How Social Media Can Help Your Liquidation Business

There’s no doubt that social media have become important marketing tools for all businesses in the 21st century, liquidation and wholesale included, but not many are making use of these. If you thought that Facebook and Twitter were all you needed, you’re sadly mistaken. For starters, a survey conducted by Pew Research Center shows that 45% of Twitter’s users are between 18 and 29.

Meanwhile, those between 13 and 34 are about 53.1% of Facebook’s users according to iStrategyLabs’ 201 Facebook Demographic Report. As you can see, your chances of finding potential buyers for your pallets may be difficult among these age groups. Therefore, you may need to shift your social media marketing operations elsewhere. Through the following sections, you’re going to discover some of the best choices for marketing your brand and goods.

LinkedIn for Liquidators

LinkedIn prides itself on being the perfect social media platform for business oriented individuals. According to Marketing Charts, the social platform is most used by 30-49 year olds (27%) followed by 50-64 year olds (24%). LinkedIn is also used the most by employed individuals (27%) and the unemployed (12%).

LinkedIn itself has published that it has most of the executives of Fortune 500 companies as its members and more than one million companies have created their own LinkedIn company pages. With so much to offer, you can use LinkedIn for your marketing purposes through the following three means.

Establishing a Professional Network

No business is an island. You need people, be it suppliers, buyers or other liquidators, to get your products and services sold quickly. Through LinkedIn, you can easily network with serious individuals and even get points by earning reviews and recommendations from those who have interacted with you. You also get to review how relevant a certain account may be before making them a new connection. What makes LinkedIn even more professional is that you can search by profession or select new contacts from others’ networks. Within a few minutes, you can grow from 10 to 30 as long as you know how to manage your account.

Attracting Lucrative Buyers with a LinkedIn Company Page

By creating a LinkedIn company page, you can easily feature your products or services promptly. This will boost your brand’s exposure since you’ll be connected with potential suppliers and distributors who can find you easily through the platform. By listing your website prominently, you can even increase traffic to it. This will help you hit two birds with one stone.

Boosting Your Credibility

If you run a small business, LinkedIn can increase your credibility in cyberspace. First off, it’s a platform for professionals who may be willing to provide you with recommendations. Therefore, people won’t think twice before dealing with you. Another reason which makes LinkedIn a great platform is the fact that you can get new employees once your business starts expanding. So make that three birds with one stone. However, getting the benefits of LinkedIn isn’t quite easy. You should know of a few tips such as the following:

• Optimize your LinkedIn page by showcasing your offerings, giving others a good reason to follow you, and linking most of your products to your original website.

• Always engage your audience by liking and responding to others’ queries and comments. You should also keep posting to attract your audience. This doesn’t mean that you should only post about your products. Mix it up a bit and add informative content that will satisfy the needs of your potential clients.

• Steadily attract more followers by engaging your colleagues and asking them to spread the good word. You can also add a Follow button to your website so that others can connect to your LinkedIn account.

• Tap into the power of LinkedIn Analytics to assess which posts are most appealing. You will also discover your demographics and be able to cater to their needs.

Why and How to Use Instagram to Boost Your Business

Though Instagram is one of the latest social media platforms around, it has grown quickly to include about 150 million people by 2013. Though 90% of its users are under the age of 35, this can be an excellent platform if you deal in apparel, entertainment and electronic devices. If you would like more reasons as to why Instagram can help, here are some of the top benefits this photo sharing network has to offer.

Introducing Visual Marketing

In the liquidation business, visuals are everything. You need to convince your buyers that your goods are in good shape in order to sell them. So why not include images as part of your marketing strategy? Visual marketing is a growing trend for marketers since consumers are constantly looking for images of products. By inviting suppliers and potential buyers to your Instagram profile, you can tempt them with pictures and carry out visual marketing exclusively on this platform.

Boosting Levels of Engagement

According to market research, Instagram engagement is higher than most. You can get more likes and comments on your Instagram posts than you would on any other social media platform. Sharing your posts is also easier because you can use Hashtags that are Facebook friendly and make your pictures grow viral.

Driving Traffic to Your Website

One of the best ways to improve your liquidation business is by driving the traffic your website receives. This will ultimately boost your search engine rankings, ensuring that more organic traffic comes you way. Just make sure to post a link to your site in your bio and to mention it in your calls to action whenever commenting on your post. As Instagram is quite fun to work with, you won’t deem it as a chore. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind to get the most out of this platform.

