Social media is undoubtedly a great way to increase brand awareness and raise the visibility of your business and products, but many clothing boutique owners are frustrated by the high level of competition they are up against.
Add to that, the fact that big retailers have a lot of money to spend, and small clothing boutiques owners can feel as though they are fighting a losing battle to be noticed.
The good news is that it is entirely possible for clothing boutiques to build a brand, gain followers, and even sell their clothing products online. Using the correct social media platform will be essential to gain a foothold, so let’s see what you should be using.
Instagram is a go-to for many smaller retailers who wish to sell clothing, their own designs, or handmade products online. Instagram is fairly intuitive to use, covers an almost equal mix of male-female users, and caters to a broad demographic of Millennial and Gen Z users. Taking photos of products is something that many clothing boutique owners do naturally, so adding these pictures to Instagram is a relatively simple next step.
However, the photos used will need to be original, clear, and high quality.
Selling products on Instagram has been made even easier of late with the addition of their shop function. Products can be tagged in feeds and videos and users can shop directly from your Instagram page, and with the added analytics that Instagram includes with their platform, it can be really easy to determine what is working.
Facebook has come under heavy criticism for moving its platform towards paid advertising for businesses. Organic reach on Facebook has dwindled to almost zero, leaving many clothing boutique owners wondering if using it is worth the effort. The truth is that Facebook is still useful for local business growth and making connections with customers. It is especially useful if you are targeting an older demographic of 50+ but you may have to be prepared to throw some money into ads and boosted posts.
As a social media platform, Twitter is the leader in connecting people to brands. It doesn’t offer the same sort of functionality as Instagram, but it can still be helpful to your clothing boutique. While you may not make many sales on Twitter, the platform can be really useful for building brand awareness and connecting with your potential customers. Twitter caterers to a wide user base and includes some influential high earners who could propel your brand forward so it is worth interacting and making some quality connections.
TikTok
Video content is big news. Over 80% of internet users now consume video on a daily basis and many prefer to digest information in video format over other forms of content. TikTok became popular with younger users but it would be a mistake to dismiss it as a younger person’s platform. People from all backgrounds are signing up for accounts daily and many young brands have managed to gain a fast and successful foothold on TikTok as it is not as saturated as other platforms.
Linkedin is an amazing platform for making B2B connections. A huge number of users with a high proportion of business owners and CEOs make this the platform where the money is. However, operating a clothing boutique means that you are likely selling direct to customers, making your business B2C. As Linkedin is primarily a B2B platform it probably won’t work well for clothing promotion. While some larger brands may be successful on Linkedin smaller companies may not be a great fit for the platform and other social media channels might be better suited.
What content should I post for my clothing boutique?
It was mentioned earlier in the article but any content you post has to be of the best possible quality. Anything that is posted to your social media channels will be reflective of your clothing boutique, so low-quality images will not show you in the best light.
Content that shows the human face of your business can be highly effective at attracting new followers as well as driving engagement. People like to do business with people they know so showing yourself or your staff as the face of the company can bring positive results.
Sharing content of this nature can be done with things like staff bios or sharing content that goes behind the scenes of your business. Give users a first-hand look at your processes, successes, or challenges.
Interactive content is also helpful for engaging users. Polls, Q&A sessions, or asking your audience for suggestions shows that you are interested in what your followers have to say and can generate loyalty.
Free offers, deals, discounts, and giveaways are all fantastic for attention-grabbing. Create posts around your offer and ask your audience to share them for even further reach. If you can connect with an influencer or people who have a substantial following this can elevate your own number of followers or connections very quickly.
What if I don’t have time to post content?
Social media for business marketing is an undeniably powerful tool, but it does take time. Crafting engaging content and keeping up with a posting schedule can be really challenging if running a clothing boutique is taking up the bulk of your time you may be wondering how you can manage a positive social media presence.
Scheduling tools and programs like Canva can be helpful, but you still have to make the posts, write captions, and decide on hashtags to use. For this reason, a high percentage of clothing boutique owners outsource their account management to a professional social media marketing service.
For a monthly fee, a professional team of designers and customer service agents will ensure that your accounts remain filled with beautifully crafted, on-brand social media posts. Many companies will encourage the use of your own media so if you have a stockpile of photos from your clothing boutique these can be shared and used to generate posts for your business.
Using an external social media service can be a great solution that frees up time and allows your energy to be directed toward the running of your clothing boutique while your social accounts are handled behind the scenes.
How do I pick a social media management company?
Do some research and look for businesses with a healthy social media presence and a strong following. In addition, investigate things like reviews and testimonials to gauge their level of customer satisfaction. Any good social media management service that you wish to partner with should be able to provide you with examples of their work so that you can see the kind of quality you can expect to receive for your clothing boutique posts.
If a company has zero reviews and is unable to provide work samples, then beware, it likely means that they are a brand new operator with little experience, or that something else is amiss. Check pricing and small print to understand any contractual obligations or extra fees and make sure you understand what you are agreeing to, better yet, find a social media management service that offers month-to-month pricing with no commitment.
Verify communications channels and agree on turnaround times in advance so you are not left hanging with questions unanswered or social feeds left sitting empty. Many established companies offer communication options via live chat, helpdesk tickets, or email to keep the dialogue flowing openly.
Contact Smarcomms today for your social media account management and get high-quality posts for your clothing boutique.