Learn how developing an effective social media strategy can make it easier than ever to attract and retain customers.

But before you start creating social media profiles and social media posts, there are some things you should know about marketing your screen printing business on social media.

What to Post on Social Media to Promote Your Screen Printing Shop

As with any type of marketing, you should have clear goals and strategies when it comes to social media marketing. Know who your target customer is. Know which social media outlets your target customers are most likely to use. And know what posts your likely customers will find most valuable.

Perhaps the most important element of your social media marketing strategy is your content. Avoid the temptation to use social media to solicit orders and advertise sales. While you can have occasional calls to action, and you certainly want to let your social media followers know about current specials, posting what feels like a constant barrage of ads can annoy your customer base and lose you followers.

Social media content should be informative and interactive. You want to engage your customer base and give them a personal feel for your business and brand. When you plan your social media posts, there are a few questions to keep in mind:

  • Will the post support your social media marketing goals?
  • Does the post provide value to your customers?
  • Is the post in line with your brand image and marketing message?

In addition to having quality content, your social media posts should be visual. Every post should include a visual, like a photo, infographic, meme or video, to attract your followers’ attention. Live video has become the most recent trend in social media. Some sites, like Periscope, are devoted only to live streaming, but more traditional social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have also embraced the medium. Live videos can be Q-and-A’s, a meet and greet with one of your team members or a live demo of something you’re working on.

Remember that your social media posts can be completely on point, but it doesn’t help to spread the work about your brand or improve your shop’s image if no one is seeing those posts. Make sure you make good use of hashtags and post titles so people searching topics relevant to your post or your business can find you. You can also promote social media efforts on one platform from another one of your accounts. You can have a Facebook post promoting your latest YouTube video, or you can send out a Tweet alerting your Twitter followers to an upcoming Facebook live stream.

Finally, make sure you’re reviewing your social media content and making adjustments to your strategy as needed. Most social media sites allow you to see your page’s analytics. This will help you keep track of how many people are seeing your posts and which types of posts are getting the most views, clicks and reposts. When you have that information, you can create more of the types of posts that are popular with your followers.

Where to Focus Your Social Media Marketing Efforts

Where you promote your business on social media is just as important as the content. The social media platforms you focus your marketing on will depend on your target customer profile. Different social media platforms attract users of different age groups and different genders. If you know the type of content you’re looking to share with your target customers, you’ll have to determine which social media platform works best for that type of content.

While it seems like new social media platforms are emerging every day, there is a core of social media platforms you should consider using when you develop your social media strategy.

Facebook

You probably know that Facebook should be a part of your social media marketing strategy. A full 79 percent of internet users in the United States have Facebook accounts. While the age of the average Facebook user does skew a little older than some other social media platforms, demographics are fairly evenly spread through every age group.

Your Facebook posts should start with a visual and feature a concise and informative written description. You also can take advantage of Facebook Live, and post content that encourages users to weigh in. The more your followers interact with your information, the higher your content will rank in their newsfeeds.

Instagram

Instagram has quickly become one of the most popular media sites, with 600 million users, or 32 percent of internet users. Instagram users tend to be younger; 53 percent of users are 18 to 29, while 25 percent of users are 30 to 49. Instagram is about real-world visual content; photos should be either candid or casually put together. Instagram is an ideal medium for shops that focus on the art or fashion aspects of screen printing because it allows those shops to display their work in a young, fun and artistic way.

Pinterest

When promoting products, Pinterest is the place to be. Pinterest provides users with visual inspiration, and one click on a Pinterest picture directs potential customers directly to your page. With 31 percent of American internet users on Pinterest, those visual links can direct a lot of eyes to your product and services, and internet users who visit your site via Pinterest are 10 percent more likely to make a purchase than visitors from other social media platforms.

Twitter

Twitter is famous for its brevity; businesses have 140 characters to capture the attention of potential customers. Twitter has seen a decline in popularity, but it’s still utilized by 29 percent of internet users.

The attraction to Twitter for businesses is the demographics: The medium is heavily used by millennials, the generation that currently holds the most buying power. The goal with a Twitter post is to make followers stop and think enough to notice your business or your content.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn focuses on professional networking, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used to help you find customers. With 450 million user profiles, and 24 percent of American internet users active on the site, there are plenty of customers to be found on LinkedIn. LinkedIn can be especially helpful if your screen printing shop focuses on selling business-to-business. Using LinkedIn, you can connect yourself to businesses in your area or in a certain industry, and informative posts can help direct potential business customers to you.

YouTube

YouTube now serves as the second largest search engine. There are 1 billion YouTube users, and more adults under 50 now view YouTube more than cable TV. However, it can be challenging to generate enough content for a lively YouTube channel. The medium is widely popular for how-to style videos and behind-the-scenes looks.

How to Deploy Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

The biggest mistake you can make with your social media strategy is not taking the time to make it just that: a strategy. Identify which platforms you’ll use and set a schedule for posting content. You can use a physical calendar to write out your social media plan, or you can employ one of the many social media schedulers that are available online.

Taking the time to plan your strategy will ensure that your strategy supports your overall marketing goals. You can give yourself time to plan holiday-related or seasonal posts, promote any sales, specials or events you have going on, and cover all of the information you want to share with your customers. Carve out time each week or month to plan your social media posts. And be sure to regularly review your social media strategy and your analytics so you can be sure that your social media strategy supports your overall marketing strategy.

Looking for some more tips on how to develop your screen printing business’s web presence? Check out this blog post:

How to Effectively Market Your Screen Printing Business Online

Or download our eBook: A Guide to Successfully Marketing Your Screen Printing Business