use like scheduling tools and they'll post and people will maybe be asking a question like, where'd you get that shirt from? Or like, where are those earrings from? And they're not engaging. and it's such a disservice to the community because they just stop asking questions at some point because they're like, they're not even going to see this.

15:20They're not even going to respond, but it's also a disservice to you as a creator because you spent time creating something and you're not getting the most out of it because you're not even willing to be on and engage. So ask yourself is now a good time to post and then be ready to engage. If we truly want to build community, we have to be an active participant in that community. And I just think that is so, so huge. Another thing that we want to do is to really make sure that what we're doing is working. So I did an episode, episode 748, is your social media strategy working for you? Do this to find out.

15:55And I talk about our process of auditing. I think for so many people, when we're on social, we're either like trying the trends and we're like, we try it once and we're like, that didn't work onto the next one, or we're not actually measuring what is working. I love to think about Shark Tank. I love the show Shark Tank. And I think about like when Mark Cuban is like, all right, what is your average order value? What is your cost per lead? What is your cost per customer? What is the lifetime value of a customer? All these numbers. And I think so many entrepreneurs, in fact, I'd argue the majority of entrepreneurs out there, one cannot speak to those things, but two, they're not actually taking the time to really review and be able to speak clearly and confidently around what is working.

16:37And so when we are showing up online, we want to make sure that the strategies that we're using are one in alignment with the way that we want to show up and our values, but two, that they're actually working. And if you don't take the time to do an audit, which doesn't even take that much time, then you're likely just spinning your wheels. You're on that hamster wheel of content creation without a lot of clarity, without certainty that like, Hey, I'm about to spend an hour on a reel and this could either like pop off or die on the vine. I want to know that the amount of time that I'm investing into social media is actually leading to a real result.

17:12And the only way you can do that is through an audit. We recently finished up a launch. And the first thing we do when we finish up a launch is that we go through and do a full social media audit. So here are, you know, the 20 posts that we had that were with and supporting the launch. Here are the posts that did the best. Here are the posts that didn't quite perform. Here are the posts that we'd like to try again in the future. And we save everything. We screenshot everything. We make sure that we're paying attention. And so we are consistently auditing, especially around launches or things that we have going on in terms of promotions so that we know what worked.

17:48And what's so cool about that is even if you're launching something totally different than what you've launched in the past, you have that insight and that data to guide you forward. A lot of times you can notice trends like, oh, this type of video does really well, or this type of hook is really getting people's attention, or this call to action is getting people to take action on the post. And so you want to make sure that you are auditing your content. Okay. Now I might blow your mind here, but I want to talk about actually selling and what I think about it, especially when we talk about selling on social.

18:21So first things first, I kind of want to blow your mind. I believe that in this very overcomplicated marketing world that we find ourselves in, that there should only be two main goals when it comes to your marketing as an entrepreneur, just two. In a world that tells us that we need to blog and podcast and YouTube and be on TikTok and record dancing reels for Instagram and show up on Pinterest and be on Facebook and grow a Facebook community and all these different things. I think that there should only be two main goals. The first goal and priority of every business owner should be to grow and serve an email list.

19:02Email is the number one way I drive profits in my business. You get a 4 ,300, 4 ,300 % ROI on an email list for every dollar you spend. You should get$43 back in marketing. And I just believe that should be the number one objective, no matter what type of business you're in, no matter what you're selling, whether it is a product, a service, an offer, that is the number one goal. Now, when you know that as your primary goal, the secondary goal of every entrepreneur and their marketing efforts should be that any other platform that they are creating for should be ultimately pointing people off of that platform and onto their email list.

19:46What do I mean by this? When I create this podcast, I love that you're here and I love that you're listening, but my hope is that it doesn't just end on this platform. I would love to show up and serve you in your inbox. When you are on my Instagram and you are following along, I would love to get you off of Instagram and onto my email list so that I can more intimately serve you, but also give you the offers and invitations that actually excite you. When I am on Pinterest, I am sending traffic to my website and guess what happens? When people land on my website, I have a plan to try to capture their name and email and get them on my email list by adding value to their life and serving them.

