Social Networking - Questions & Answers

[Former_Member]

The official thread for questions about, and help with, the daunting task of social networking!

[Former_Member]

Has anyone been able to use Tumblr effectively for their shop? Any tips for using it?

Tumblr kind of confuses me a bit... I'm not even sure why. Twitter really clicks with me, but not Tumblr for some reason. Maybe I'm getting old? LOL. :\

[knittyMD]

I use Tumblr, although I'm not sure how successful it is. It seems to work best for things that have large fandoms (Harry Potter or Firefly for me) because there are a lot of people that follow those tags.

My only tips are:
Use the tags, like I said before there are a lot of people that follow those tags and then a lot of people that just search.
Link your shop/listing in every post about your products. I have my shop linked in my about page, but most people aren't going to go to your page, they're just going to like or reblog the listing they see.
Don't just post shop stuff. I think people like to see that you have things you fan over things too. :)

[Former_Member]

Ok, that sounds more or less like how Twitter works.

It does make sense to me that social media would be a lot more helpful if you do more than just list products. I hadn't really thought about it before, but I know from my own habits that I'm more likely to spend extra money on something from a shop if it seems like the owner is a good person and someone I have similar interests with. I guess social media is a good way to communicate that about myself to potential customers. :)

[Former_Member]

Exactly!! Tumblr is cooler than Twitter though, you can post much more and share easier and everything. I do like it!! I have a Tumblr, but I don't really use it or check it. I need to though!!!

I know my favorite shops that I follow post a lot of personal things through their Facebooks. They share what's going on in their lives, and pictures of their pets, as well as just hobbies AND the items they're selling. it's pretty cool, and that keeps them in my feed. One of the shops I follow the closest posts pictures of all of her special orders, but also posts daily inspirational and silly pictures. It's always nice to see her shares come up in my feed. :]

I need to post more on Social Media!! It just bores me!

[knittyMD]

I know what you mean! Well, social media doesn't exactly bore me, but I find it exhausting/hard to be entertaining/interesting. Tumblr at least I can reblog awesome thing from people I follow, but coming up with witty Tweets or fun Facebook posts is a special talent. A talent I don't naturally have. :P

[Former_Member]

Twitter actually tends to go better if you DON'T try to be entertaining or witty. Just follow a bunch of people who are either interesting or like similar things that you do (try for like 100 at first). I follow a lot of news sites, cartoonists, gamers, celebrities, etc. The higher number of tweets you have coming in, the more opportunities you have for sending a reply about something, or retweeting things you thought were interesting. And the more you do that, the more likely someone with similar interests will find you in a keyword search.

I kind of struggle with Tumblr and Facebook partly because it feels like there's more of a formal requirement for content. Whereas with Twitter, that 140 character limit means no one expects me to write anything particularly intense or in depth. I'm just like "Hey Guys, I'm working on stuff and watching Dollhouse. Man, I love Victor. La la la." And then Dollhouse fans find me and hey, we have something in common! :)

I do actually enjoy the social media stuff to an extent, but juggling multiple accounts can start to feel like a chore. I can understand why people often hire others to do this stuff. o.O

[Former_Member]

I have heard when using social media to promote your stuff, you should tray to make only 20% of your posts about your shop or products, while the other 80% should be related content . "Related content" can probably be taken as loosely as you feel comfortable with. I personally don't like sharing about my life on my FB page, but I DO like sharing things that I find humorous or interesting. It may not be related to my products, but it IS related to ME, and as some of you have pointed out already, it's fun to see the person behind the business.

So, try the 20/80 rule if you are up for a challenge!

[Former_Member]

that's a good suggestion Kelly!
I am actually the Social Media person for my work which is I think why I have such a problem with it. I'm doing that stuff all the time so then when it's for my stuff I guess I'm just burnt out.

[Former_Member]

Ah, that makes sense. I work on computers for a living, so when I get home I'm tired of both talking on the phone and troubleshooting computer issues, so I tend to avoid both if I can. :)

[Former_Member]

haha exactly!! and I just applied to be the Social Media Director of a political party.... I'm CRAZY