How to make promotional posts on social media without sounding salesy

Have you ever sat down to write a sales or promotional post but been frozen into publishing paralysis because it felt so gross?

Maybe you’ve decided you stick with the engaging, educational or entertaining content because if feels safer?

Well, there’s a place for that… but be mindful that without doing the occasional promo post, it can end up feeling like it’s all give, give, give without getting much in return 😒

So in order to make your social media efforts profitable and worthwhile, I’m going to teach you how to compose sales posts with none of that awkward cringe.

Let’s get into it….

Communicating like an actual human

For anyone in my Workhorse Marketing program, you’ll know that I bang on about ‘The Party’

Basically, it’s the way I explain how to communicate with your social following without sounding like a weirdo.

And to do that I use the example of going to a cocktail party. To set the scene, I want you to imagine going to the bar and striking up a conversation with the person next to them.

It might go a little something like this…

Eddie: “Vintage Bollinger? What a great party! Anyway my name’s I’m Eddie”

Patsy: “Hi Eddie, I’m Patsy”

Eddie: “Nice to meet you Patsy, what brings you here? How do you fit into things?”

Patsy: “Oh I grew up riding horses with Nicola (the host) and I’m just in the City for a few day so she invited me along”

Eddie: “Oh wow! That’s fabulous – I used to ride as a child! They were some of the happiest days of my life and do miss it. Do you still ride?”

Patsy: “Yes I do, I have a small riding school in the Macedon Ranges. How about you? Have you ridden again as an adult?”

Eddie: “Oh.. once or twice over the years.. It’s amazing what a scaredy cat I’ve become though. Fox hunting was my absolute favourite back then….Who knows, maybe it’s something I should get back into…”

Patsy: “Oh don’t worry! I’ve lost a fair bit of my bravery too…Maybe we just need more champagne? Now- here’s my number, please give me a call! I’d love to have you out for a ride sometime. Make sure you call me directly though. .. Otherwise my admin girl will charge you full price for a lesson… 🤣”

“Oh wonderful… That sounds fabulous! Let’s do it! I’ll call you tomorrow”

So what happened in this exchange is that Eddie and Patsy have introduced themselves, established common ground and then decided to do business together.

This is how social media is supposed to work.

It’s the sharing of tiny little stories.

And it’s these stories that lets your audience know if there’s common ground and decide whether to do business with you…

Or at the very least, they hang around just because they like what you’ve got to say.

However…

Here is how most people ‘do’ social media.. and why promotional posts are so bloody cringeworthy.

Once again, let’s go back to the party:

Eddie: “Hi Patsy, what brings you here? How do you fit into things?”

Patsy: “I’ve got a riding school in the Macedon Ranges. Contact me for 10% off your next lesson”

Eddie: “Yes of course… Anyway, it looks like the Bollinger is out. I‘ll be right back.. just gotta um… Fill up”

Patsy: “HURRY!…Spaces are limited!”

And Eddie smiles and politely and backs away..

It’s at that point, even as a horse person with some common ground she doesn’t feel remotely compelled to take Patsy up on her offer.

Meanwhile Patsy is busy complaining that social media doesn’t work.

Selling on social without sounding weird

Again, those in my Workhorse Marketing program will know that we do one promotional post for every three entertaining, educating or engaging posts.

This gives you time to set the common ground, just as you would if you were sharing a bottle of Bolly at a party.

And when it comes time for the promotional post, it’s really not that different. It’s a story designed to motivate your audience to buy, visit your website or pick up the phone.. whatever your particular purpose is.

And with this, I suggest you weave tales about the ‘end result’ & benefits, not the features.

💡 For example, you’d mention that your new tights are ‘squat proof’ (benefit) instead of the fact they’re made from 220 GSM fabric (feature).

💡 Or that you help create calm, willing & confident horses (benefit) instead of running a horsemanship clinic from 9-5 with morning tea included (feature).

You can put all the specifics on your website or sales material.. but for the original social media promotional post, benefits work better to draw people in.

