Running social media profiles for ecommerce stores is a very different experience than any other business, especially if you want to get it right. So, what factors should you be considering?
When it comes to any online business, social media profiles are always important. Yet, for ecommerce stores, such as photo products, they are vitally essential. Social media is one of the best ways to engage with your audience – including both new and old customers – encouraging them to interact with your brand on a more personal level.
So, how can you encourage this sort of behaviour? Here are 5 essential tips for maintaining your social media profiles.
1. Post Daily
Not every business should consider posting on a daily basis, but this is certainly not the case for an ecommerce store. This is because your customers might not always feel like purchasing your products, or even remember the services that you offer. A regular and active social media account will help to remind them.
This is, of course, more important in the run-up to key gift-giving holidays. Photobooks and other printed products can make the perfect gift, but it’s easy for your followers to get distracted in the hastle of the season. Use your social media accounts to remind them!
2. Provide Seasonal Content
Speaking of which, the content you product for your social networks should always match an upcoming holiday, or be well-fitted to the wider season. There’s no point discussing the benefits of a photobook for your summer pictures in the middle of winter, for instance. Not only will it not generate sales, it’s not interesting for your audience.
If you have no key dates lined up, use the seasonal changes to your advantage. For example, it’s starting to get colder in many parts of the world right now, so provide content that keeps this in mind. Try encouraging your customers to purchase a personalised mug?
By being creative, you can make posts that are relevant and get attention. Keep this up throughout the year and you will have a very strong social presence.
3. User Generated Content & Reviews
Many customers aren’t willing to part with their money before they’ve read a few reviews. With your photo products, there are a few key areas that they may have concerns about. This can include your delivery times, final print quality or even the range of products available.
By sharing user reviews, you can put these worries to rest. By introducing them on social media, rather than on your website, you can ensure a wider range of users.
This can also work with other social personalities. If you’ve previously ran a campaign with influencers – or perhaps such a person purchased your products and discussed them on their own social channels – use this to your advantage. Create a simple but attractive graphic highlighting their praise. Post this online to increase your brand awareness. Afterall, word of mouth is a very powerful selling factor and social media is perfect for this.
Furthermore, make the most of any content provided by your audience. We’ve previously discussed some ideas on how to acquire user generated content, so you should know how to encourage your customers. Try encouraging people to post their own creations on social media, using a specific hashtag. This additional activity can inspire other followers to create something for themselves – and they can do this via your ecommerce store.
4. Keep It Short & Visual
When it comes to social media, brevity is key. Nobody needs to read large blocks of test and few, if any, will even bother.
Instead, use photos and graphics where you can. You can design these to present the most vital information, getting straight to the point. You can then post content about the details already discussed in your images to encourage further conversation. What’s important, however, is that the original graphic is visually stimulating and instantly gets its point across.
5. Include CTAs
Finally, even when posting beautiful images, you need a way to tell readers and followers what it is you want them to do. Otherwise, they will look at your graphics and do nothing at all. It needs a call to action, or CTA for short.
Post pictures as cover photos, linking to your shop. Use the space in the photo to add an additional CTA button. You can also use links in posts – especially when larger photos are involved – as long as you entice users to click through.
There you go: 5 great ways to make your social media profiles a powerful tool for improving your business. All of these tips will help you get the most out of your social presence, but this doesn’t mean you can skip using paid advertising.
The latter is still vital for gaining new customers, as not everyone will find you through social networks. You can download our helpful guide with advanced tips for Facebook advertising here!
Katarzyna Michałowska
Reader. Writer. Communicator. PR & Marketing Specialist at Printbox. Learning from only the best and writing killer copy.
