How do you follow businesses? Over the years, so many new technology outlets have emerged. The days of newspaper and radio stations have made their way out, ushering in social media sites to bring up-to-the-minute news and updates.
When Fleur de Chic opened in 2010 we thought, how should we reach everyone? Of course we did like any other business and got an ad in the telephone book (does anyone use those anymore), along with several newspaper and radio ads. While these brought in clients, we knew we still were not reaching our full audience potential.
This is when a client mentioned Facebook pages to me. It was still relatively new, and considered a “fan” page (www.facebook.com/fleurdechic). Once we were up and running on there we noticed an even larger interaction with our clients. From there we could post daily, new arrivals, deals and more. Honestly, social media has played a huge roll in our growth as a business. I don’t know where we would be without it.
A few years later a new company came out, called Instagram. We immediately hopped on it, knowing the current success Facebook had given us. Instagram, though very similar to Facebook, lets you get out in front of your audience and showcase your merchandise, and create your audience based around your hashtags. If I want to display new jewelry opposed to handbags, and I can cater just to that with specific hashtags, such as #jewelry, #instajewelry, ect. Its through these practices that we have been able to turn over a higher volume of sales.
Don’t limit yourself! Take advantage of other sites as well. There is pinterest, twitter, and don’t rule out snapchat…its great for businesses as well. Your goal is to reach as many people as possible.
Twitter has really come a long way in the way of business promotion. Through uses of ads, check-ins with foursquare and twit-pics, its an excellent source of marketing.
Who does your business cater to? Is it women, men, children? Find your niche and then specialize in it. We are a women focused store, which is why the other social media site we are apart of is Pinterest. The amazing interest in this sight is overwhelming. Create different boards to market each of your individual posts. For instance, we have ours separated by seasons.
Last but not least, you MUST have a website to drive them back to, even if you are a brick and mortar shop. Get out there today and search for ways to grow yourself. Please leave comments on different ways you like to promote!
True, this is not easy. It would be much easier for me to contact the local paper and have them run a simple weekly ad. But, as the saying goes: anything that’s worth having is worth the work to have it. I’m glad I work hard for my customers, and I hope that it shows to them. In this day and age, people can spend their money at numerous other stores and for them to choose me is a huge appreciation.
Fleur de Chic 
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