Having an online presence is more crucial than ever! Navigating social media can be intense for people who may not understand how it works, but HOJ is here to help! We’ve put together a list of social media tips and best practices for jewellers to navigate the Wild West that is the internet.
1. Learn Everything About Your Target Audience
Our first of many social media tips is one of the most crucial: Know your target audience – and as much about them as possible.
Think of the 5 Ws + H. Who’s buying from you, who could be buying from you, where do they live, what sites do they visit, what aesthetics do they like – the list goes on. Know as much as you can to better address them and their needs.
2. Find the Right Platform
You can’t just expect every platform to work – unless it will. Know who your demographic is and where they spend their time online. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are the big three, but their audiences are vastly different. LinkedIn doesn’t use social media the same way Pinterest does, and thus there isn’t a lot of overlap between who uses these and for what.
3. Set Goals
Don’t post just for the sake of posting. Figure out what you want out of social media and work towards that. Want to increase brand awareness? Gain new followers? Determine your audience and work towards those goals through that information.
4. Take Clear Photos and Videos
This isn’t necessarily a tip so much as it is a fact, but one of our most important social media tips is to make sure your content is clear. After all, how else are your customers going to see what you’re selling? You want to show off the details, what makes it special, etc., and that can be hard to do if the content is too blurry or not properly lit.
The best way to do this is to keep your phone or camera steady and to use either studio lighting or natural light. Studio lighting is great if you have the budget, but if not, any window that gets a good amount of light will work well.
If you don’t have a chance to do so, HOJ does offer some HD Images of our products for our customers to use on social media. We do ask that customers tag us in our photos they use.
5. Write Engaging & Informative Captions
Your captions should let customers know what it is they’re looking at and encourage them to either interact with the post or purchase the product (of course, both are ideal). Typically a line or two works but if you need to make a fact-packed paragraph then go ahead. Again, it has to be interesting, so any way you can maintain short attention spans in a world chock-full of information is key.
6. Use the Appropriate Hashtags
Hashtags are great and all when they work, but if you don’t use them correctly you may not get the results you want. Find what hashtags are relevant to your business, see what your competitors are doing, and see what trending hashtags you can apply to your posts. Remember to always use a mix of different hashtags so your content ends up in both the most popular categories and less-frequented.
As far as social media tips go, this is one you’re going to need to experiment with. The popular hashtags with more posts will allow some people to see your content and help with the algorithm, but it will eventually get lost in the sea of content. The less popular ones may not get as many views, but there’s a better chance it’ll end up in either the most popular images for those hashtags or close to the top pictures.
7. Post Appropriately
Posting three times in one hour one day and then not posting at all for the next month isn’t going to help much. You want to balance your posting schedule according to what time most of your followers are online and what the most popular hours for social media use are.
As well, find out the appropriate number of times to post content per platform. Most people would agree on posting no more than three times a day for Instagram and no more than two for LinkedIn. Meanwhile, Facebook and Twitter are always being debated in terms of what’s okay and what’s spammy.
8. Schedule Your Posts
Scheduling your posts helps not only save you time, but keep you consistent. While sites like Twitter and Tumblr are great for off-the-cusp and real-time updates, Instagram and Facebook really do rely on the consistency of regulated content – especially if you’re trying to maintain an aesthetic (not that it’s necessarily wrong to do otherwise).
There are tons of different scheduling platforms out there – both in mobile and desktop modes. Many free versions offer limited features, but that’s enough to get you started until you’re ready to invest.
HOJ recommends:
- Hootsuite
- Ideal for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- Planoly
- Ideal for Instagram and Pinterest
- Later
- Ideal for Instagram and Twitter
9. Link Appropriately
This may not seem important, but linking appropriately is something that needs to be addressed. Spamming links, not hyperlinking or shortening links, and posting multiple links per post are faux-pas.
Websites like Linktree, Campsite, and Tap Bio are just a few of the many options that will allow you to add extra links to single-link bios by creating a mini landing page for all your sites. You won’t have to worry about constantly changing links or deciding which to prioritize.
As well, make sure you either hyperlink or shorten a link so it’s easier on the eyes. While this tends to be more for blog-based platforms, it still applies when working with sites like Hootsuite and Later.
10. Tailor Your Content for Each Platform
This is another one of our important social media tips. As mentioned before, each platform has a different audience and each one expects something different from said platforms. What works on Facebook may not work on Instagram and what works on TikTok most likely won’t on LinkedIn. Tailor your content appropriately to maximize your results.
That being said, sometimes there is overlap, but you need to be mindful of how it works.
11. Update Stories as Often as Possible
Just about every social media platform has some sort of stories, snapshots, or the platform’s version of what Snapchat was original. These are short, temporary bits of content that are one of the most used features. Some people share posts they recently uploaded, others share behind the scenes or multi-story videos. It all depends on your brand and how you want to approach your audience.
12. Try Reels
Reels is one of – if not THE – most used features on Instagram today. This is where the most eyeballs are, and because of that, you’re going to want to focus a lot of energy on this resource. Take a look at what your competitors are doing, watch trending videos and see what you can apply to your brand, and of course, have fun with it.
13. Credit Where Credit is Due
This should go without saying, but if you use someone else’s work you should always ask (unless otherwise stated) and give credit (unless otherwise stated). Most artists will ask for either a link to their work or a mention/tag somewhere in the caption. Always clarify before moving forward.
That being said, there are tons of free content on royalty-free creative commons websites that state credit and donations are optional.
14. Be Social
They don’t call it social media for nothing. Engage with your audience, respond whenever someone DMs you or comments on your content, share any stories or posts peoples tag you in – whatever you do, don’t be silent.
15. Understand Analytics
Want to create more engaging content? Look at what your audience is telling you through analytics. You can see what posts did well, which ones didn’t, and how people found you. This information is key to getting your content noticed by potential customers.
16. Be Aware of What’s Happening Around You
Sometimes it’s easy to be absorbed in your own bubble. Life happens. However, you need to be aware of what’s happening not only in your industry, but society as well. As a brand or company with a platform, people might look to you to see what you say about what’s happening. Even if you don’t comment on something, at least be aware in the event someone asks you about it.
17. Have Fun With It
Social media isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Have fun with it! Take photos, post fun captions, share what happens behind the scenes – do what feels right.
