7 Social Media Tips For Retailers to Rock 2018
Social media definitely fits into the old adage: the only thing that constant is change. If you’re not changing up your strategy and staying on top of current trends, your brand is going to be left behind. Here are our top tips to take advantage of what’s hot in social media for your retail store, along with some nuggets of wisdom for the long haul.
Sage Advice:
The first thing you’ll want to do is choose your focus. If you’re trying to grow accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest, and Instagram all at once, you’re going to stretch yourself too thin. Instead, focus on growing one account at a time. Move on to a new platform when you really have a handle on the first.
You spent a lot of time curating your store, building a brand, and getting things to be just so. Your social accounts should be no different! Pick keywords or phrases that show up in your store or on your website and work them into your social posts whenever possible. It will build familiarity with your brand and instill consumer confidence.
Facebook Specific Tips:
Engagement is down on Facebook. It’s true. Even the most successful marketers aren’t able to get the same engagement with their posts organically that they used to. The solution? Paid promotion. Just because you’re paying doesn’t mean it needs to be expensive though! Just spending $1 per day per post for 5 days can boost your numbers significantly.
If you haven’t noticed, still photos are not en vogue. Instead, the most successful posts on Facebook are Video or animated Gifs. Be sure to use them in your posts as often as possible. Customers really love them and will engage in higher numbers.
Facebook Live is also a huge asset to people looking to promote their business. When your page is live streaming, everyone that follows you gets a notification that you’re streaming. There’s a much higher likelihood that they’ll see that notification than see a traditional video while scrolling through their feed. Plus, the video will still be on your page after you finish streaming for people who didn’t catch it while you were live. Win-win!
Instagram Specific Tips:
Instagram is a great place for retail shops to show of their wares and the cool ways stores interact with the community. Be sure to use hashtags and put your hashtags as the first comment on your post. The description for your post should be clean and readable, no one wants to scroll and come across a mountain of hashtags!
Be sure to tag a location as often as possible in your posts. Often, people will look at photos based on searching a location, it’s a good way to get new folks into your store. Rep your local pride!
Bonus: Our Favorite Tools
There are a number of tools we use to make social easier to manage. We have a team Feedly account that lets us monitor news, competitor blogs, and client blogs for cool news to share.
Flume is a great (mac only) app that lets you post Instagram photos using your computer. No more switching between accounts on your phone!
The buck stops with Buffer. Buffer lets you schedule social posts with ease, ensuring that you’ll never miss the optimum time to post.
Got any other tips you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments!
Check us out online:
- https://www.instagram.com/_pizzacraft/
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGRRHVQPtfmjrmVuJwgb7Tg
- https://www.instagram.com/thecompaniongroup/
