Why You Need a Strong Social Media Presence to Sell Your Business
Have you decided to sell your business? Regardless of why you’re selling, you’ll generate more interest if you have a strong social media presence. Having a strong presence on social media tells potential buyers that you have a solid connection with your customers, which is a key indication for success.
This is something you can do before you list your business for sale, but if you’ve already started the process it’s not too late. However, you’ll need to do the work yourself; it’s not something you can outsource. Even if you’ve hired a professional mergers and acquisitions broker to help you sell your business, only you can strengthen your social media presence.
It’s not that you can’t sell your business without having an active presence on sites like Facebook and Instagram. Many business owners don’t have any social media accounts and it doesn’t hinder their ability to sell the business. What you don’t want is a weak or negative social media presence.
If there’s anything weak or negative about your business’ presence on social media, it’s important to resolve these issues to the best of your ability before putting your business on the market. Here’s why.
1. Buyers don’t want to inherit dissatisfied customers
If you have a negative reputation on social media, or if your followers express their dissatisfaction and frustration with your company online, buyers might not want to deal with having to turn all of that around. Granted, if your business has potential, they might not hesitate, especially if they already know how to win over a crowd of dissatisfied customers. However, don’t count on that. Many buyers want to acquire a business that doesn’t have customer issues.
The potential for buyers becoming disinterested is the number one reason to fix your brand image on social media before you sell your business. If your reputation is poor, whether or not you feel like it’s fair, start actively repairing your reputation.
Reputation management should be a standard part of your business practices, but if it’s not, get started right away. Find the source of the problem and make it right. You might need to hire a team to help implement a successful strategy, and it’s worth taking an expert’s advice.
2. Happy social media followers are easier to sell
It’s cheaper to sell to existing customers than it is to generate new, one-off sales. If your followers are upset with your business, they’re less likely to buy from you, no matter who buys your business. They won’t know any better.
To maximize sales, you need to nurture your existing customers so they feel valued and appreciated. The value of a returning customer increases over time, and since you’ve already made the effort to capture them once, you don’t have to do that again. All you need to do is market your products and services to them through email, most of which can be automated.
It’s also easier to generate sales from people who are already familiar with your brand. This is where remarketing comes into play. However, remarketing will only work when your customers and fans have a positive image of your brand. If you have a poor reputation, the new business owner won’t be able to employ this strategy, which will severely limit their ability to make the business profitable.
3. Happy customers will do what you ask
While you can’t win everyone over all the time, many of your customers will do what you ask if they feel fondly about your business. For example, if you ask your Facebook followers to sign up for a new newsletter, you’ll get plenty of signups from people who feel positively about your brand. If you ask for this with a poor reputation, your request will be ignored.
When selling your business with a negative social media presence, the new owner will meet some serious challenges in marketing the business. You could have thirty thousand followers, but if they don’t love you, they won’t buy from you. This will become the new owner’s problem.
How’s your social media presence?
No matter how in-demand your business may be, you’ll have an easier time selling your business if you have a strong social media presence. Potential buyers won’t like having to repair the brand’s reputation and build a new customer base to be profitable. It’s easier for them to buy a different business that won’t require so much work. If you want to sell your business, a positive social media presence is a must.
