For product businesses, social media marketing is key. It’s one of the best ways to develop a following, attract new leads, and build relationships with customers and influencers.
When using social media, you want to focus on the right mindset and make sure that you are putting out content that works well for the platform.
Read on to find out everything you need to know about using social media to promote your product business.
It’s All About Engagement
Social media is a great place to attract new leads, but remember that the primary purpose is engagement and building relationships. Don’t just blast out your own content—encourage interaction and spend time engaging with others on their posts as well.
A great strategy is to create a list of 10 people you want to build relationships with. Comment on and like their posts every day for a month. Then approach them and ask if they’d like to collaborate. The next month, choose 10 new people, while still keeping in touch with others you have connected with.
This is a great way to form relationships with influencers who can promote your brand!
The Numbers Matter… But Sales Matter More
Don’t get caught up on vanity metrics such as follower numbers or likes. While those metrics are important, they aren’t nearly as important as how they relate to your sales. If you had a million followers on Instagram but it never generated a single sale, would that be a win? What if you only had 100 followers but they were all actively engaged and wanted to purchase a product from you every month?
Sales always trump metrics. With each post you put out, think about how it is contributing to your sales, whether that’s by increasing exposure to your brand, building relationships with customers, or actively promoting a product.
Keep in mind that algorithms are always changing. You need to keep up with the major algorithm changes if you want to succeed on social media. If your numbers start to fall, it could be due to an algorithm change. You might need to shift your strategy to see growth on that channel.
Cater Posts to the Platform
Every social media platform is different. You don’t have to create entirely individual content for each platform, but you do need to make sure you are using the platform to its full advantage. Let’s take a look at how to use Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Instagram is a very powerful platform for product businesses. Many influencers are on Instagram, and it’s a great place to build relationships.
With Instagram, the look of your feed matters just as much as your individual posts. Make a cohesive look by creating a color theme, using the same filters, and alternating different types of content.
Hashtags are an important tool to use on Instagram. They help people that aren’t following you find your posts. You can use up to 30 on every post, and they help you get in front of new people and grow your audience.
Research hashtags in your niche by going to similar accounts and seeing which hashtags they’re using. Type potential hashtags into the search bar to see how many posts have mentioned it. If you use hashtags with too few mentions, your posts won’t get traction, but if you use hashtags with millions of mentions, your posts will likely be buried. Try to stay in the 250-750 thousand range. (You can also start your own hashtag to rally followers around your brand.)
Instagram stories show up at the top of the app and can be a great way to encourage engagement. Share all of your posts in your stories to give your followers an extra chance to see them.
You can also share content in your stories that might not fit well in your Instagram feed or create polls and quizzes to encourage engagement. Consider giving followers a behind-the-scenes look at your business with videos. Experiment and see which types of stories get the most engagement.
Finally, use Instagram to build relationships with influencers. Repost their content in your feed and stories, and engage with them by liking their posts and leaving thoughtful comments. Consider sending them free products in exchange for some posts. Influencers can be some of your best salespeople, so make sure to show them some love!
Facebook can be a very powerful marketing engine. Almost everyone is on Facebook, and their targeting is more advanced than any other social media site, giving you the chance to run successful ad campaigns.
You can use Facebook to build an audience and engage with others, promote in-person events, run ads in a specific group, or throw Facebook parties where you can have giveaways or sell merchandise.
Facebook Ads
Doing Facebook ads well takes knowledge and experimentation. The key to running successful ads is targeting. You can refine your audience by interests, purchasing behavior, location, and dozens of other characteristics.
But targeting isn’t just limited to demographics. You can also create audiences based on your email list, website visitors, people who follow similar pages, and more. Be sure to do your own research to learn more about targeting. Facebook ads can get very pricey, so test ads with smaller campaigns before going all in.
Make sure to use eye-catching images or videos and strong headlines—you only have a second or two to catch people’s attention as they are scrolling through their feed.
Facebook Parties
Facebook parties are live events on Facebook where you can engage your customers and make sales.
Choose a time and date to begin promoting well beforehand. Create an event page on Facebook to send people to for the event. Post about your event and get your customers excited by giving them a sneak peek of what you’re going to do at your party.
At the event, do giveaways, flash sales, tutorials, and anything else you can dream up to engage your audience. Go on Facebook live to answer questions and build relationships with your audience. Make it an event to remember.
Pinterest content, or pins, are organized on boards which followers can see weeks or months after they’re created. That means pins stay relevant longer than Facebook or Instagram posts. You can also post product photos that link directly to your website so followers can buy your products.
Research similar brands to see what types of boards they’re using and get inspiration for your own.
You can make a board of tutorials, create mood boards that show your brand colors or brand elements, and have product-specific boards that showcase all of the content related to one product or a type of product.
For example, if you run a beauty business, you could have a lipstick board with all of your lipsticks on it, plus all of the posts from customers using your lipstick on Facebook and Instagram.
Pinterest is a great place to put tutorials. You can set up a board, either of your own or others you’ve found on YouTube.
Consistency is Key
Success on social media is a long-term game. It takes time, commitment, and, most importantly, consistency.
Consistently posting on social media encourages engagement and builds a loyal following. Make a posting schedule and stick to it. Stay committed to engaging and interacting with your followers as well.
If you’re just getting started with a beauty business and need more tips, Learn How to Launch a Beauty Product can help. It covers every aspect of starting a beauty business, from creating a solid foundation and getting funding to manufacturing, branding, sales, and marketing. Learn more about the course here.
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