Whether you hate it or love it, social media is everywhere — so how can you use social media to grow your online boutique?

In this blog post, we’ll discuss the most important things to consider before you create a strategy for social media. And what you should be doing to grow your business—without getting overwhelmed by all the platforms out there. 

First things first, creating and managing your social media accounts is a full time job. 

For real, ‘Social Media Manager’ is a real career. So if you ever feel overwhelmed with social media + running your business, it’s not your fault.

As a matter of fact, I created the Social Media Made Easy 31-day reusable content calendar for that exact reason. Click here to learn more.

What is social media?

Social media refers to online platforms and websites that enable individuals, communities, and organizations to create, share, and exchange information, ideas, and multimedia content in virtual networks and communities.

These platforms facilitate social interaction and communication by allowing users to connect with others, share text, photos, videos, and other media in real-time or asynchronously.

Social media platforms vary widely in their features and purposes, catering to diverse interests and communication needs. Users can engage in various activities, such as posting updates, commenting on posts, liking content, and participating in online discussions.

Social media has become an integral part of our modern digital culture, it influences how people communicate, share experiences, and stay informed about current events, trends, and developments around the world.

Additionally, it has opened up new opportunities for businesses, influencers, and organizations to connect with their audiences, promote products and services, and build online communities, making it a powerful tool for both personal and professional purposes.

With billions of active daily users every day, you can totally find your online boutique’s target customer on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest and more.

How to use social media to grow your online boutique

1. Get clear on your target customer

When you understand your target customer, then you’ll be able to plan and create content that she cares about.

Not sure how to figure out who your target customer is? Click here to read more. 

The clearer you are about who you’re selling to, the easier it will be to choose the platforms that can have the most impact on your growing business. 

That way,  you don’t have to live on Instagram, make a hundred videos for YouTube, pin for hours a day and dance around on TikTok (unless you want to). 

2. Choose the right platform

Focus on social media platforms that align with your target audience. For example, Instagram and Pinterest are great for visually appealing products, while Facebook is versatile and has a broad user base.

Each platform attracts distinct user demographics and offers different types of engagement, making it essential to align your business goals and target audience with the platform’s strengths.

When starting an online boutique, you should focus your efforts on one to two channels where you know your customer will be actively engaged. That’s the best way to make social media for online boutique work for you—instead of endlessly chasing the latest platform, fads or trends). 

As an online boutique owner, one of your biggest assets is time. There’s a lot to do and—if you’re working alone—not a lot of extra hands to make it happen. So you want to be strategic with how you spend your time. That means you can’t waste it on platforms that your target customer doesn’t frequent.

3. Create engaging, high-quality visual content

Now that you know what platforms you need to focus on, you need to create engaging content. 

Success leaves clues, so I always recommend making a list of 5-10 bigger online boutiques that serve a similar customer.

This will give you some insight into how they’re marketing on social media. Pay attention for a few weeks, especially during big sale seasons and see what lessons you pick up. 

If it’s on Instagram, that could be how they structure their captions, what designs perform the best or how active they are on things like stories and reels. 

Content is everything. Invest in high-quality photos and videos showcasing your products. High-resolution images and engaging videos can create a strong impression and encourage potential customers to follow you and to make a purchase.

People have to be attracted to what you share before they can become a customer. And platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest are ways to share as much content as possible to get in front of as many potential customers as possible. 

These platforms all have a goal of making users stay on as long as possible. So you want to create content that gets the likes, saves, shares and follows. That’s how you’ll be able to reach more and more people. 

Want to grow your online boutique using Instagram? Learn how to grow your audience and get more followers so that you can make more sales. 

4. Collaborate and partner with influencers

Most of these platforms operate with algorithms that reward people who are (1) already popular and consistent or (2) use the newest feature the platform is currently promoting. 

So you want to make sure that you’re creating content your target customer would be attracted to and engage with. And that you’re showing up consistently where your audience is likely to search. 

You want everything you do on social media to have the most impact and reach more people, especially when it comes to creating content. 

The great thing is that you don’t have to create the content all by yourself. You can outsource it to other content creation companies or even work with influencers to create amazing content and share it with their audience too. Collaborate with influencers and other businesses in your niche. Influencer marketing can significantly expand your reach and credibility.

5. Engage with your audience

Respond promptly to customer inquiries and comments. Engage with your audience by asking questions, running polls, and encouraging user-generated content. Personalized interactions create a loyal customer base.

6. Run social media ads (paid advertising) to grow your online boutique

As I mentioned before, managing social media for your online boutique is literally a full time job. 

Organic reach isn’t what it used to be.

And if you’re busy chasing all the latest trends or trying to keep up with the algorithm changes, you’ll find yourself on these platforms for hours every single day swiping and posting and sharing — while neglecting the other aspects of your business.

So what can you do to make it simpler to grow your online boutique using social media? Run ads. 

The majority of the popular social media platforms also offer paid advertising. It’s the quickest way to consistently get your business in front of the most people. So you should be setting a monthly budget for your advertising spend. 

That will help all the content you create and promotions you make reach a wider audience—and get you more followers, fans and customers. 

Facebook and Instagram are the largest platforms out right now. And have the most consistent ad platforms. So you should be familiar with how to use both to grow your online boutique, use social media for online boutique. 

As an online boutique owner, social media is a powerful tool to grow your audience and customer base. Make sure you know who your target customer is (so that you know which platforms to focus on), what content she’d likely engage with and that you’re using ads to have even more impact. 

Remember, you don’t have to do it all. But you should be strategic in how you use social media to grow your online boutique.