• Consider your Instagram social media profile as a shop window and invest in making it appealing. In addition to using the best pictures for your profile, you can use a few of Instagram’s own features, including a rotating display at the top, to make your profile appealing.

• Again, followers are a must for every social media platform. Therefore, include pictures of people using the product and enjoying it to generate more likes and followers.

• You can use Instagram to connect to users’ Twitter and Facebook accounts, expanding your marketing efforts beyond visual marketing.

• Showcase more than your products at times. You can click pictures of the staff in charge of different aspects of your business just to give it a human touch.

The Power Pinterest Adds to Your Liquidation Business

You may be shaking your head at the thought of using Pinterest for boosting your business operations and complementing your marketing. However, there is more to this platform than wedding ideas and cupcake designs; it can really help you with your purpose, especially if you sell electronics. Here are two statistics from BI Intelligence to convince you further:

• Two out of five U.S. users between the ages 18 and 50 have used Pinterest.

• Pinterest is most popular with iPad users. About 42% of all social media sharing via iPad is done by Pinterest users.

While you’re welcome to use it as a substitute for Instagram, you can keep it on the side to carry out the following.

Engaging in Visual Marketing

Pinterest is just as useful for visual marketing. However, what gives it an edge is the fact that you get to share a lot of information that is categorized according to a Pinterest board. You can even create charts and infographics from the data you had collected in the past. Consumers and suppliers both love this type of content and will make sure to spread it to their own contacts.

Providing Others with a Chance to Guest Post

You can have your followers or other associates become involved in your boards. This will make your user engagement levels go through the roof and make your followers feel invested in your brand. Plus, by having a board where users can post their feedback or share their stories with you will help you connect with new clients and ensure them that you provide the best service there is.

Make the Most from Pinterest Videos

In addition to 2D images, you can easily post videos which you yourself produced or those from relevant industry resources. This will add to the seriousness and authenticity of your brand and products. Besides, people enjoy watching videos and are more likely to make these viral. Just make sure to address your clients’ wants and needs rather than your business agenda.

Promoting Deals with Graphics

One of the perks of using Instagram is being able to create graphic coupons that are attractive and smart-looking. Through these, you can offer deals, sales and discounts, especially around the holiday season. Just remember that the more attractive the deal’s graphics are, the more likely it will be circulated.

Driving Traffic to Your Website

Beth Hayden, the author of Pinfluence, states that Pinterest is responsible for more referral traffic than LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube altogether. However, in order to get this benefit, users should be attracted to your pins and be able to repin them to their boards. To give you a nudge in the right direction, consider combining excellent images with content in order to solve a problem your consumers use (with your liquidated products, of course). Now, if you want to make these advantages yours, here are some tips to help you get started the right way.

• Always plan your strategy beforehand. You should take time to properly set your account before you launch it.

• Check out the numerous offerings of the Pinterest Business Center. The site will provide many resources like follow buttons and Pin It buttons for your website.

• Integrate other social media platforms and give a call to action to guide people to use the buttons on your site.

• Never pin something without checking its source or crediting it. This is why it’s always a good idea to post your own. Just remember to add a watermark of your website or logo to avoid someone stealing it.

• Make sure that the pictures you use and the content on your profile contribute to its visual appearance. This means that you should seriously consider what you post and ensure that it doesn’t clash with whatever you have posted.

Other Social Media You Should Consider

Google+ is an excellent social network that has opened up to businesses by 2011. Features like Circles, Hangouts and Hashtags. You’re welcome to post your information on this website as well. Another underdog social platform you can go for is Ryze, which is a professional network that connects entrepreneurs from across the world. Businesses can also use Talkbiznow, web-based community that helps small businesses and professionals. In addition to setting up your profile, you can manage a calendar and enjoy file storage facilities up to 50 MG. Users are also given the opportunity to host webinars or manage their social media platforms through one app named Social One. Quora has also won business people once LinkedIn disabled its Answers feature. It is most helpful for small business owners who would like to flaunt their expertise and show off how their products can help consumers.

The Bottom Line

Not all of your social media needs will be handled by Facebook and Twitter alone, especially since their users are too young to care about what you may be offering. Therefore, always consider exploring the underdog social media platforms mentioned here and you’ll definitely be expanding your reach in the virtual market. Just remember not to exceed five social media accounts or else you’ll have too much on your plate to handle properly.

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