Here at Ripl, our goal is simple: to help small businesses succeed on social media. We love hearing about how these businesses find creative ways to grow their presence on social. Especially as we have all encountered one of the most challenging past years, we have been inspired by all the ways the small biz community is using social media. One of these inspiring stories comes from Treasure Queen, who uses social media to help antiquers and vintage-lovers across the United States.
A small business built for treasure hunters
Sandy is a vintage seller and owner of Treasure Queen. She has two vintage spaces in the Seattle area, one called Epic Antique and the other named Lander Street Vintage (formerly Pacific Galleries).
As the owner of an antique shop, her inventory is varied and includes a little bit of everything; small furniture, lighting, chandeliers, woodwork, garden decor/yard art, mirrors, interior decor and art, sea shells, bottles, taxidermy, art glass, pottery, glass floats, jewelry, silver, crystal, china and barware, clothing/accessories and furs, collectibles, and of course tiaras.
Knowing that her audience members are treasure hunters, she has mastered the art of using social media to build intrigue for her business.
“I am known for my constantly changing interesting items at great prices. You have to check social media daily for the new, hot items!”
Social media’s role in Sandy’s business
Sandy has embraced the visual nature of platforms like Facebook and Instagram to show off her unique finds, something you can see by glancing at her colorful and eclectic Instagram feed.
“I post photos of specific items and special events/sales daily on Facebook and Instagram pages that I use for business. I have started using Stories and Reels as well.”
To spruce up her posts and create content that stood out more, she turned to Ripl.
“I love using Ripl to schedule my posts to go to all channels at once. I really like being able to schedule posts ahead of time to plan out my posts and when I leave for vacation. Before Ripl, I just used still photos with captions. The movement, colorful captions and music create much more interest. I see many more views and shares when I use an interesting Ripl post.”
Getting more sales from social media in the era of COVID-19
Like many other small businesses, Sandy needed to make changes due to the impact of COVID-19. For her, it started with changing her marketing strategy. With no foot traffic, Sandy transformed social media into a gallery of her inventory.
“The malls were closed in March and April of 2020, but I kept posting on social media so that customers were “chomping at the bit” to come in when the malls reopened. I have had some of my best sales months since we reopened.”
How other small businesses can see success from social media
After learning about her success, we asked Sandy for her advice to other small businesses to get more mileage from social media and increase visibility and sales.
“My advice is to try to post daily on Facebook and Instagram.”
In addition to a daily posting schedule, she encourages another key element of social media—get social!
“Share others’ posts. Follow others who are in similar businesses. Respond to others’ posts and always like and reply to comments. Tag anyone that pertains to your post, add locations and use some hashtags to increase your engagements.”
Most of all, she encourages small businesses to have fun with their marketing!
“Do some playful posts to create interest. Videos seem to be very effective. Have fun using Ripl to make your posts eye-catching and unique.”
You can connect with Sandy and see her vintage finds online on Instagram and visit in-person at Epic Antique and Lander Street Vintage, as Treasure Queen (Dealer 11).
To see how Ripl works for your business, sign up for a free 7 day trial today.
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