DAY 19

[VintageRescueSquad]

“Reassess marketing/social media strategy, add to business plan.”

I’d like to turn this into a 3-tier exercise. You determine which tier you’re on.

1. You use no social media: I can respect that, but it could make it more difficult to reach your target market. Get with the 21st century! Pick one medium, and try it. Give it 4-6 months. Really try.

2. You use 1-2 forms of social media: Think about adding another. OR, substitute one current medium for one that more closely matches your target audience.

3. You use loads of social media: Are you spread too thin? Is promoting taking up too much of your time? Get rid of the underperforming ones (that yield little traffic or aren’t at least reaching your target audience). Or—dare I say it?—get rid of the one you hate.

(Apologies in advance for the length of my challenge.) In reassessing your strategy, ask yourself:

*Am I reaching my target market? Make sure the medium you’re using is where your audience is. If your social-media goal is mainly to reach your target audience, you may need to use platforms that you are not currently using or that you are unfamiliar with.

You probably won’t have much success selling items geared towards older women on Tumblr, as they are unlikely to be on there. But, does your market skew young? Consider Tumblr or Twitter. Is your audience middle- or upper-class homemakers or moms and fashionistas? Consider Pinterest. Do they like a lot of back-story? Consider blogging. Are they highly visual? Pinterest or Instagram might be the ticket.

*For each medium, ask yourself: Do I have time to utilize this medium effectively? Do I enjoy it? Does it result in views and engagement? If you really don’t have time, or are only doing it in a perfunctory fashion, or you are not seeing any return, that is NOT a good use of your business time.

Here's my strategy: I’ve been blogging for 7+ years (3 years before I had an etsy shop). In fact, I only opened an etsy shop because my blogreaders wanted a way to buy my items. It’s currently my #3 source of traffic to my shop. Ain’t giving that up any time soon.

For my niche (vintage), everyone is on Facebook/blogs (buyers and sellers), and there is a lot of interaction (and we buy from each other). It’s expected. I have to do it. Now I just need to kick it up a notch and post more frequently on FB. Twitter’s not quite right for my market (though I got nominated for an award, so I’m revisiting it), but Instagram is. So, I’m launching my IG this weekend. Scary.

(P.S. I know nothing about Storenvy, Wanelo, etc. so please explore them if you’re interested.)

What are you eager to quit, or eager to start? What is the must-have social medium for you target market? Are you willing to go there?

[BlackCrowCurios]

I tried a dozen different forms of social media last year including Wanelo and Craftori and decided to concentrate mainly on Pinterest, Tweet and my blog.

[Former_Member]

I know people say Facebook is dying, but for my particular market, it's the #1 way to interact. Babywearers are ridiculously tuned in to FB with lots of active group boards. I wasn't growing my own page very quickly on my own, and when I started advertising, looked media sharing as part of the advertising package. The first share BirthWIthoutFearBlog.com did garnered me a few hundred additional followers. The next one pushed me over 1,000. These are engaged, relevant followers, not random likes through a general FB campaign.

I have a couple posts that have done really, really well on their own - these are the ones that I've used the Boost tool and that worked really well. I'm very selective about the boosts.

I've started Instagram. Turns out there's a LOT of #babywearing going on and one of my (dare I say it?) competitors is using it as a wonderfully effective marketing strategy. Trying to take some cues from what they're doing so I can formulate something on my own. I'm tending to use IG more as a way of personalizing Gracie and Sam while FB is becoming a sort of gallery of new items, custom work, and wrap conversion eye candy. So IG has pics of me babywearing out and about. FB has pictures of my creations on a dress form (and customer's follow up action pics).

I'm also finding success using Facebook as a user, not just a page holder. The aforementioned babywearing groups have been a great place to build my credibility as an informed babywearer who uses that knowledge to make a great carrier. I've found a couple topics that I chime in regularly on (CPSIA compliance and mei tai trouble shooting), and now I have started getting tagged to add a comment AS WELL AS when someone posts a question about "does anyone know anything about Gracie and Sam carriers?", people are responding that I"m on the boards and I'm a respected seller.

So if your target market is active in a social media, don't just use it to draw them to you, spend a bit of time getting yourself out into the mix and then guide them back to you on occasion.

So my part of this challenge is #2 - to dig in and really leverage the IG part of what I've already got going. 1-2 posts/week there isn't enough. And I need to get my FB crew also tapped into my IG feed.

