There are no limits today as to what direct sellers can use to market their products. From the tradition of hosting a party or going from house to house selling their wares, nowadays, direct sellers use social media, mobile, and other platforms in order to reach their audience.
Social media is definitely playing a huge part in many direct selling campaigns. Both companies and the direct sellers themselves are taking advantage of the different platforms in order to engage and interact with their consumers.
One of the newest and most popular social media platforms of today thats making waves all over the world is Pinterest. It currently boasts a reported 11 million users who are enjoying the virtual pinboard. Even direct sellers can take advantage of the platform since its a great way to engage with your audience and find products that they love.
But theres another site thats starting to create a buzz and is comparable to Pinterest. The site is called Fancy and it started out having similar functions as Pinterest, where you can Fancy things and create a catalog of your favorite things around the web. But now it has transformed itself into something unique it recently launched an ecommerce business that their CEO Joseph Einhorn believes may even rival the giant Amazon.
In the past, Fancy offered coupons and discounts to people who fancied certain products. But now, whenever a person fancies something, companies, retailers and merchants can now bid on who gets to sell the product or item. It doesnt even have to be the exact item, but can be something simply similar to that product.
Some people say its like groupon in reverse. Instead of companies offering deals to everyone, people who fancy an item are instead offered good deals by companies or merchants. You can now easily purchase items from a site you enjoy visiting and get inspiration from. How great is that?
As a direct seller, should you consider Fancy in your marketing campaign?
If youve considered Pinterest, then you should definitely consider Fancy as well. With Pinterest, its more about connecting, engaging, and finding inspiration from lovely things, yet most of the time, it doesnt really translate into sales. But with Fancy, you now have the power to bid on a product that someone fancies and sell it to that person right on the site. A user fancying a product can easily translate into direct sales for you.
Also, surprisingly, even though Pinterest has over 11 million users according to reports, the average pins per user are only 3. However with Fancy, which only has around 250,000 registered users, the average number of fancies per user is 66.
So even though there are significantly more users in Pinterest, Fancy users are a lot more active and passionate about what theyre fancying. As a direct seller, you can really take advantage of this knowledge.
Here are some tips on how to make Fancy work for you:
1. Start fancying
Before you can begin making Fancy work for you, its important that you understand the platform, how it works, and how people are using it. Sign up and start fancying what you find as well as the things other people have fancied. Make your own personal catalog and show off your favorite things. You need to learn how the site works so you can make it work for you.
2. Start connecting
Just like any other social media platform, Fancy is all about connecting with others. In addition to fancying products that you discovered yourself, its also a good idea to fancy products from other peoples catalogues. You also have the option of interacting with other users by commenting on their catalogues and items theyve fancied. This creates a conversation between the two of you and helps you connect.
By following other people, you can hopefully obtain followers as well, and this helps you understand what your audience is interested in and how it translates to the products youre offering.
3. Start selling
As a direct seller, of course you want the end result to translate into direct sales, and Fancy can help you with that. Since you have the option of bidding on a particular item, product or service, then something that someone has fancied can result in a sale for you if you win the bid.
Its important that you keep up with the trends and always be on the lookout for what people are fancying though. You want to be updated whenever someone fancies a product youre selling or something related to it.
Fancy can definitely work for direct sellers, but its essential that you understand the platform first and how to engage with other users so you can really use the site to your advantage. Just wait and see, and Fancy may just be the next big thing in social selling.
