“No one shows up to my online parties anymore. And when they do, they hardly comment on my posts at all! I really think everyone’s just over it.”
If you’re feeling this vibe in your business, you may be wondering where you go from here. Is it time to move on from online parties for direct sales? After all, what’s a party without the people?
Let’s be honest, we’ve been hearing “online parties are dead” since just after they first hit the direct sales scene! And maybe, looking at your own parties, it might even be easy to believe. Have you noticed that it’s harder to get bookings on your calendar? And that when you do get a party, it feels like pulling teeth to get your host and her friends to show up and stay engaged? Does it feel like you’re working harder, but your sales are down and your team growth has gone flat?
If so, join the party – pun intended!
Where Online Parties Shine
Here’s the truth: online shopping has never been stronger and study after study is showing that it continues to grow each year! Many direct sales consultants had a very strong year in 2020. In fact, some areas were reporting a 45% growth in just that year alone. Given all the quarantine restrictions in place, we can be sure that success wasn’t coming from home parties or other in-person events. They found their success online!
Working your direct sales business online has a number of advantages, starting with the ability to reach guests nationwide instead of only those who live locally. This easy, no-boundaries access means a broader sales network for you. You also don’t have to lug your products out and about, bringing you both greater convenience and more family time.
The potential for success with online direct sales parties is huge – but only if you can actually get people to your event. So, if you’re partying online and not experiencing that growth, what’s going wrong, and why are you no longer seeing great results?
Why Your Online Parties Have Fewer Guests
When online direct sales parties were first introduced, many consultants chose Facebook as their platform of choice. And for many years, it provided the gold standard in results. Back then, Facebook parties were new and novel. It wasn’t hard for hosts to get their friends and family to come experience a new way of shopping, on a social media platform that they were already using regularly.
Today, though, that novelty has worn off. By now, most party guests have been to Facebook parties — and some have been to many, many Facebook parties.
Bottom line: the more people who’ve been frustrated when their Facebook feed was taken over by party posts, the fewer who’ll show up for your own Facebook party.
And for many people, it’s not just Facebook party fatigue they’re feeling – many are tired of social media sites in general, weary of the constant onslaught of political posts, pessimistic news, advertising, and data privacy concerns. Social media fatigue is a very real thing for many people!
Even at the best of times on social media, you face challenges in getting your posts seen by your guests. Your party posts may struggle to stand out in a crowded and noisy platform filled with unrelated and highly distracting content, and thanks to Facebook’s secret algorithms, not all of your posts will even be shown to your guests!
Connection and Convenience
Still, despite the drawbacks, many direct sales consultants and party guests appreciate that Facebook is convenient. They may already be on the platform for another reason, and it’s easy to pop in and out to comment on a party post here or there.
The same characteristics that make it convenient also make it difficult to connect with your party guests. They are constantly being distracted by other content and notifications. And the “pop in when you can” nature of Facebook means that it can be a real challenge to be in the same place at the same time, truly connecting with your guests.
Ultimately, there’s very little about a Facebook party that feels like how we interact in real life. That can make it harder than ever to make the relationships that lead to sales, bookings, and recruits. While your party guests might think convenience is king, genuine fun connections are what they often crave.
Low Engagement Leads to Fewer Online Party Hosts
To run a successful direct sales business, you need a steady stream of hosts. And in most cases, your future hosts are your past guests. When you have fewer guests attending your Facebook parties, and those guests are less engaged, it’s only natural that this will lead to fewer hosts.
Finding a New Way to Party Online
There’s no doubt that the Internet will continue to be a popular place to shop. And now more than ever, people are craving experiences that allow them to connect socially from the comfort of their own home.
It is possible to have the best of both worlds. You just need to find the right tool for engaging the right customers!
If the right avenue for you to reach these customers isn’t Facebook, then what? One option is Sqweee, a party platform that was built specifically for online direct sales parties. Sqweee blends the convenience of being online with a unique environment that better reflects real-life interaction, so you and your guests benefit from both convenience and connection.
The “virtual living room” of Sqweee was designed to feel more like a home party that’s held online. Everyone sees the same product demos at the same time, and chat about them as a group in a single, real-time discussion — just like they would if they were hanging out together in your host’s living room.
This real-time chatter feels more like you’re hanging out with your guests. It gives you more opportunities to build valuable relationships with your guests – and the kind of rapport that can help you get better results from your parties!
Sqweee also provides that fresh, novel experience that intrigues party guests and makes them more likely to tune in. It helps battle party fatigue by providing high-interaction features that boost engagement. When your guests see products they like, they can immediately star them as favorites, building a personal shopping list. And fun posts like a spinning prize wheel or magic shake ball will keep them clicking, tapping, and tuned in to your event.
We all know that the longer a guest sticks with you at the party, the higher the likelihood that she will choose to purchase, book a party, or even choose your team, so high-value, high-interaction features like those you’ll see in Sqweee can really make a big impact on the success of your business.
The Future of Online Direct Sales Parties
So, are online direct sales parties dead?
The strength of online sales shows us this simply isn’t true – but they are evolving! By looking for new ways to provide an interactive, engaging, and truly social experience, you can capture a bigger audience and hold their attention for longer.
If you’d like to give those features a test drive in your own party plan business, click here to grab a 4-week free trial with no commitment. Sqweee ya there!
