HOMEWORK IS NOT OBLIGATORY!!!
So what I am suggesting is that we each build up to an “event”. The term event is used to cover a whole range of things which could include an actual event (which could be the Etsy Made Local), or a commercial event such as a discount sale or new product or it could be a social media event such as a giveaway or even a blog launch.
Then each week before your event (which I would suggest is something related to your Christmas marketing) I will be setting up a new challenge directed towards that event.
Here is a summary of the weeks
Week 1: (15th October) Follow 25 people on Instagram, join 1-3 facebook groups that are relevant and introduce yourself (an example could be indieroller and I suggest you join this group anyway as its a wealth of knowledge and interesting information), Join an instagram community (in colourful company, craft exposure etc)
Week 2: (22nd October) Engage with your followers and people you are following, especially people who have liked or left comments on your posts.
Week 3: (29th October) research accounts of your competitors or accounts you feel would have a similar audience to you. Look at their hashtags, content and steal their followers (sounds cheeky but completely acceptable - follow as many of their followers as possible, that way you know you are following people who are interested in what you will be posting about)
Week 4: (5th November) Think about your tone of voice and your visuals on social media. Look at other accounts you love and that have a good following and see what they do.
Week 5: (12th November) Plan/schedule posts for a week (you can use plann or any other scheduling app) - timing posts, topics - could be a product post, personal post, event post, inspiration post. I then want you to try to post consistently, once a day, until your event. I also want you to post at least 2 stories either on facebook or instagram
Week 6: (19th November) Shoppable/taggable products
Week 7: (26th November) let your followers start knowing about your event, sneak peeks, post consistently!!
2nd December or there abouts: launch event - use all of the information and tools you have learned in the last few weeks to post about your event (time of posts, who your audience is, where they engage with you most)
If you’re event is to direct traffic to your Etsy store, shoppable/taggable products are going to be really important. Make sure that your Etsy store link is in your bio or about page.
This challenge isn’t to get you hundreds of sales, or thousands of new followers but to maybe introduce you to planning your social media marketing. We may not want to admit it or even like to but social media is very very powerful. We don't all want to be tied to our phones or devices but if you can work out a strategy that works for you then it will not only help you sell your brand (and remember its not all about making sales - I always say sales in an Alan Sugar voice - buts its also about putting across your ethos and who you are to try and attract the right audience for you) but it will also help you identify a strategy that works for you.
Im going to be posting each week about what I have done for each weeks challenge and please feel free to do so as well. Please please dont feel like a failure if you dont do every week or feel obliged to do anything. I am not a marketing expert and social media is not an exact science but I have created this to maybe give everyone a bit of focus as I know how time consuming and overwhelming it can be.
