Social media marketing is everywhere. There’s no escaping it. And you shouldn’t want to either. Social media gives you access to hundreds of millions of potential customers at no cost. If you want to see a return on your hard work, you’ll learn how to harness the power of social media to reach your target audience.
1. Quality over quantity. One exceptional social media channel is a hundred times better than five subpar social media channels. Instagram and Pinterest are one of the best channels to display your products and create a catalog of your goods. Their focus is on images which means your products will be highlighted as long as you’re putting in the effort to taking and editing appealing photos.
2. Market yourself, not just your products. It might be uncomfortable, especially if you’re an introvert, but bring out your personality in how-to videos or start with writing engaging captions about your journey. This increases the likelihood of viewers commenting on your posts and this opens the opportunity to start a dialogue with potential customers.
3. Interact with followers. Dedicate one or two hours to replying to comments on your posts. The personal touch this adds gives you an opportunity to create a relationship with your followers which then motivates them to visit your Etsy shop. You should also be posting comments on accounts that are related to your type of products or industry. It could even be product adjacent. For example, if you’re selling jewelry, find accounts that are geared towards clothes or jewelry boxes.
4. Plan your content strategy. An active account posts at least two times a day. The more you post, the better your chances of appearing on someone’s timeline but posting two times a day for seven days requires a hefty content supply. One of the best ways to not feel overwhelmed with the pressure to post unique content multiple times a day is to create a monthly schedule. This also helps you plan any promotions you’d like to run and create content specific to upcoming holidays.
5. Find the best times to post. Spending hours creating content, interacting with followers, and commenting on other accounts will do you no good if no one is there to see it. Use the analytics features on your social media accounts to find out when there’s a spike in engagement. This will take some trial and error so try posting at different times of the day and compare which post fares better.
Social media is a necessary evil at times but a boon for your business all the time. Make sure you have unique content and always be personable with your followers. Take care of any concerns or complaints by asking them to contact you outside of the social media channel. Like everything, finding the right strategy will take time and there will be mistakes but it is imperative that you learn from them.
