Instagram Relevancy

[TheScarlettRibbon]

Hi team,
Can anyone show me how they are using Instagram to promote their shop?
Thx, Wendy

[Former_Member]

As far as instagram goes, I only have a personal account, but when I have a new item I will post it on there. I make sure to hastag things related to my item and also etsy and handmade. It is mostly my friends/acquaintances who like my picture, so I don't know how effective this is because instagram does not show as its own traffic source.

[heartsabustin]

There's a girl on one of my metalsmithing teams who has had great luck with Instagram. She hashtags her pics, she shows progress pics of her work in creation (that seems to be particularly effective), and I think she added the three letter city code for her town so that people local to her can find her. (In my case, I would add -ilm to mine, because that's the airport code for Wilmington). She's also managed to gain a bunch of followers by using it well.

So, it is possible to use it and get sales - I know this lady has done so on several occasions.

[Former_Member]

We use our Instagram account to tell more of our story. Currently we are posting photos of the new screen printing facility we are building from the ground up. We also share an occassional new product shot or client appreciation photo. The opportunity to engage with clients at this deeper level has already delivered sales even though we are fairly new to using Instagram. Best of luck!

-the Mixed Species guys-

[thejewelseeker]

I love instagram, and use it to promote my items.

http://instagram.com/gramzcrackers

Here is my personal guide for advertising my shop:

I gained followers by keeping it a personal account, not over advertising (I think that only posting your shop items becomes boring and can easily become overkill). I promote my shop items after posting three or four personal posts (my quilt project, something about my family and maybe an inspirational post). I use hashtags on everything. I hashtag the name of my quilt project, use multiple hashtags. I post things totally unrelated to my vintage jewelry shop. Those are the hashtags that are the main draw to my instagram account.

When I post about the shop, and the items I am selling, I use the Etsy App, on the iphone. I search a particular category, like "sterling" or "rings". I will then screen shot four of the items. Then, I will post those items to Instagram and hashtag them with the following hashtags:

#vintagejewelry, #vintage #vintagefashion #rings (or whatever the item is), #forsale #thejewelseekeronetsy #thejewelseeker #etsy #costumejewellery #jewellery #jewelry

I will also hashtag whatever colors or whatever is also helpful for people to find who are searching. If I am having a sale, I will put #SALE

There are other ways to promote, like giveaways (it will get them to your blogs, and then to your shop) Lot's of people participate in the "giveaways" on Instagram. It will also get you more followers.

Hope that is helpful :) Oh, one more thing - I put a link to my shop in my profile. I think Instagram is a place to be more suttle.

[AndreaWatsonDesigns]

I absolutely love Instagram and have found it to be the most successful social media platform Here's a general idea of how I use Instagram:

- Post often. I personally think that every other day seems to work the best (I know many who post daily) - but more than once a day will typically cause you to lose followers.

- Only post beautiful, edited photos. I've noticed that too much editing or overusing filters doesn't seem to go over well. I personally love the VSCO app and just use it to tweak each of my photos.

- Post when users will be checking Instagram. Here are the times I recommend: 8p-11p (this will catch people right before bed or when they wake up the next morning) or 11:00a-11:30a (this will catch the lunch crowd).

- Make use of hashtags. This is a big one! Using hashtags really maximizes your contact with other artists, IG fanatics, and potential customers. Here are the three categories I typically use:

1) VSCO app hashtags - #vsco #vscocam #vscoapp #vscobest #vscogrid #vsconature #vscolove, etc

2) Jewelry-related hashtags - #etsy #etsyshop #estylisting #instasmithy #instajewelrygroup #handmadejewelry #shopsmall #instajewelry, etc

3) Location related hashtags - #wilmingtonnc #ilm #wilmington #wrightsvillebeach #wrightsvillebeachnc #eastcoast #northcarolina #surfcity #surfcitync, etc

- Finally, I only post about 10 hashtags at a time on each photo. I wait until 9pm to hashtag (it seems like this is when the most users are actively searching/viewing hashtags). I post only 10 and let them bring in views. I usually leave these hashtags on for a day... then delete them and post a new set of 10 the next night. Does this make sense? You can use up to 30 hashtags on one picture (after that they have no effect). So, I do this a third time + then after 24 hours, delete the last set of hashtags from my photo.

Those are my recommendations. I hope this helps! Instagram is such a great resource for finding new customers and I'm sure you'll be addicted in no time heehee :)

P.S. Here's my account if you want to see how I hashtag, etc:

www.instagram.com/awatsondesigns