Social media - if you could only have one which would it be?

As someone who is not very good with social media I am hoping for some advice. If you could only have one piece of social media to help your shop which would it be?

lou

Good question, Louise. It can be hard to keep up with lots of different channels so quite a few people choose to only focus on one.

I think each social media channel has benefits and it depends what you’re looking for. For Folksy, Facebook is still the largest referrer and generates the most sales. (You can see the full social stats in our Folksy Charts of 2014.) However, Pinterest comes in a close second. As Lou Archell pointed out in our #folksyhour chat on Twitter last week, tweets are visible for a few minutes, Facebook posts for a few hours, but Pins are permanent.

Instagram is a great way to build a fanbase and become part of a community, and many designers like Little Birdy Crafts, Red Hand Gang use it successfully to drive sales too.

Twitter can be hard to get the hang of, but it’s a brilliant way to find out what’s happening, keep up to date, and build your network.

I would suggest using the one you feel most comfortable with. Have you tried any so far? Is there one you are drawn to more than the others?

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Facebook fr me all the way :smile:

I would like to try Instagram - but need time to get to grips with it, so it will have to wait until I’m through my current pile of commissions.

I’m on Twitter - I rarely use it as it annoys me being limited to how many character you can use - I’m gobby LOL!

That is interesting…I would probably go with Facebook.
I also use Twitter, Pinterest and, occasionally, Google+.

Instagram is my favourite at the moment. I get quite a bit of interaction with people and the hashtags work well too.

I would love Facebook to work for me, but I’ve not had much joy at all. I don’t get any interaction and sometimes only the odd view. I nearly cartwheel across the room if anyone likes a post I put up. My Dad always comments Bless him, but I just don’t understand how to attract potential customers.
I’m not going to give up though so if anyone has any helpful tips it would be most appreciated :yum:

Karen

Twitter for me, though I’d like to keep my blog too :slight_smile:

Twitter is dreadful I hate it.

Facebook well that’s not great as Facebook want us to pay so are posts only reach about 1% if that of our likers.

I prefer pinterest and Google+ myself as I get a lot more interaction with comments, sharing, liking etc.

I’m worrying about Wanelo as they are about to offer buying through them which will cost far more. They’re already done that to those from the American site that use it. They are not letting their posts show up as much. I guess they’ll do the same for us Folksy users at some point in the future.

I love Facebook the most, I post several times a day, have 1200 likers and a reach of at least 1000 per week. The secret is sharing your posts on relevant groups - for me that is dolls house and art groups. Posts need to be engaging and interesting with no reference to sales or prices in the post itself. I put shop links in the first comment.

I like instagram for its ability to make phone photos look good. I then share the same photo on my fb page, which has had the effect of turning my fb page into a more bloggy style. I like that, it has a friendly feel rather than hard sell.

And I’m trying to remember to include hashtags on my fb posts because I have fb set up to tweet automatically to save time. I’m not fond of twitter tbh.

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Instagram as I love chatting to the people on there, and of course, the awesome photos,!
I have a genuine love for dogs and have engaged with many like minded people. This is the only place I’ve managed to get some sales from. But, this week and last has been dead for me😢

I’ve noticed over the past few days that I have a serious problem here. According to Google Analytics I’ve only ever had one referral from my Facebook Page to Folksy, despite the fact that I post regularly and always quote my link in the comments. Most of the traffic on my Folksy page seems to come from direct searches or from other Folksy pages. Something isn’t working, but I’m not sure what. Any ideas welcome!

Love Sam :fish:

I don’t like the fact one requires a smart phone to use instagram. I don’t have a smart phone nor do I want one.

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I was under the impression you could use Instagram from a PC or laptop. I may be wrong though!

I’d say instagam for me at the moment I haven’t been on there for long.
But I have purchased a few items from people I follow hope this will turn so I can have some sales soon. :blush:

Thank you, for the link :smile: I’ll get my IT person to have a look and see if it’s compatable with my laptop.

Does anyone know if they’ve also changed their very doggy Terms and Conditions?

Facebook for me too at the mo. If you use it well and you keep the comments, likes and shares coming then the post reach is fine. It’s a bit of a myth that you need to pay to get the reach. Some days Facebook is a bit naughty and limits the reach, but it soon recovers. It’s just understanding the balance on there.

I’m dragging myself into the 21st century and getting a cheap smart phone (with quite a high mega pixel camera). It’s not that I’m a technophobe, I’ve just been happy with my old phone. But Instagram seems a good marketing tool for me because I like to curate my Facebook page with interesting pics, and Instagram doesn’t seem quite as blatantly marketed as an ‘ideas’ site like Pinterest is, so I shouldn’t get my blood boiling because my photos can’t be pinned onto ‘mosaic idea’ or ‘must make this’ boards like on Pinterest. I feel like posting under those pins, ‘let me know when you do so I can send the copyright lawyers round’ :wink:

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Facebook for me as well at the moment, even though I get quite annoyed sometimes with it, for only showing my posts to like 10-20% of my likers, but it still generate a fair amount of sale:)
I’ve been on Twitter and Pinterest for 3months now and just can’t get the hang of it, got a few view from there, but don’t think it ended up in sales.

Also Instagram I do NOT like, people praising it sooo much, but don’t like that you cannot upload pics from laptop. Got a good camera and take all my picture with it, but Instagram is forcing me to use my rubbish phone camera what i don’t like:))

I currently use:
Facebook with 889 likes
Twitter with 4,285 followers
Pinterest with 4,212 followers
Tumblr with 91 followers
Flicr with 12 followers
Instagram with 132 followers

So for me it would have to be twitter and I also like that chat on twitter too as I don’t only post about my items.

I know in the USA you can’t copyright a design but you can patent it or apply for TradeMark. So you’ll need to patent your design or have it under your Trade Mark in order to go after those who you believe are copying your designs in America.

Copyright is only for the written down word, written down music, and artwork so books, your descriptions, song words, poems, your drawing and painting etc etc.

Facebook works well for me as a business, I like the relaxed nature of it and that it is image based , it is proving quite a good source of income.

Not tried instagram as haven’t had time to explore it properly.
Twitter moves too fast and I don’t have time in the day to sit and chat.
Love Pinterest as a resource, but not found it useful as a selling tool. (although I have bought via there - so it does work for some)

I like Twitter and as a user love Pinterest - I’ve next to no followers though!!
Ali