How to Make Your Direct Sales Business Explode in No Time

What is a direct sales business?

A direct sales business sells products or services outside a retail environment. Representatives often work from home and online, making connections, hosting parties and building a client base. 

A direct sales business differs from a retail sales model, in which consumers walk into a store to learn about and buy products. Generally, consumers seek out retail establishments when they need something. Direct sales representatives must build credibility and trust to have consumers see them as a go-to source for specific products and services.

How to grow your direct sales business

The company you signed up with probably has training programs and resources to help you start your business. However, to get a head start on your training and set yourself up for success, implement these tips.  

Establish credibility and expertise in your direct sales channel.

What makes you different? With thousands of consultants nationwide selling the same products or services, differentiation is essential. Create a list of reasons you’re unique in the market.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What extra value can I add that other consultants don’t offer? Consider how you can add value. Perhaps you can offer free local delivery or draft an email newsletter that provides tips for customers.
• What makes me more qualified? Consider your unique qualifications. For example, are you a personal chef who sells kitchen products? Are you a talented home cook who’s willing to share recipes?
• What made me love this business? Understand what appeals to you. Does the company offer all-natural products? Do the products have an excellent reputation?

Remember the answers to these questions as you craft your sales and marketing messages and build social engagement with your audience.

Start a blog to add value for direct sales customers. 

Small business blogs can boost engagement and add value for direct sales customers. If you haven’t done so already, start a blog that complements your direct sales business and link it to your website. Check your consultant agreement’s terms and conditions for rules about doing this. For example, many companies don’t allow you to use their name in your domain. Choose a business domain name that relates to the product but doesn’t violate your contract.

To be effective, the blog must stand on its own as a valuable supplementary marketing tool. Write high-quality posts that include tips and tricks to enhance the customer experience. Adding value for your customers is a way to generate even more sales. [Read related article: How to Gain Blog Subscribers]

For example, if you’re a direct sales consultant for an organic makeup company, your blog topics could include “How to Create a Smoky Eye,” “The Benefits of All-Natural Makeup” and “How to Choose the Right Color Palettes for Your Face.” 

Your blog should demonstrate that you understand what your customers want and establish yourself as the solution.

Use social media marketing to promote your direct sales business.

One of the first lessons you’ll learn as a direct sales consultant is to use social media marketing to promote your business. Consider the following platforms:

• Facebook: To build engagement, consider hosting live Facebook Q&A sessions to interact with viewers. Also, maximize Facebook’s marketing strategies and business tools to gain audience insights and see how you’re doing. To generate more Facebook engagement for your business, post frequently and consistently, ask users questions, and share user-generated content.
• Instagram: Use Instagram for business to promote your direct sales business and interact with customers via posts and Instagram stories. You can even sell on Instagram if it’s OK with your company.
• X: X (formerly Twitter) is another excellent way to promote your business and interact with customers who have questions about your products. If your budget and company rules allow promoted tweets, you can use them to increase sales and boost engagement.

Let your customers be the stars with user-generated content.

Your social media presence requires content, and your customers and followers can help with meaningful contributions. Effective user-generated content (UGC) includes photos, videos and customer stories about your products and services. When people see typical users enjoying and benefiting from a product or service, it gives them the validation and confidence they need to purchase that product or service.

UGC is a popular and effective content strategy with impressive performance statistics: 

• If you use UGC on your social media or email newsletters, you can experience a 400 percent jump in click-throughs to your website. 
• If visitors interact with UGC on your website and product pages, you could boost your conversion rate by 100.6 percent.
• Sixty-two percent of consumers believe UGC lends authenticity to a brand.
• Eighty-three percent of consumers are more likely to buy products and services from a company that shares UGC.

Many customers, especially Gen Zers, are willing to create content to support the brands they are loyal to. Consider running campaign-specific hashtags to promote your direct sales business, and encourage participation by offering a prize for the best contribution.

Create eye-catching graphics for your direct sales materials. 

Thanks to tools like Canva, you don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to look like one. Your direct sales company will likely supply approved marketing graphics for you, but you can personalize your sales approach by creating your own eye-catching marketing materials. There may be rules about making your own graphics, so pay close attention to your consultant agreement.

Compelling graphics will complement your blog posts and website content, and Canva makes it easy to create them. With a variety of free image elements and a simple web-based tool, you can make a professional-quality graphic in minutes.

Develop a content marketing strategy for your direct sales business. 

Content marketing is crucial to direct sales businesses because many parent companies don’t allow paid search advertising. With this strategy, you provide customers with information without asking them to spend money. 

Your content marketing strategy should include posting compelling content on your social media accounts, website or blog. For a content marketing strategy to work, it’s crucial to improve your social media presence with the right tools, content and engagement levels. Your goal is to entice loyal customers to share your content and help create a word-of-mouth marketing campaign. 

When you’re developing your content marketing strategy, don’t make everything you write or share about the sale. Though there’s no golden rule, experts recommend following the 5:3:2 rule for social media. For every 10 posts, consider this category distribution:

• Curation: Five posts should be curated — content relevant to your audience, used with permission from other sources. 
• Creation: Three posts should be original content that appeals to your audience.
• Humanization: Two posts should be personal, fun content that makes you more relatable.

Consider using third-party tools to make things easier. Here are two examples:

• Scoop.it: Scoop.it is a platform for curating content and building links. You can share your content here and find content to share with your readers. To get started, create a free account and enter keywords related to your business. Search for pages in your niche with a high following. Follow those “Scoops,” and connect with the “Scoopers” on social media platforms. Suggest your content, and when the page owner posts it to their page, your content will be in front of thousands of readers.
• Sniply: Sniply lets you take content written by an influencer in your niche and use it to build website traffic. Find a piece of popular content related to a post. Use Sniply to create a call to action directing people to your site, and share the URL on all of your social media channels. Include the source with a relevant hashtag, and then reach out to the influencer to tell them you’ve shared their content for an extra boost.

