It’s that time of year! Your news feed is probably already filled with nearly every consultant you know posting about how they’re getting ready for their direct sales seasonal product launch, the new catalog coming out, and how much they can’t wait to try the new products!

I know — it seems like it’s always that time of year, doesn’t it? Just when you finish talking about one season product launch, new seasonal collections start coming out in all the direct sales brands, and soon social media will be flooded with images of new jewelry collections, apparel, makeup trends, and candles that will make your house smell like the season.

Chances are your customers’ newsfeeds are about to get hit with all of them. Not just from you, but from their other friends who sell the same things you sell as well as their friends who sell from other companies.

And that starts looking pretty spammy and gross—even if you’re not being spammy or gross.

Yep, it’s that time of year when your friends are going to be inundated with sales, specials, and offers from every angle. And it may feel like you need to scream even louder to make sure your friends hear you within the crowd.

Well, I can tell you right now, you don’t have to start screaming for your friends to be able to here you.

In fact, here are some suggestions on how to approach your seasonal launches and still maintain your own personal brand identity and sanity and keep your friends from being overrun with offers.

9 Dos and Don’ts in Approaching Your Direct Sales Seasonal Product Launch

• DON’T share the same images that every other consultant in your direct sales brand is sharing, at least not on public social media, and definitely not on the same day that everyone else is. If 500 other people are posting the same image, do you think yours is going to stand out? Probably not.
• DO private message, email, text those corporate/brand images to your personal customers and contacts, so you can tailor the message to them personally. Key word, personally.
• DO create your own original graphics. Get friendly with your phone’s camera and use mobile editing apps like PicMonkey or Canva.
• DO continue to channel your own voice, if not in the graphic directly, then in the written post. You are working on differentiating yourself from what you sell, and from the other hundreds or thousands of other consultants selling the same thing.
• DO get creative with hashtags. Use seasonal or holiday hashtags (especially on Instagram and Twitter) that will expand your potential reach.
• DO continue to show personality and purpose in your content. Showcasing Halloween?  Share funny or interesting pics of Halloween-themes, maybe include yourself in the image. Share purposeful tips about the holiday, that would be of interest to your target demographic. Keep your 3 Ps of social content balanced – personality, purposeful, promotion.
• DO create suspense. Posting 10 images all at once leaves no room to create mystery and interest with your fans and followers. Post a teaser image… then post another later.
• DO use calls to action on your social media posts. Ask your fans and followers for their best holiday memory, or their favorite candle scent, or their favorite new piece of jewelry in your collection.
• DO think about your broader marketing strategy, in line with your personal voice and personal branding.  The content you are putting out now, should still look and feel similar to what you’ve posted in the past, and will post in the future.

Hm, I guess I could have called this post “8 Dos and a Don’t” huh? Ah well…

Your corporate brand is probably providing you with amazing social media assets and these assets are always great for corporate brand consistency.

What you need to think about is your own brand identity. How do you keep from getting swallowed up by the crowd without having to scream or annoy your friends and family members.

Get noticed for all the right reasons.

If you want to stand out online, you have to be different. This means thinking differently and strategically about how to approach your original content and online presence, and sprinkling in your own original content and quirky awesomeness. If you share all the same images as the rest of the consultants, you’re not very likely to stand out. But taking your own photographs and sharing your own images with your own messaging?

Now that’s marketing.

#EmpowerSocial