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Creating a Social Media Plan as a Seller

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Why use Social Media to grow your subscription box business

To effectively use social media to grow your business, you must understand: 

  • What content is most compelling to your target audience
  • When your target audience is most active on social media 

Social media is, in general, important for most businesses in order to engage with customers and build a brand voice. 

Subscription box businesses rely heavily on social media platforms to:

  • Build communities surrounding their products and experiences
  • Retain current customers
  • Reach new customers
  • Gather information about customer wants and needs 

Social media groups and pages give businesses the ability to be part of a customer’s everyday life. 

A current subscriber may not pull up your Cratejoy Listing every month to read about the upcoming box and the value or experience it may provide. However, that same subscriber is likely to see a post from a page or group they follow on social media. 

Curating and creating content designed to get a response from your followers is the best way to keep current subscribers engaged and reach new customers.

Social Media for Subscription Boxes: Pinterest

Pinterest might just be the underdog of social media marketing platforms. Many businesses do not focus any of their social media efforts on Pinterest, even though this platform’s design is uniquely suited for online advertising.

Pinterest has (as of Q2 in 2021) 454 MILLION active users. The audiences that utilize Pinterest are diverse, and content created on this platform will show up in user feeds months after originally being posted.

Pinterest introduced features during 2020 that made it easier for their users to shop online. This resulted in a 300% increase in add-to-cart and checkout attributed conversions.

Read more about Pinterest:

Social Media for Subscription Boxes: TikTok 

TikTok is more than just Gen Z and dancing videos!* 59% of TikTok’s user base is over the age of 25 and it is an easy-to-use, affordable platform for marketing to niche audiences. This platform’s popularity is ever-increasing and it currently ranks 7th in number of active users on a social media platform worldwide.

TikTok has leaned into the importance of presenting an authentic self (as opposed to the curated nature of other social media platforms) and that is evidenced by the quirky, genuine content that often goes viral and spills out to other platforms like Reddit and Facebook. 

Read more about TikTok: 

*Disclaimer: we like both Gen Z and dancing videos! 

Social Media for Subscription Boxes: Facebook & Instagram

Facebook and Instagram are two of the most used platforms used for Social Media engagement and advertising (and for good reason)! We have lots of tips on what to post and when to post it on these platforms in the next section of this post.

However, you may be missing out by not posting and advertising on other social media platforms.

Research your audience to determine whether Pinterest, TikTok, or another platform would be beneficial for your business. 

Ultimately, every subscription box business is unique and social media marketing should reflect that. Find out where your audience is and then devise a plan to market where they will be sure to run across your content.

Pro tip: focus your efforts. It can be tempting to create pages for your business on many social media platforms, but it is best to be realistic about the time and effort it will take to create content and engage your audience thoughtfully. Above all: make sure you have a plan that is achievable and actionable.

What to Post

Consider these guidelines when creating Holiday content for social media: 

  • Feature behind-the-scenes videos
    • Build trust with your brand and resonate with your customers on an authentic level by giving your audience a peek behind the curtain.
    • Photos or — even better — videos of how your products are made or assembled is a fun and interactive way to engage and pique follower interest 
  • Connect via employee content & takeovers
    • Form connections and build trust with your followers by showing them the team behind the box!
      • Who makes up your company?
      • What are their interests?
      • What do they love most about your company?
  • Tease sneak peeks
    • This is a MUST for the holiday season
    • Engage your audience by:
      • Creating images with enticing captions to tease special collections you are preparing for the holidays
      • Increasing post engagement by asking questions directly to your followers
      • Using polls to determine which products or themes are most exciting to your followers
  • Curate a cohesive feed
    • All of your posts should represent your brand voice
    • Curate your content based on your audience and products
    • Use a complimentary color palette that speaks to your brand
      • Examples:
        • A self-care subscription box may be more calming pastel tones
        • A children’s craft box may be more exciting primary colors
  • Be strategic in the Bio
    • All social media bios should be short & strategic
      • Consider including:
        • Website (if you have one!)
        • Link to CJ Marketplace Listing
        • A few sentences about what makes your business unique
        • Additional inspiration from Sprout Social can be found here.
        • Got too many links to feature in a small bio?
          • Consider using linktr.ee or a similar app to gather all your links in one convenient place  
  • Use hashtags
    • Use hashtags related to your products and content to boost engagement
      • Be specific!
        • Example: for a crafting box
          • #crafts #crafting #DIYgifts #DIY #craftkids
            • Reference the holiday in your hashtags
              • Example: #holidaygift #giftsformom
  • Use quality photos
    • Create posts designed to “STS” (Stop the Scroll)
      • Make your content stand out by using high-quality images
        • Especially during the content-heavy holiday season
          • Here’s a wonderful Hootsuite guide for taking optimal photos for your platform
  • Engage your community
    • Engaging with your audience is key to garner more traction and engagement with your handle
      • The more you follow, comment, and like, the more you will receive in return
    • We recommend increasing your engagement efforts during the Holiday Season
      • Be sure to strategically engage with like-minded businesses and audiences that would be drawn to your product
  • Appeal to your audience
    • Develop content that targets your audience
      • Don’t know who your audience is?
        • Evaluate past holidays and holiday products
        • Bring back high performing products and posts
        • Test out new strategies:
          • Run an interactive contest
          • Test out a new coupon code
          • Create a poll to gauge interest on certain products or themes 

When to Post

On Instagram: 

According to these studies by Sprout Social and Hubspot the best times to post on Instagram are:

  • Sunday: 8 AM – 2 PM
  • Monday: 11 AM – 2 PM
  • Tuesday: 10 AM – 3 PM, *7 PM
  • Wednesday: 7 AM – 4 PM (Engagement peaks at 11AM – 2PM)
  • Thursday: 10 AM – 2 PM, 6 – 7 PM
  • Friday: *9 AM – 2 PM
  • Saturday: 9 – 11 AM

On Facebook: 

According to Hubspot, posting on Facebook should be more curated and therefore less frequent. Think quality over quantity on this platform: “The goal is no longer to spray and pray — it’s to get as much interaction from a single post as possible.”

Captions and Copy

In addition to quality photos, quality copy is just as important for bringing your followers into the fold. Your social media captions are your opportunity to: 

  • Reinforce your voice and brand
  • Deepen your connection with your audience 
  • Accomplish sales or marketing goals
  • Insert a CTA (Call to Action) 

When creating your social media copy for the Holiday Season, be sure to understand the difference between the two major social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, and what captions work best for different industries and demographics. 

Best practices for Instagram captions:

  • Keep the important information first
  • Tell a story about your brand
  • Consider the structure of your captions
  • Ask questions to encourage engagement
  • Use emojis to show your personality
  • Include relevant hashtags
  • Use @ mentions to increase reach
  • Always include a call to action (CTA)

Best Practices for Facebook captions:

  • Tell stories. People remember stories!
  • Reflect on an experience
  • Post about trending topics
  • Post behind-the-scenes shots of your business
  • Post a live stream
  • Share memes
  • Review a product or service
  • Ask your audience a question

Schedule your Content 

The Holiday Shopping Season is fast approaching so be prepared with your promotional efforts. Plan to promote holiday specials and products through the last week of December.  A thoughtfully-planned calendar of social media content is an essential tool to grow your business this holiday season! 

Consider planning out your content in a strategic way that builds anticipation and excitement within your customer base. 

Here are our suggestions for effective tools to curate and schedule your content calendar. (Bonus: these tools help you automate your posts, so you can be more efficient with your valuable time.): 

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