Which social media platforms do you utilize to promote your handmade items? Whether you sell them online or at craft fairs, having a presence on various social media sites has become crucial in today’s market. It can help showcase your creations and announce upcoming sales events. While selling handmade products may be challenging, it is slowly becoming more manageable. I have friends who solely rely on online sales, which is something I aspire to do, but it is also essential to make occasional public appearances to reach new customers. Marketing is a costly and time-consuming aspect of any business, regardless of its size.
Additionally, you need to be aware of the policy changes that are being made on social media pages that affect sellers directly. You don’t want to be known as a spammer by constantly posting your items for sale. You need to post pictures of you creating stuff, give free information on how you do what you do, tell others where to find your supplies, where to find classes, and some about your personal life.
Nowadays, keeping your personal and professional lives separate can be quite challenging. To manage this, creating a separate “Business” page or account on social media platforms can be extremely beneficial. Facebook offers the option to make public pages with different security settings than your personal page. For example, you can limit your personal page to only be visible to friends while making your business page accessible to the general public. This allows you to share personal updates on your personal page and business information on your business page. However, it should be noted that your business page will not appear in search results until it has at least 100 likes. To gain these likes quickly, promoting your business page to friends and family is a great way to start. You can also share your business posts on your personal page without compromising security settings, allowing those who haven’t liked your page yet to stay updated on your business. Just remember, don’t simply post links to products; engage with current and potential followers through quality posts. It’s recommended to post at least once a day but not every 15 minutes as that may become overwhelming for both yourself and others.
The workings of Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest are quite similar. It is important to have a separate “Business” account on Twitter if you already have a personal one. Once your business information and website are set up, try following other regular crafting enthusiasts, as well as suppliers and artists in your local area. Show support for those in other areas as well – small businesses need each other’s help. Interacting with their posts by liking or re-tweeting, while also sharing your own pictures, videos, and helpful findings can lead to reciprocated engagement. As your follower count grows, you may see an increase in sales over time. Consistently tweeting at least once a day is key, and there are tools available to schedule tweets for future dates and times. However, be sure to check your feed daily to support others in the crafting community. Tweeting or re-tweeting every 15 minutes is excessive and will hinder progress on new projects.
Pinterest is a great platform for sharing clear and crisp pictures and short videos. Take advantage of the ability to “Share” your pictures from online stores like Etsy, Amazon Handmade, and HandmadeArtists, but remember to create separate “Boards” for each store. This makes it easier for followers to know what type of content they will see. To gain more followers, try following others and sharing high-quality pictures that may not be directly related to your products. While I can’t say if I’ve ever gotten a sale through Pinterest, you never know what opportunities may arise.
Luckily, having a website allows you to easily “Share” your posts across all your social media accounts, which counts towards your daily posting. Whether you write blogs once a month or once a week, you’ll still need to personally visit each account to make new tweets or posts. Increasing audience engagement can lead to more recommendations and ultimately, more sales. If feasible, there are services available that can handle most of your scheduled social media postings for you. Additionally, Facebook offers a free feature for scheduling posts and Twitter on your laptop allows future tweeting as well. To efficiently manage your content, designate a day each month to create all the necessary tweets, posts and blog entries in advance for the entire month. Then simply use your smartphone throughout the day to check messages and add any updates as needed. With these handy apps, time management becomes effortless. Just remember not to read and drive while browsing through your social media pages!
We hope you will join our newsletter listing. We are working on fun and creative things to add to that – CLICK HERE
Please Like, share, Comment too. If you would like to see what else we have for sale on our own online store check it out: https://swconlinestore.com