By now, most people realize that social media is an essential part of any marketing strategy – especially Instagram.
We know that consistently showing up is crucial, but once we begin posting content, we typically start making stories for the sake of making them.
Instead, we should be using them to start driving sales.
Now, how do you make that happen?
To start getting people to buy from you, you must use the power of your authentic authority.
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Lately, this is something we've been talking about in the Business Freedom Elevator™, too. The ways to get sales are plenty, but the first step – no matter the route you take – is to capture people's attention, make sure they're interested in what you have to say, and what you have to offer. On top of this comes trust.
Gaining the trust of your potential customers is what will ultimately lead to a sale or not.
You only buy from companies you trust, don't you?
Now, perhaps you're a solopreneur or own a small business, and right now, you haven't been able to build trust with anyone. Still, you want them to buy from you.
Let's have a look at how you're going to build that trust.
Maybe you're also interested in this: The Six Keys to Selling your Service and Attracting New Clients Online
It all starts in the sales funnel
If you've been following for a while and listened to other podcast episodes, you'll know we sometimes refer to the sales funnel.
In short, a sales funnel consists of the four steps that customers typically go through when wanting to make a purchase.
- Awareness: show people that you exist.
- Interest: get people interested in you, your story, and what you have to offer.
- Trust: gain their trust, show social proof.
- Action: if you've done a good job, people will start buying from you now.
To recap, we want people to go from knowing who we are to be buying something from us. But to make that happen, we must get them to trust us.
The quickest way to gain trust is by using video
One of the quickest ways to get people to trust you is by using video.
Video is what gets closest to a real-life experience.
It shows body language, intonation, hand gestures, and facial expressions. Video shows all the same things you would see if you were to meet someone in real life.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Who do you listen to online and buy from?
- What makes you feel like you know someone?
If we want people to trust us, creating videos is one of the fastest ways – whether that is through Instagram stories or any other video content.
To create videos that sell, we must use authentic authority.
Use the power of authentic authority
Authentic authority is a two-split concept, and often something we use when talking about building a personal brand.
- Authority: what is your expertise and knowledge? Authority can be built up through experience and even if you hold a specific degree. Showing you're the expert is key.
- Authenticity: what makes you unique? Remember, there's only one of you, and that's what you want to show to people, so they'll choose you and not one of your competitors.
To build up authentic authority, you must do two things:
- Show you're an expert with the appropriate knowledge.
- Make it personal and be relatable to be the first and only choice.
If you do this, it will become a lot easier to move from awareness to interest to trust and ultimately make people buy from you.
The Authentic Authority Blueprint
Now, how can you use authentic authority in your Instagram stories or any other type of social media content?
The answer is the Authentic Authority Blueprint.
Usually, this is only something we share with customers, but today we're making an exception so you can up your game and start selling more.
The essence of the Authentic Authority Blueprint is this: when you're creating content to boost your personal brand – your authentic authority – you can use a division in percentages of all the content you put out on a daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly basis.
The blueprint looks like this, divided into 5 categories:
1. 40% of the time: provide value and show your expertise
Share tips, guides, trainings, and how-tos that are linked directly or indirectly to what you have to offer.
Pay attention to what inspires you when you're buying something from someone else.
Remember, the content you create here is the kind of content people should be saving and screenshotting to remember later on.
2. 20% of the time: take followers behind the scenes
Share your process and your ways of working. People want to see that for your business. They want to know what you're doing behind the scenes; they want to get involved in the story.
3. 20% of the time: pitch your offer
“Amy, I'm not selling. Why am I not selling?”
You're not pitching what you have to offer, or you're pitching the WHOLE time.
Think about reading a newspaper where all the articles are cut out and the only thing left is the advertisements. Would you go pick up another newspaper anytime soon? Probably not.
If you don't yet have an offer, or you're just getting started building a personal brand, use 20% of the time to pitch you, your message, and tell people about what you do.
4. 10% of the time: show your personal life on the go
Focus on the stuff you do when you're not working. For instance, cooking, working out, going for a walk, grocery shopping, taking a nap, watching Netflix. There's really no end to it.
5. 10% of the time: show family and friends
If your friends and family are already using Instagram and social media, this will naturally make it easier. But even if they don't, you can still do this; be creative. I show my two cute nephews, my brothers, and my parents.
The combination of these five categories is your Authentic Authority Blueprint.
Use it to guide your content creation. If you use it weekly, your posts could look something like this:
- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: share tips and how-tos.
- Tuesday: take followers behind the scenes of your brand.
- Thursday: pitch your offer.
- Saturday and Sunday: share lifestyle content (personal stuff mixed with family and friends).
With these very hands-on examples, you're ready to get started with the blueprint on your own.
Remember, you need to show up and build trust with people to start selling more. This blueprint is what you need to succeed.
Go, go, go. We're excited to see you out there!
Do you want to listen to this podcast episode? Head to Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and search for episode 45 of The FastForwardAmy Show.
Do you want to dive deeper into the world of content? Then join the free Content Brainstorm Training. Here's what you will learn:
- Come up with content for the Authentic Authority Blueprint.
- Create content that is aligned with your own authentic authority brand.
- Use my special mind map exercise.
See you there! Let me know what you think by tagging me in your Instagram stories.
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