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How to Use Your Furniture Store’s Social Media Page to Drive Online Sales

marketing strategies for furniture business

As consumer habits continue to evolve, retailers have had to shift their marketing strategies to encourage online sales. Having a strong social media presence is one of the most important marketing strategies for furniture retailers. Let’s discuss how you can drive online sales with a thorough understanding of your audience, a solid online presence and great social media content.

Research Your Audience

Before you start building your social media marketing strategy, you have to understand who you’re serving with those accounts. Decide who you want to target and who typically uses each social media platform.

Look at your existing customers. Make note of their:

  • Age range or generation
  • Location and time zone
  • Spending habits 
  • Income and education
  • Interests
  • Stage of life
  • Values, needs, or challenges
  • Social media habits
How to Use Your Furniture Store's Social Media Page to Drive Online Sales

Above: an example of some of the insights you can view for your business’s Facebook analytics

If your social media pages are set up as business accounts, you can get much of this information from their analytics. Then you can begin defining your target audience from this data. An example might be the following: 

“Our target market is educated parents 28-40 years old living in or around the city. They’re either starting or growing a family. They want high-quality, aesthetically pleasing furniture pieces that will last a lifetime, some of which they can pass down to their children. They use Instagram and Pinterest for home decor inspiration photos.” 

You can begin creating social media content that speaks to this target audience. You would craft family-friendly, highly visual content on Pinterest and Instagram.

Build a Strong Online Presence

Now that you know your target audience, you can begin strengthening your online presence for your furniture store. A strong online presence goes beyond regularly updated social media pages. You should have a good website as well, especially if your furniture store relies heavily on online sales.

What should you include on your website, aside from your furniture selection? View your website from a customer’s perspective. Consider the information they need to know in order to buy. That includes product-centric information like price, dimensions, care instructions, and so on. Invest in high-quality photography that accurately shows colors, fabrics and woodgrains. 

How to Use Your Furniture Store's Social Media Page to Drive Online Sales

Above: from Ikea, the anatomy of a great product page includes price, a description, views of options, availability, reviews, and lots of great photography and video

Your website will also include business-centric information, like how to contact you, the history of your store, delivery and return information, and much more. Make it easy for people to buy. Review your entire customer buying journey on your website to pinpoint any issues. Display your customer service contact information prominently.

Your online presence extends to business listings, such as Google My Business, and review sites. Claim these profiles wherever possible and keep the information up-to-date. Monitor them regularly and be prepared to respond quickly to questions or customer complaints. 

Produce Valuable Content

Whether it’s on your website or social media pages, you have to produce content in order to show up in search engines. The more content you produce in the form of blog posts or social media posts, the more often you’ll be shown to customers who are searching for furniture. Post often, and post content that’s valuable to your target audience.

Use content on your social media pages to lead people to your website and blog. For example, if you’re debuting a new furniture piece, share the product page link on Facebook and highlight its features in your caption. Or share photos of the product in different settings with different decor so your customers can “see” it in their space.

Provide Excellent Customer Service

Don’t forget the power of excellent customer service. Customers expect to interact with you through social media and they expect a response. This is a chance to show who you are as a company. 

If your social media followers ask questions on public posts or in direct messages, answer them as quickly as possible. You might go one step further and answer FAQs in an Instagram Live or Facebook Live session. Post how-to articles on your blog, or begin a series of how-to videos on YouTube. Focus on the platforms that your target audience prefers. 

Let ThumbStopper Help

Once you know your audience, you can tailor your online presence and social media content to excite, inform, and inspire your customers. Share valuable content that meets their needs, and watch your social media pages boost your furniture store’s sales.
If you need further help maintaining and posting content on your social media pages, try ThumbStopper. With our BrandManager™, we’ll help you automate your furniture store’s social media pages, working with brands to distribute high-quality content effectively. You choose a plan that suits your store’s needs and budget, and we’ll begin automating beautiful brand-curated content for you. Learn more about Thumbstopper’s retailer-focused social media services now.