Offer freebies to promote your direct sales business.

It’s challenging to persuade consumers to switch from a trusted brand. However, offering free samples is an effective way to get them to try your product. Here are some strategies for giving out free samples: 

• Set up a free-sample station. Consider renting space in a market or shopping mall to give away free samples to potential customers. At the same time, ask them to subscribe to your social media channel, and if possible, collect an email address from them so you can stay in touch.
• Run an online contest. An online competition is a great way to get your product noticed. Consider sending a free sample to everyone who enters your online contest and offering a more substantial prize to the winner. [Read related article: Create a Contest That Makes Your Brand Go Viral]
• Encourage UGC with samples. Consider offering free samples or products to customers, with the hope that they’ll share their experiences on social media.
• Send samples to influencers. If you want to get influencers to market your product, send them samples to encourage them to review and recommend your offering.

Build and utilize an email marketing list for your direct sales business.

While building a substantial social media following is crucial for a direct sales business, email marketing campaigns provide a more direct way to reach customers and prospects. 

The best email marketing services, such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact, make it easy and affordable to build an email marketing list and share updates, send newsletters, promote new content, and send special offers to keep your followers engaged. You can collect email addresses through your website, social media and in-person events.

Give customers a reason to buy from your direct sales business now.

At any given time, hundreds of companies are competing for your customers’ disposable income. You can boost revenue by giving your clients and prospects a reason to buy from you now. 

Create a sense of urgency by using limited-time offers, flash sales or exclusive deals, and highlight scarcity with taglines such as “only a few left in stock,” which can induce the fear of missing out.

Team up with another local business.

Consider working with other local businesses with complementary — but not competing — products or services and similar target audiences.

Here are some examples: 

• If you sell skin care products, team up with a local spa for a shared promotion. 
• If you sell fitness equipment, partner with a local gym to offer special discounts. 
• If you sell gourmet food items, collaborate with a local cooking class to promote exclusive joint bundles.

You and your partner business can promote your collaboration in several ways, including shared social media campaigns, cohosted events, bundled offers and joint loyalty programs. 

Before you work with a partner, ensure that there’s a natural fit in your target audience’s minds and that the partner’s product quality and after-sales support are excellent.

Try “buy X, get Y free” promotions for your direct sales business.

“Buy X, get Y free” promotions can increase sales and move inventory. These offers boost revenue and encourage customers to experiment with different products. A client may order the X product in addition to their usual Y product to enjoy an excellent value and try something new that may become a new favorite.

For example, if you sell hair care products, offer a free conditioner with the purchase of a shampoo. Similarly, if you sell coffee, offer a free bag of specialty beans when a customer buys an espresso machine.

As a bonus, these promotions give you a reason to get in touch with customers outside your normal contact cycle. Monitor the performance of these campaigns over time to determine which product pairings work best.

Prioritize follow-up and responsiveness with direct sales customers. 

People want to feel that the companies they patronize care about them and their needs. For example, you can start building customer loyalty immediately after someone purchases by sending personalized thank-you emails and asking for product feedback.

However, you’ll have a chance to shine when customers have questions or concerns. Make yourself as available as possible to gather customer feedback and respond to inquiries and complaints. According to Hiver, U.S. consumers like to contact customer support teams by email, live chat and phone, so offer all three if you can and prioritize quick response times.

Gather online reviews for your direct sales business. 

Positive customer reviews on sites like Google, Facebook and Trustpilot are another form of UGC that can be essential to boosting your business’s reputation and promoting your direct sales business. Encouraging and responding to reviews can significantly improve your bottom line. According to Brightlocal, 75 percent of consumers consult reviews before purchasing, and 89 percent are more likely to buy from local businesses that proactively respond to online reviews. 

Gathering and responding to reviews are great for small business SEO, particularly for businesses that operate within a specific geographic area. Reviews also improve your chance of finishing in Google’s “Local Pack” — the three companies listed with a map when potential customers search for a term that’s relevant to your business. 

Set targets to measure your direct sales business’s progress.

To understand how well your direct sales business is doing, you must set and track key performance indicators and targets and measure your performance against them.

Define specific goals that target monthly improvements. For example, strive to increase monthly sales by a specific percentage, grow your customer base, or improve your social media engagement. Success is never linear, and there will be times when you don’t reach your goals. However, setting targets is crucial for growth and development. 

What not to do with your direct sales business

Sometimes, consumers put up a wall if you mention direct sales because of past experience with pushy consultants. It’s important to avoid these industry pitfalls: 

• Not planning enough events: Start with at least six parties or events right out of the gate. Build momentum with each party, and offer incentives for those throwing a party. 
• Being afraid to ask for help: While you may be afraid of rejection, many people are happy to help you build your business. Focus on service rather than on sales.
• Being too sales-oriented: Many direct salespeople seem to be in constant sales mode, which can turn off prospects. Be solutions-oriented, and try to help people rather than sell to them. 

• Failing to set goals: It’s hard to move toward success when you don’t know what success looks like. Set challenging-but-attainable goals to give yourself something to work toward.
• Prejudging prospects: Don’t make assumptions about who will be a customer or business affiliate. Take the time to explain your products or services to all who express curiosity.
• Skipping training: While you might not feel like another meeting, training and development workshops help you refine your sales pitch and learn more about your products, the company and the opportunity. This knowledge, in turn, helps you sell more. 

Lucinda Watrous contributed to this article.