Using Social To Sell - The Essential 30-Day Social Marketing Playbook (Updated for 2020)

What It Is

A step-by-step, day-by-day breakdown of what to do, when, and in what order when it comes to using social media to make more money. You can do a lot in 30 days.

Whether you're already selling a product online or are planning to start, this guide is designed specifically for you. It walks through the first 30 days of an actual social marketing program I ran for a client who needed help and didn't have the time or interest to invest in the social presence of his business. He knew he was probably leaving money on the table (he was) and could sell more products if he took advantage of his modest social following (he could) if only he had someone who knew what to do right away (he did).

In these first 30 days we not only grew his social following and expanded to new platforms, but visits to his online storefront skyrocketed and sales quickly followed.

Applying the principles of great marketing and building a more compelling brand are part of the process, but this guide is ultimately aimed at one thing: generating more sales.

Who This Book Is For

This guide is perfect if you're selling, or plan to sell, a product on Shopify, Etsy, eBay, or your own e-commerce website and know you should make more of an effort on social media and marketing... but don't have the time or interest to learn the ins and outs from scratch.

Maybe you've asked yourself:

It's also helpful if you have the basics down but worry about taking the plunge into paying for ads on social platforms like Facebook or Instagram, for fear of doing it wrong or wasting it unnecessarily.

Maybe you've asked yourself:

Whether you're using this book yourself, or giving it to a friend or assistant to put into action for you, it's a no-nonsense guide that wastes no time talking about principles you don't need to know.

This is not a book for people who just want to read about marketing theory, it's a tool for serious business owners to use to sell more products online.

Topics Covered

- Order of Operations. What to do and in what sequence

- Content Strategy. Why your social presence isn't just about your business

- Creative Post Ideas & Concepts. Dozens of ideas for posts you can take or adapt. Includes audience engagement tactics, content themes, headlines thought-starters, and more.

- Platform Strategy. Where to be, where not to be, and why

- Tags & Follows. How to not waste your time on making friends and hashing tags the wrong way

- Audience Testing. What to test, and not bother testing, and for how long

- Creative Testing. What ads work best—and worst—and why

- Measurement & Analytics. How to know what's good, what's enough, and what to aim for

- Smart Optimization. What to do when something's not working.. and why there's more to do when it is!

- The Art of the Offer. Why phrasing is crucial, and scarcity is a powerful tool when used correctly

- Activating Holidays. How best to lead up to, maximize, and extend holiday sales events

- Creating Occasions. Giving people compelling reasons to buy... even during lulls or off-seasons

- And much more!

Why Me?

I’ve been working in New York City for the past 15 years for a number of companies across the tech and media industries, and spanning both tactical project management duties and strategic consulting, and through it all I’ve pretty much always done some variation of one thing: market and sell products or services.

I started with my own company I founded called QuikCallus, which was a callus enhancement solution for musicians. I sourced the materials from manufacturers, built a website, created product packaging and marketing materials, set up social media accounts, and ran the entire business until I sold it 3 years later. It was a successful venture that gave me my first real-world experience in learning how to use social media to sell products online. It also led me to get an interview with a leading digital marketing agency, who soon hired me and set me on the path I’ve been on since.

I have been the strategic lead for a number of global marketing agencies working with brands such as Mercedes-Benz USA (digital platforms and social media), Lenovo (Global Social Newsroom), Verizon Wireless B2B (digital marketing creative strategy), The UPS Store (social media strategy), Liberty Mutual Insurance (integrating brand/broadcast and online/digital marketing), BMW of North America (digital platforms and marketing strategy), and non-profits such as the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (digital marketing strategy). Social media has always been a part of my job, either directly or indirectly, and it has only grown as a major contributing factor to online sales and overall business success for companies across the globe.

Recently, I was also a featured presenter at the American Association of Advertising Agencies' annual StratFest conference, aimed at advertising and marketing strategists across the country. This gave me a platform to not only share what I have learned with fellow professionals, but also reach business owners who were looking to level up their own efforts and learn from those in the online marketing world.

At this point I've been thinking about and reading about and marketing for so long that it's become a sort of life philosophy for me—a way of thinking about and seeing, well, everything (I've written more about this topic here: https://mulvey.substack.com/p/marketing-as-philosophy) I mention this only because I think it's important when people care deeply about the thing they are writing about. I think it comes through in the writing, and leads to a certain amount of respect for the reader—both their time and their attention.