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Key Points:

 

  • Companies should understand the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure their websites are accessible.
  • Brands that concentrate on accessibility on social media demonstrate care for their customers and build a positive brand reputation.
  • Brands should always consider inclusive design, such as plain, straightforward language, in their social media posts.

 

 

Accessibility may not be a term you usually associate with the internet and social media. You might picture wheelchair ramps, directional signs in braille, or sign language interpreters at live performances. The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 dictates the legal necessity of these and similar accommodations in public spaces. As we’ve come to rely on the internet for everything from entertainment to buying groceries, it’s become clear that the internet is now also a public space. It must be accessible to everyone. And like other applications of ADA, businesses that do not comply are liable for damages caused by inaccessibility.

 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international set of standards to provide instruction on meeting accessibility needs. It’s important for companies to understand how this applies to their websites, especially if they engage in e-commerce. In terms of social media, the requirements are less concrete. But prioritizing accessibility on your company’s social media is essential to your reputation, even if the legal requirements are uncertain. We’ll look at why it’s important to your customers, how it affects the perception of your brand, and how to make these changes efficiently.

Social Media for All

The cornerstone of accessibility is inclusive design: products or experiences that are accessible for everyone regardless of disability. The most important place where this shows up is on company websites where most users expect to also find links to the brand’s social media profiles. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of websites are not accessible, despite the fact that the application of ADA to the internet is over 20 years old. Making websites accessible is a complex process without the use of specialized software like Accessibe or EqualWeb.

Unlike websites, making sure your social media is accessible is a straightforward, ongoing process. Every social platform has been quick to release optional accessibility features. These features are important to many users even if they don’t rely on them to use social media.

Making your social presence accessible tells users that your brand cares about people, not just profits. It’s the same idea as the push for the representation of different body sizes in fashion or more expansive skin tone ranges in beauty products. Brands that meet the needs of underrepresented groups endear themselves to others as well. And while optimizing your brand website for accessibility might be a larger project you aren’t ready to tackle yet, starting with your social media pages is a great way to show customers that you’re listening to their concerns. 

 

Making Content Accessible

Shifting to accessible content means incorporating inclusive design into your creative process. The practice varies by type of media. For platforms that have graphics or videos with captions, it means not only adjusting each component but also being mindful of how they interact with each other.

For example, YouTube’s automatically generated closed captions and subtitles are often inaccurate. It's one of many examples where the caption generation software has issues picking up strong accents and mumbled words. This could be remedied with handcrafted video transcription services. If that’s not in the budget, the video creator could add their script or transcription to the video description.

None of the technology for accessibility is perfect yet. Teaching computers to digest complex information for human understanding is difficult, and the variations in disabilities further complicate it. The majority of adjustments creators need to make revolve around helping assistive technology better understand their content. Let’s look at how to make different kinds of content accessible. 

Text

  • Use plain language that’s easy to understand 
  • Avoid text in all caps
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, like #SocialMediaMarketing, a practice called camel-case

Videos

  • Provide descriptive captions. Instead of just displaying the words people on-screen say, explain background noises and other sounds that are relevant to the scene.
  • Add your own subtitles or enable auto-subtitles on the video platform of your choice
  • Use captioning for live videos when possible

Graphics

Distribute Accessible Content

Many users find their new favorite brand through social media. When disabled people (who make up 26% of the population according to the CDC) can’t access your brand’s social posts, you miss the opportunity to connect with a demographic that’s eager to engage in online communities. On a hyper-local level, that kind of connection goes even further.

That’s why ThumbStopper exists to help brands distribute their social content to their retailer network. Retailers can connect with their local audience - with your accessible, branded content - in a more personal way. And since content goes to their page automatically once they sign up, retailers can effortlessly promote your brand online while focusing on running their business. 

Ready to see how ThumbStopper can help your brand improve its reach? Check out our brand reach calculator or book a demo.