[Former_Member]

i dont spend a lot of time on social media

I pin and fb most of my new listings from the etsy buttons, and I also post some to wanelo.

I get a lot of pinterest traffic, mostly from other people pinning me.

I do make sales from facebook, and communicate with buyers there.

so, I do two consistently, and one occasionally.

my most seen fb things are pics I post directly, and not from using the etsy button. I do that with the fancy stuff.

[TOMgirlApparel]

I use Facebook and twitter both extremely ineffectively. I started both because when I started my business those two social media outlets were expected from a business. Now, that is changing.

I have way more success pitching to others who are already successful on social media than I do on my own. I gave a blogger a sample maternity bra for review. Not only did her blog post get me many hundreds of sales, but she posted the sample on Facebook for an impromptu giveaway. 700 people responded within an hour!!! No way I could garner that attention myself.

So, I have been thinking about this day on the cleanse. I am considering deleted all my business social media and instead spending that time pitching to others. The fact is, what I'm doing is not working. I think better to not have a page than have a sucky one. And I have tried. Over two years of trying different things and following the research. I am just not feeling it. I've also tried Pinterest and wanelo. Meh. Any thoughts on this?

[Former_Member]

We may not reach as many people as certain blogs do, but I dunno - don't you think you should have at least one social media forum for people to interact with?

I am on fb (seriously gone downhill in engagement the past year, no matter what I've tried) Twitter, and more recently instagram. I like the later the best, just because it is fun to use and really effective to show and share work in progress on other social media.

I can't say I've used any one forum aggressively enough to see how well it works. People retweet and follow, but how meaningful this is I do not know.( I also am on tumblr, but I am using more to plug my other projects, which, I hope may garner interest in my "merch" - crankyhayes ).

The most effective way I have found to get new followers is being at craft fairs. Some of my best customers have found me there.

[Former_Member]

I have a Facebook page and also do Pinterest and Wanelo.

Ever since they started filtering views heavily on FB and you have to pay for people who like your page to even see your posts, I have been rather disenchanted there. I don't have a large following there, but feel it's a necessity and that I should make more of an effort to post something once or twice a month at least...I don't know about completely getting off FB though, Amanda. Seems like it is one of those things that people expect a business to have these days.

I am intending to replace Facebook with instagram. But I am holding out on replacing my phone with the Iphone 6 and for whatever reason, my current IPhone 4 has issues downloading the Instagram app....

I get a good number of daily views from Pinterest and Wanelo and also sales.

I built up over 1300 f followers on Wanelo (apparently the age demographic is big on "follow for follow" so if you follow someone they usually follow you back).and it has paid off. I generally don't believe in the promotional "follow and heart" type teams, but I do use a wanelo team once or twice a week where they save each other's pinterest and Wanelo links. It can take up some time so I only do it when I have the time. But has yielded good results as many of the team members also built up their followers so you get lots of exposure on Wanelo and Pinterest.

For instance, one of my angel necklaces I posted 2-3 weeks ago has 650 saves on Wanelo (only around 90 of them were from team members) and 125 pins (only about 40 were from team members) and 2 sales, plus probably at least 5-10 views a day from these sources that have continued.

So that is my social media plan. :-)

[TOMgirlApparel]

I think you have to also consider your product. What I sell is not really an interactive type of thing, you know? Most people are pretty private about their underwear, not really something you go tweeting and sharing about. I've looked at other brands (big ones) and studied how their social media interaction goes, and honestly it is mostly people complaining about them. They'll post something about new bra colors or what not, and it's a slew of "They don't even carry my size!", "These are not comfortable", "No plus size, boo!!!", and maybe a sprinkle of "Love mine".

I think it'd be better to have the occasional organic share of my website by a successful social media presence than an ongoing, daily effort from me to make something interactive that is not normally talked about a lot.

I do the newsletter monthly and I get pretty good results from that. It is not interactive, but I am able to let customers know about new colors, styles, coupons. These are people who signed up because they really want to know, and it's private.

Still just thinking about it.

Felisa, I think it used to be expected for a business to have a Facebook page, but that is fading. You are replacing Facebook with Instagram? So will you delete Facebook or just stop posting?

