How to create a great social media sales deck

A great sales deck does not replace the needs analysis, but has information sales reps can use to frame the presentation based on what the merchant needs. Critical to a great sales deck are some slides that position the company in anticipate the objection; "Why choose your company instead the 100 more that are out there selling the same services?"

Here are seven key slide ideas for selling social media services from Hubbard Radio's 2060 Digital. These slide ideas focus on both benefits of social media as a marketing tool, and of the company as a market leader in social media services:

1. Social media is a "must have." Reps present social media as a "must have" for local merchant marketing, similar to having a web site.

2. "It's the new word of mouth marketing." Merchants get ‘word-of-mouth’, in fact most say that this is where most customers come from. This slide connects the dots, prompting reps to explain that in reality, social media is a form of word-of-mouth advertising. A key super sales statistic here is that 79% of Facebook fans are significantly more likely to purchase and recommend products and services they see on Facebook. The slide also conveys that merchants who forego a social media strategy are at risk of being left out of the conversation, and trounced by competitors who make an investment in communicating socially.

Here's a slide with a similar message, that also conveys visually the continued importance of Facebook as a foundational platform:

3. Key benefits. A great list of key features and benefits for social media goes a long way to dispel the mystery of "Why do this?" We especially like these super sales statistics that show how predominant real world usage has become:

• The average user checks Facebook on their mobile phone 14 times a day.

• The average person spends 7 hours a month on social media.

• 70% of people are more likely to trust a brand they see on Facebook.

Equally important are the qualitative benefits: Facebook personalizes the brand and makes it more transparent to consumers who increasingly prefer these qualities.

4. Pictures of the Team. A great slide to visualize the depth of social media experts on the Team - and personalize them - is one that includes photos of the team. Remember that all the merchants usually see is the one rep that calls on them. They may need to "see" all the resources a company has invested in meeting their digital challenges:

5. "We have friends." Add a slide that shows your company's Facebook fan count. It is a powerful differentiator from small agency competitors, since merchants can leverage your brand's huge fan count with updates to the company page. Plus, this instantly conveys your company's digital chops:

6. "We have local customers." Merchants like to follow the leader so include logos and/or testimonials from well known merchants. 7. "Step-by-step" approach to merchant success. It's not always easy to visualize a simplified "step-by-step" approach. A slide like this, makes the process more concrete. Business people are more likely to buy because ‘it makes sense’,  ie because they understand not just the number of Facebook posts they will get each week, but also the methodology to generating leads.

7. Three tiers of pricing. The easiest approach is the standard three tiers, on annual plans, which are customizable. We like using a simple slide that shows the three options, and then additional slides that explain each option in more detail. At 2060, Facebook is considered foundational to all tiers. More expensive plans allow customers to choose one or more additional platforms such as Pinterest, targeted email, YouTube or LinkedIn. This gives reps a lot of leeway in recommending programs, while still keeping the pricing structure simple.

8. Include a signature line. 2060 Digital includes the signature and date line right on each slide that describes a package plan. This avoids the extra step of pulling out a long form contract (Need to legalize? Just include it on the last slide).

Note: To incorporate local market data, consider using Borrell Associate's compass reports. Buzzboard's dashboard will also drill down on both category/market specific data and comparative digital presence positioning against specific competitors. If you don't have an inhouse team - or need some additional technology, here are more third party platforms and services used by other members of MediaExecsTech who resell social media services. See also this case study on 2060 Digital. Many thanks to the team at 2060 for sharing their expertise with us.

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