 

 

accessibility
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Key Points:

 

  • Companies should understand the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure their websites are accessible.
  • Brands that concentrate on accessibility on social media demonstrate care for their customers and build a positive brand reputation.
  • Brands should always consider inclusive design, such as plain, straightforward language, in their social media posts.

 

 

Accessibility may not be a term you usually associate with the internet and social media. You might picture wheelchair ramps, directional signs in braille, or sign language interpreters at live performances. The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 dictates the legal necessity of these and similar accommodations in public spaces. As we’ve come to rely on the internet for everything from entertainment to buying groceries, it’s become clear that the internet is now also a public space. It must be accessible to everyone. And like other applications of ADA, businesses that do not comply are liable for damages caused by inaccessibility.

 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international set of standards to provide instruction on meeting accessibility needs. It’s important for companies to understand how this applies to their websites, especially if they engage in e-commerce. In terms of social media, the requirements are less concrete. But prioritizing accessibility on your company’s social media is essential to your reputation, even if the legal requirements are uncertain. We’ll look at why it’s important to your customers, how it affects the perception of your brand, and how to make these changes efficiently.

Social Media for All

The cornerstone of accessibility is inclusive design: products or experiences that are accessible for everyone regardless of disability. The most important place where this shows up is on company websites where most users expect to also find links to the brand’s social media profiles. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of websites are not accessible, despite the fact that the application of ADA to the internet is over 20 years old. Making websites accessible is a complex process without the use of specialized software like Accessibe or EqualWeb.

Unlike websites, making sure your social media is accessible is a straightforward, ongoing process. Every social platform has been quick to release optional accessibility features. These features are important to many users even if they don’t rely on them to use social media.

Making your social presence accessible tells users that your brand cares about people, not just profits. It’s the same idea as the push for the representation of different body sizes in fashion or more expansive skin tone ranges in beauty products. Brands that meet the needs of underrepresented groups endear themselves to others as well. And while optimizing your brand website for accessibility might be a larger project you aren’t ready to tackle yet, starting with your social media pages is a great way to show customers that you’re listening to their concerns. 

 

Making Content Accessible

Shifting to accessible content means incorporating inclusive design into your creative process. The practice varies by type of media. For platforms that have graphics or videos with captions, it means not only adjusting each component but also being mindful of how they interact with each other.

For example, YouTube’s automatically generated closed captions and subtitles are often inaccurate. It’s one of many examples where the caption generation software has issues picking up strong accents and mumbled words. This could be remedied with handcrafted video transcription services. If that’s not in the budget, the video creator could add their script or transcription to the video description.

None of the technology for accessibility is perfect yet. Teaching computers to digest complex information for human understanding is difficult, and the variations in disabilities further complicate it. The majority of adjustments creators need to make revolve around helping assistive technology better understand their content. Let’s look at how to make different kinds of content accessible. 

Text

  • Use plain language that’s easy to understand 
  • Avoid text in all caps
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, like #SocialMediaMarketing, a practice called camel-case

Videos

  • Provide descriptive captions. Instead of just displaying the words people on-screen say, explain background noises and other sounds that are relevant to the scene.
  • Add your own subtitles or enable auto-subtitles on the video platform of your choice
  • Use captioning for live videos when possible

Graphics

Distribute Accessible Content

Many users find their new favorite brand through social media. When disabled people (who make up 26% of the population according to the CDC) can’t access your brand’s social posts, you miss the opportunity to connect with a demographic that’s eager to engage in online communities. On a hyper-local level, that kind of connection goes even further.

That’s why ThumbStopper exists to help brands distribute their social content to their retailer network. Retailers can connect with their local audience – with your accessible, branded content – in a more personal way. And since content goes to their page automatically once they sign up, retailers can effortlessly promote your brand online while focusing on running their business. 

Ready to see how ThumbStopper can help your brand improve its reach? Check out our brand reach calculator or book a demo.

 

 

accessibility
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