[SweetSomeday]

Hmm. I think I'm in group three. Using a lot of social media but none of it particularly well. I'm on facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, wanelo, and I have a blog. I get a little bit of engagement from facebook, mostly from friends and family though. Twitter seems almost useless, though I do get a few views from there so I don't want to delete it. I enjoy instagram but I don't know if I'm getting views or sales from it - hard to track. I like pinterest and do a lot of pinning other things, and I usually pin at least one item when I list a new batch. I get some repins and views. I post new listings to wanelo occasionally and get a few views from it. I haven't written on my blog in over a year (oops) and never really knew what to write back then either. The blog is something I'd consider putting a little more energy into based on VintageRescueSquad's point - a lot of my stuff could use an explanation in words.

So, based on what I actually use and enjoy, and what might actually benefit me - I might drop twitter and wanelo - continue facebook, instagram, and pinterest as is - try to amp up blogging. Still might be too much? Thinking out loud here.

Amanda, you make a good point about your product being much more private than others. I think I'd leave my facebook active if I were you, but not stress about posting often. Or delete if you start to get any of those negative comments.

[Former_Member]

Amanda - I don't think I will delete FB, but I don't plan on putting much effort into it. I think there is a way you can cross post instagram on FB so maybe I will try that....

[TOMgirlApparel]

http://m.entrepreneur.com/article/227245

12 mistakes entrepreneurs make with social media, came across my feed, timely.

[MagpieQuilts]

I use Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and I have a blog. The blog takes a ton of time and it seems most of my followers there are not buyers. If I get into pattern design, this would change. Tutorials are the #1 draw to the blog. I'm not ruling that out as something I may want to do in the future, so will continue to blog at about the same rate as now to keep that audience.

I love Pinterest - mostly as a user. I haven't figured out how to effectively get my product out there. Most of my incoming to Etsy traffic from Pinterest has been from pins by others (if you have google analytics set up, you can see exactly what pins are sending traffic to Etsy). My own pins, not so much! Many of my own pins were done way back when I first joined and had few followers, so maybe my next Pinterest goal is to re-pin those items so they show up for a new audience.

And FB is working for me. It's been helpful to build a local following - local orders are more profitable as I don't pay Etsy/Paypal fees and I don't lose out when my shipping costs are incorrect. I find liking right from Etsy is not effective. I'll usually post a picture and then include the Etsy link in the comments or the picture description. I also give my FB followers a chance to buy products before they are listed on Etsy when I post pictures of WIP and a coupon code just for FB followers. I'm sure there are lots more ways to engage people on FB, just have to keep some balance between promoting and flooding people's feeds with posts. Goal here is to increase followers to 500 by the end of 2014.

[MagpieQuilts]

If I had to add one more to my list, I would probably try Instagram or Twitter. Not until summer is over though!

[Maiook]

Facebook: I have a FB page which I started before I opened my Etsy store. I don't get views to my etsy store from it nor much sales. I get some likes on photos, a few comments and rarely any questions or requests. Honestly, I don't post as much as I probably should, but since FB changed the reach algorithms, I somewhat lost interest in it.
The only reason I still have it is to let my Slovene followers know about craft fairs I'm attending. And since I stopped attending them, I really don't know if it's worth keeping.

Instagram: I like Instagram. I like taking photos, so this is more up my alley anyhow. I am slowly gaining followers and even some true fans, so I intend to keep doing it.

Twitter: I haven't been using it for a long time, so I cannot judge if it is working or not. I do get some views from it. I'll keep doing it for a while longer to see if it will pay off.

Wanelo and Pinterest: I get views and I have had a few sales from Wanelo. My items do get pinned and saved quite a lot.

[Former_Member]

I have thought about this till my head feels like exploding! I have also resisted, but after poking around a bit and considering what it is I'm selling I am going to revisit, pinterest, do away with twitter and look into instagram for "inkleing". I still don't know what to do about my soap shop.
So far with my less than stellar attempts with social media, twitter has led to nothing, the pinterest account I have has lots of repins on the woven goods and prayer beads as well as views in stats coming from pinterest. Don't get me started on facebook, I know there is a way instagram can post to Facebook so if I can figure that out I may go in that direction.

[KaterinaCollection]

Group 2 here.

Tracy is involved pretty heavily with FB, has set up a group and is involved with others related to CNC machines. I also post new items on FB, so it's a bit of a team effort. We get views from FB pretty much daily.

Tracy set up Pinterest a while back. We get views and occasionaly sales from there. I don't think he has pinned much lately. I think he had set up his Pinterest account to focus on wood items, so I might set up my own to focus on jewelry and glass art.

Maybe next month after I have things fixed up I'll set up my own Pinterest (and possibly Wanelo) accounts and see where that takes us.