Structuring Your Promotional Post

There are oodles of ways to do this.. but if you’ve got a bit of sales post paralysis, this method works well and you can use it over & over again.

Step 1: Grab Attention: Remember social media is a very, VERY crowded place – so the first part of your post should identify your target market and get their attention. This can be quite simple for example “Young/green horse owners of regional Victoria” or “Equestrians with the poo stains.. I see you”

Your headline doesn’t need to be some crazy whizzbang, clickbaity masterpiece. People usually respond very well just by feeling ‘seen’

Step 2: Generate Interest.

Write a little story or even just a description of the solution you provide.

“My clinics teach people how to create calm, willing and confident horses”

or

“No judgement here. In fact, I feel you… For me, it was a few too many of those judgey looks from other Mums that prompted me to design these new dirt repellent breeches”

The aim here is to identify the problem you solve and/or the solution you provide.

Step 3: Increase desire.

It’s where you can explain ‘what’s in it for them’.

Think about what your readers or customers truly want and flesh out the end result.

HINT: I find bullet points can work well really well for this.

For the horsemanship clinic this part could be:

“My systematic approach will take the guesswork out of training and give you the tools to create a horse that will:

🐴 Calmly walk alongside you.

🐴 Happily venture out alone.

🐴 Trailer load first time. Every time

🐴 Be a joy to take out with others”

Or for the breeches example

“The teflon fabric repels dust, water, mud & manure – which means with just a few thigh slaps, your breeches will glow up... just like new.

You need these if you:

⭐ Get remarkably grotty within 10 minutes of arriving a competition.

⭐ Are sick of having a bucket of breeches permanently soaking in the laundry.

⭐ Need to transition seamlessly from the stables to school pick up faster than Bruce Wayne to Batman”

Don’t be afraid to get niche and unique with the benefits. Being specific and tangible will move your people into a ravenous state of anticipation.

HINT: Reviews or customer feedback will be a gold mine of fascinating circumstances that your audience can probably relate to.

Step 4: Invite Action

Now that your people have made it this far, it’s time to encourage ACTION, Baby!

With this – it’s important to choose a suggested course of action that is relevant to the level of investment.

With the above examples, it’s pretty straightforward – because in the scheme of things, they’re a reasonably low level of commitment.

With these examples you could say “Spots are limited, book now” or a basic “Get Yours Here “ for the breeches.

However if you’re selling something bigger… A horse box, arena construction services or a full training program – then you want your call to action to be a little softer… because let’s face it, not many will click “Buy Now” a $200,000 horsebox.

In that case, consider whether it’s more appropriate to have a call to action like “Learn More” or “Book a Call/Inspection/Test Drive/Quote” instead.

Secondly and very importantly – be sure to send them to a DIRECT link… there’s nothing worse than a promotional post that sends you to the home page of a website and you have to click around trying to find the THING that tempted you there in the first place.

For you it might be really obvious- but it might not be the same for a first time visitor 🤔

via GIPHY

And now for the nudge you probably knew was coming 😎

Using the above formula, here’s how I would use that method to encourage you to sign up for my Workhorse Marketing program.

Equine business owners… Save your energy and get off the social media treadmill with my Workhorse Marketing Program.

Because seriously… isn’t your time better spent doing something you love, rather than staring at the screen wondering what to post?

Here’s what you can expect with this program:

🍾 Your social media done (and done well) in less than 1 hour a week. The service is delivered weekly with social posts formatted so you can pretty much ‘fill in the blanks’

🍾 An engaged and growing social media audience who are interested in your story and primed to buy.

🍾 Less social media angst and more free time – all for a ‘pocket change’ price. This service will set you back just $12.99 a week.

Crazy huh? Yeah.. I think so too. But if you’re on the fence, you can sign up for your free trial here 👇

Also.. you can cancel at any time. The fee is charged weekly so you have the freedom to stay for only as long as it’s helpful 🙏

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