20:25Can you see how this works? And so if your main priority is to grow your email list, then any other effort that you do online should be to connect with people and then invite them off of the platforms. Why is this important? Remember in this intro when we were talking about TikTok and how it might just be shut down? some people are going to lose the only way that they have to connect with their audience. That's the reality. And guess what? We face that no matter what platform we're on because we do not own and we cannot control these platforms. Try as we might, we are battling hundreds of algorithms on a daily basis.

21:04Now, these platforms are not necessarily meant for selling. That's kind of the hook of this episode. How to sell on social? The truth is, is that we shouldn't necessarily be selling on social. When we look at what these platforms are set up for, they are set up so that companies like Meta are looking at how long is the average user staying on the platform. That is the metric that they are tracking. They want us to be addicted to their platforms and dang it, they do a good job of it, right? But when they're looking at that, that means that they want people to be consuming content that excites them and keeps them engaged.

21:44That doesn't necessarily mean that they want their people being sold to, or that they want their users clicking off and going to your shop or going to purchase something. Yes, people can curate products that they love. And yes, you can effectively run ads on these platforms. But But when we know at the core of how they are created, they are meant for serving, entertainment, education, distraction, and they're not necessarily built to be monetization monsters for us, it changes the strategy. And so what does that mean for us? It doesn't mean you shouldn't be on social at all. It's a really effective place to build community and to connect, but it's not the end game.

22:25It's a stepping stone onto an asset that we can own, which is your email list. I've been talking about email lists since the early episodes of this podcast. It is so important that this rings true for you, because if you are somebody who feels like you are just battling, trying to get through to people on social media, you have to understand that these platforms aren't made for that. So what does this mean for us? Well, one of the things that it means is that I believe that we should be leaning on the power of storytelling on social. We should be leaning on the ability to connect. We should be leaning on content that allows people to say me too, or I'm glad I'm not alone.

23:09And then we should be adding in invitations into our content to get people off of the apps and onto the places that we own. Now, if somebody were looking at my social accounts and they were looking merely at engagement, they would say, Jenna, you should only talk about health and wellness. You should only talk about motherhood and marriage. Just never talk about business because that content flops. That's what somebody would tell me if they were looking at likes and comments. But what they are missing is that the posts that, quote, perform the worst actually yield the biggest results. And what is that result that I'm talking about?

23:49I'm talking about getting people off of the platform and onto my email list. Not only is that worth so much more to me in my business, but it also enables me to speak more clearly to people who are interested in what I have to say. If you are someone where you go and you go to sell on social media and you're like, nobody even cares about this. I feel like I'm screaming to the masses. I am praying that somehow when it feeds the 10 % or less of my audience that even sees what I'm posting, that the people that I'm trying to reach are in there. And so what is so interesting is that when we do the posts that quote, perform the worst, those are the ones that are actually adding the most value and income and results for my business.

24:36And so I want to look at social media as a social place for connection, for storytelling and for communication. And then I want to drop invitations into my content every single week of how I can add more value and really help people qualify themselves as a fit for what I'm offering so that I can get them off of the apps and onto a place where I own and can control the experience for them. So what does this look like? For me, I love long form content. So this podcast here is long form content, blog posts are long form content. And I also love using webinars as long form content. Now a webinar is a great way to help people really understand the what and the why behind something so that I can share with them how they can get the how.

25:25What do I mean by this? We recently did a bunch of webinars all about email list building. Can you tell I'm crazy passionate about it? Inside of the webinar, I wanted people to understand what, what is email marketing? What is the importance of it? What does it look like for me specifically as a business owner and the why behind it? Why do I need an email list? Why is this important to the success of my business? Why is this a better way to serve my audience? And then I share with them how they can get the how, which is generally speaking, the next invitation for the people who like how I teach, like how I show up and want my system.