hello. I was just wondering what people’s views were on instagram as regards sharing images etc.
Are you concerned that your images/ideas may be used or do you just look upon it as free tool to reach potential customers and focus on the benefits of such a popular platform? @folksycontent
thanks for any comments.
Personally it doesn’t bother me. I think using any social media there’s always the risk that someone will copy- but as the world of social media is so huge if you do get copied to be honest I see it as more of a compliment.
I find Instagram really good for people actually acknowledging where they got the original idea/photo from as well.
Unless someone starts making thousands from copying my designs it doesn’t bother me. I find it difficult to know when something is an original thought these days anyway! Haha
thanks so much for this - really appreciate it.
No worries. Just my opinion though so others may see it very differently.
About a year ago a friend of mine contacted me saying they had come across someone who was doing work strangely similar to mine about a month after each of my prints. I checked it out, just out of curiosity and there was definitely a similarity in terms of topic and style. But it didn’t last. A couple of months later the person had changed completely and was doing something quite different. I think if the ideas aren’t originally yours it’s actually quite difficult to keep it up- and becomes a bit of a chore & is really unnatural.
cheers - it’s difficult to know what to do but people could just take ideas/images from online shops anyway.
Yep they could. To be honest I always feel like I get more from it than not. I have met some really interesting people that way and have also made some sales. So it’s a win-win for me.
And Instagram as a whole- I really like the community- I find it very conversational and friendly & enjoy it for that. Though my Instagram isn’t just all my artwork. It’s just my life in general- my allotment, my bunny, places I go. All sorts really. My artwork is probably just a quarter of it and even then it’s in phases. It’s my preferred social media.
thanks susannah - that’s what i’ve been thinking. i have only just started on IG and have had some nice comments and chats already.
Hi All! Good to hear your interest in Social media marketing.
A small business can use the social media to tap the “niche” users. Depending on the products on offer and the target audience, you need to aptly plan your social media campaign to get maximum potential buyers to your estore - build that traffic to your business.
Remember the following:
Select appropriate networks - FB, Twitter & Instagram work best if you have a good number of followers. But if you don’t have that number, its best to start with product discovery networks like Pinterest / Wanelo / Fancy /Shopcade. They have MILLIONS of users who like to explore new products, and could give your small business the appropriate start.
Use proper hashtags - For your campaigns to hit the right audience (your potential customers), its most important that you use proper hashtags
Engage your customers - present as well as potential - Keep the information flowing, continuously! Like new product launches, sale offers, time bound discounts, etc. The customers should be receiving regular updates so that your “small business” grows and becomes a “brand” to be reckoned with. This is possible with top of mind recall through repeated social media marketing campaigns.
The more is your reach / promotion, greater is the traffic to your site, larger is the number of potential buyers you are able to garner for your estore and hence higher is the probability of conversion to sales!
You can use Social media marketing aiding apps to make this experience easy for you. Outfy app (www.outfy.com Social media marketing, management, analytics for e-commerce) can be a good option, as you only need to connect your store and your networks once, and then just plan out the campaigns. Its easy, quick and effective - as scheduling can be done well in advance - even for time slots when you are maybe not even at your desk! Its available to try out for free, without any monthly commitment. Even the “paid” options are very reasonable. They have the unique “pay per use” concept - so you get the best value for your money, at a huge time saving!
Must try!
Thank you for some great advice!
Sara
Great thread Julie, not read all the comments yet, still working my way through them.
I joined Folksy a couple of years ago and never really interacted with it and obviously nothing happened and I got disheartened. This time around I am being a lot more proactive and interacting with different forums as well as being more active on FB and Twitter. And loving it. Not generated any sales yet (but its only been a couple of weeks) but the traffic to my shop and FB and Twitter accounts is growing slowly. So fingers crossed that elusive Folksy sale will come soon.
I’m finding the advice on here and other forums is great and keeps my momentum up and after reading some of the above I will be checking out Instagram and Pinterest this week.
Thanks everyone.
Sharon
Hi Sharon
Glad you’ve found this helpful. It’s been about 8 months now since I started using social media to promote and you definitely get out of it what you put in!! If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s stick with it. Even at the beginning when you think you are just talking to yourself you never know where it may actually lead.
Try to join in with some groups you are actually interested in and promote on sites like British Crafters and HMUK.
Your work is wonderful and I’ve liked your FB page!! Best of luck to you!! - Are you on instagram?
Thanks Julie, I used to use HMUK but found it was just likes for likes but will definitely get back into it. I’ve just joined British Crafters on Fb so will need to get stuck into that too.
Thanks again
Sharon
I’ve never found HMUK to do like for likes!! Plenty of others do and that’s not for me either!!
You are most welcome Sara. So register on https://www.outfy.com/partners/folksy, and try out the Outfy application for yourself. Mail me the registration details on meenal.malik@outfy.com and I will add-on additional free credits to your account so that you can 'play around" with the application to your full satisfaction.
Regards / Meenal
I think I meant Hike Those Likes not HMUK. Must give HMUK a go. So many names and sites my heads mince lol
I know what you mean!!! lol xx