How to Sell in a Post Without It Looking Like a Sales Post

Posts that are obviously trying to sell something rarely go viral, which is a problem when selling is the point. The fix is to borrow a trick from film and television: product placement. Make genuinely funny, share-worthy content that just happens to feature your product, then tag the product in it. You get the reach of entertaining content and the sales of a shoppable post, without the two fighting each other.

Why sales posts do not travel

There is a basic tension in social selling. You can tag a product in almost any post to make it shoppable, so the mechanics of selling are easy. The trouble is what people choose to share, and almost nobody shares an advert.

Content that clearly exists to sell you something gets scrolled past, because it offers the viewer nothing. And since sharing is what drives reach, a post that reads as a sales pitch is a post that goes nowhere. So you are left with content that could sell but that nobody sees.

Borrow the product-placement trick

Think about how films and TV shows handle this. They do not stop the story to run an advert. They put the product in the scene, in shot, part of the action, while the entertainment carries on around it. You enjoy the show, and the product rides along.

Do the same on social. Make content whose job is to be funny and worth sharing, built on a relatable truth, and let your product simply appear inside it. The entertainment earns the reach; the product being present earns the sale. Because the post is genuinely enjoyable, people share it, and your product travels with it to every new audience.

Your product does not need the spotlight

The reassuring part is that your product does not have to be the star of the post. It just has to be there. Like a good product placement, it can sit quietly in the frame while the joke does the heavy lifting.

So instead of a stock image, stage the shot the joke calls for and put your product in it: worn by the person in the reaction, on the desk in front of them, on the shelf behind. Then tag it. The audience came for the laugh, stayed for the entertainment, and left having seen, and been able to buy, exactly what you sell.

Meet Brian

Making genuinely funny, share-worthy content that quietly carries your product to a huge audience is exactly what Brian is for. He is our AI-powered comedy marketing machine, built to sell without looking like it is selling.

Take Brian for a spin and hide the sell in the fun.