[swaddlemesnugly]

My attempts in Facebook have so far fallen flat on their faces. I get notices every day that someone has repinned something I pinned, so I go to their site and usually find a board or two to follow, is that how we expand our presence on Pinterest? Oh and I guess pinning on a regular basis, some pins of my merchandise and some on my other boards, will help?

And I'm researching blogs to pitch to, there are a lot of blogs about newborns many of them are way too commercial it seems. I'm just getting started exploring them.

[Former_Member]

Alright here is my social media take -

FB - can't link any sales but I like the personal aspect of it. It has become a haven for moms and the slightly older crowd, fine with me. When I do good about posting daily I see my views go up. Keeping.

Google+ - still building. Try to post there related to my FB posts. Need to be able to link a website to it. Think that will help. Hoping to keep.

Pinterest - have gotten sales. I pin new listings or renewed listings that have new pics. But have been badly lately about it. I have a mix of business and personal. Keeping.

Wanelo - I only post new items but I am thinking it's not a great place for my stuff. One sale from site. May dump this one.

Twitter - I don't know. I find it annoying. When I do a lot of sharing and tweeting I get retweeted. Best of my knowledge, no sales. May dump.

Most other sites have a younger crowd than I am looking for.

[VintageRescueSquad]

Grannie K/Kelli, I'm no expert on Pinterest. Although I have loads of boards, I have yet to pin my etsy items. I use it primarily to establish myself as an expert in certain fields. For instance, because my blog is about what it's like to sell in an antique mall (and I co-wrote a book on it), I have boards entitled "booth vignettes", "product photography", "altered globes", and "chalkboard inspiration". My thinking is that these are things people are searching for on Pinterest. It's kinda like SEO; think about what people are searching on.

I found your Pinterest account. My guess is to create more boards with labels (along the lines of you "ideas for a New Grandson"). You might use "baby swaddling" or "baby bibs" or something like that. Then, place your items on those particular boards instead of just one big "board" for your Swaddle Me Snugly items. If no one knows Kelli R**** IS SMS, or has heard of Swaddle Me Snugly, they may never see your items.

Most of the advice I read about gaining traction on Pinterest is along those lines, and that you should not only pin YOUR items, but related things. Yours wouldn't have to be your competitors, but maybe an article/photo/infographic from another source about how to swaddle. Or why swaddling helps. Maybe photos from other cultures where swaddling is common. Maybe something about calming a baby.

If you want to be seen as an expert, you'll want to seem well-rounded. I would imagine loads of new parents are also looking for all kinds of baby ideas. You could have boards about cute babies, sleeping babies, anything along those lines.

Since Pinterest is a place where people are looking for ideas, you can tap into that. People aren't necessarily SHOPPING, but when they see something, they'll click on over.

P.S. I converted my Pinterest account to a business one (Vintage Rescue Squad) and then have my personal boards "secret". As far as anyone on Pinterest knows, it's all about VRS.

[KindNoteCompany]

My social media skills are pitiful! Reading these posts makes me wonder why I have such an aversion to these options.

Facebook: I opened a personal account simply so I could spy on my kids - they are both in their mid to late 20's now and don't like facebook anymore - seems to be a trend in that age group. My target is parents of young children or grandmothers. I don't see this as a viable place. Or maybe I just don't get it.

Pinterest: Again, I have a personal account and I do enjoy pinning. My plan is to open a business account and pin 30% of my items and 70% of others. Seems like a good ratio.

Twitter: forget it.

Instagram: forget it.

Blog: maybe.

Wanelo: never heard of it, but I'll take a look.

Sometimes I think I'm not afraid of failing - I'm afraid of succeeding. I've had quite a few different businesses in my time, and I seem to have a problem promoting myself. Anyone else have this problem?

[VintageRescueSquad]

Amy, I hate promoting. The way I make it palatable is to look at it as "enthusiastically sharing". Fortunately, with vintage that's easy.

[KindNoteCompany]

Enthusiastically sharing - I will make this my mantra - thanks!

[AccessoriesByKelli]

Thanks, VRS, that's a plan for Pinterest. I can follow that format. How did you convert yours to a business one?

[VintageRescueSquad]

Kelli, I don't even remember, but I did it immediately (like the same day I joined).

Here's a link on how to do so:

http://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/set-your-business-account

Scroll down to "Convert Your Personal Account to a Business Account". Have fun!

[swaddlemesnugly]

Thanks VRS, I think I'll create a separate business one for SMS. I saw some good tips on that site, too.