Speaker 1: 0:00

So you want to launch a subscription box and don't know where to start? Girl, you are in the right place. I'm Julie Ball and I'm Renee Gonzalez. You're a host here at Subscription Box Basics, a podcast for new and aspiring subscription box entrepreneurs wanting to avoid overwhelm. So grab a coffee, some pen and paper and let's have some fun.

Speaker 1: 0:22

Welcome to Subscription Box Basics, the podcast for new and aspiring business owners. This is Renee Gonzalez, your marketing coach, and today it is just me. This is a solo episode and we are talking about marketing your subscription box business. Specifically, we're talking about social media in 2024. So we're going to dive into a handful of tips that hopefully will help you feel at ease moving into your social media plan for this year. We're already in February, we have the last month behind us, and I know this is a time of year where you had big goals. Hopefully, you still have big goals for the year, but you might be starting to hit a lull and getting a little off track. So I am here to help you bring you back on track for your subscription box and your social media plan for 2024.

Speaker 1: 1:29

So we are going to hop right in to my first tip, and that is to set clear goals for what your social media page will do and this is a side note and we've talked about this before, both Julie and I, and you've heard it from other people. But this is your reminder that you do not have to be all the places. Find out where your audience is, find out where your potential customers are and go all in on that platform or platforms. If it is overwhelming for you to be all the places, you do not need to be all the places. What you need is a plan and you need to set goals that will help move your business forward, because, ultimately, the whole point behind social media is to help you generate more sales and more eyes on your business that lead to more income for your business, more potential sales. So if you do not have goals on what those goals are for your business, when you're posting something, you are going to be doing the posts, but they will not move you toward your ultimate end goal, which is converting those eyes into sales eventually.

Speaker 1: 2:56

So get clear on what your goals are. Make sure that you are establishing yourself as a leader in your industry. You want to be the go-to social media page. You want to be the go-to business that people need when they think of whatever category your business is in. So if you do not have a clear goal, you can go to the website that is focusing on enriching those people's lives and helping them. Then they're not gonna think of you when it comes time to need your products that are in your subscription box. So, really and we'll talk about this again with another tip that I talk about in a few minutes but really, ultimately, keep your customer in mind and keep your focus on quality over quantity. If you are posting just to post and your posts are just jumping on trends but not related to what you are ultimately trying to sell in your subscription box, sure that may get you lots of likes, but will those likes convert into sales and are the eyes and the right eyes that you need for your business? So, really, keep your target audience in mind and every single post that you put out into the world, make sure it'll resonate with who it needs to resonate with. So, on that same idea, to understand who your audience is, you need to make sure that all your social media pages are set up as business pages.

Speaker 1: 4:40

This is 2024, we have moved into a new year. If you do not have business pages for your subscription box. Now is the time to do it. I know some people work off of their personal pages or may just have a business page for Facebook but a personal page for Instagram. This is my plea with you that if you do not have a business page, or if your subscription box page is set up as a creator page, as a personal page, it is time to make sure that they are all set up as business pages or create a business page if you do not have one, and there are benefits.

Speaker 1: 5:26

I'm not just saying that to say that to you. There are benefits of having a business page for Instagram, for example. If you're set up as a business page, you're able to sell right on Instagram. So ultimately, you are trying to sell more subscription boxes. If you have a business page, what better way to do that than selling right there on Instagram? And even if you don't take advantage of that feature, it is there for you in the future if you need to. If you have your page set up as a business page and then, besides actually selling on Instagram or social media platforms, you'll get insights that you wouldn't have access to if you were a personal page or a creator page. So it is really important to get inside the brain of your potential customers, and insights are a great way to see with what's resonating with your audience and what's performing well besides just you looking at it. If you have access to these insights, you're able to see a snapshot of what time of day your posts perform best at, which posts are getting you the most views, which stories are resonating with the most people and getting in front of the most eyes. And when you know that stuff you can, when you're setting up your goals and your plans for social media, you can duplicate those types of posts and those categories of posts and really start to maximize and continue to post quality over quantity. So make sure you set up your goals, make sure you set up your pages as business pages this year, and then we're gonna talk about you finding your unique selling point.

Speaker 1: 7:21

So what makes you stand out from your competition? And as subscription boxes, we have one that product-based businesses that aren't subscriptions you're already at an advantage. So one of your unique selling points as a subscription box is you have this reoccurring customer, this subscriber that you get to grow a relationship with month after month or quarter after quarter if you're quarterly. But you have this reoccurring subscriber, other product-based businesses that are in your realm and in your category zone they don't have that. They ship off possibly just one-time odd items. So one of your unique selling points as a business is being a subscription. So if you cannot find anything else that differentiates you from other product-based businesses, it could be that you are a subscription-based business. So really lean into that on your social selling and really build that community and build that time after time reoccurring sale to your advantage and make sure those subscribers and those customers know how grateful you are that they stick around time after time and make sure your potential customers know that this is such a cool unique selling point that you as a business have that you're with them throughout their journey as a subscriber and you're there for them and you get to know them and you really tailor products to their needs as a personal individual because they're with you for a long time. So if you cannot find any other unique selling points, being a subscription is what differentiates you from other products. So really lean into that and then really make sure that you're putting out into the world on social media why it isn't so important to buy from you over your competition.

Speaker 1: 9:29

A lot of the times, I think subscription boxes come to life as business owners with this unique idea and this unique bringing together people as a community and you being the leader of this community. Your ideas and your thoughts are so unique to any other business. That is your competition and I think we get wrapped up sometimes in just needing to post or just feeling like we need to do what other people are doing, but that's not what makes you unique and that's not what is going to have people come to you over a different business. So think about why you started your business. Think about what makes you unique and lean into those. When you are crafting posts and that may be you stepping in front of the camera and getting authentic that may be you jumping into stories more often. It doesn't necessarily have to be with static posts. It can be with more behind the scenes of them making and what's happening from month to month for your business. So you really want your followers and your potential subscribers to feel a part of your business and like they're along for the journey. So when they go to purchase something, they choose you over your competition because they really feel like you're unique and you're unique to them. So definitely moving into the rest of 2024, remember you are unique, you are special, and to make sure to make the rest of the world see that through your business.

Speaker 1: 11:15

And then, next tip, I'm rapid, firing these at you. This is a quick, speedy episode. I hope you take away some good little tidbits and have some motivation moving into the future with your social media. So this next one is one that is not new it has been talked about, but I felt like it needed to be a reminder and it is to use quality images and videos. And I'm gonna say that again If you are posting on social media, you need to be using quality images and videos and then building off that as well. If you are posting on social media, you need to keep into account what platform you're posting on and make sure that your image sizing is correct. So if you have this beautiful image but it posts awkwardly because you're posting it as a real, or it's cut off and it looks goofy on your feed because you're posting it as an Instagram image, you need to keep sizing on the top of your mind.

Speaker 1: 12:31

And you guys free or easy user friendly websites like Canva C-A-N-V-A dot com. If you do not have a Canva account as a subscription box owner, I highly suggest you get one. It is super user friendly. There are free options or a pro option that is low cost per month. But Canva is a great way to resize images, if you have images, or to create images. They have stock photos that you can use as well and you can do all your editing rate within there. But if you have an image that is not sized correctly, or too big or too small for Instagram, for example, it does not take very long at all to open up Canva. It's 1080 by 1080 pixels for a square image for Instagram and you just drop that image into your Canva account. You drag it over to your page that's correct sizing for Instagram and resize it right within there and then save it and download that one.

Speaker 1: 13:46

Taking those five minutes that it takes to resize your image will help you actually have people stop their scroll and look at it, rather than, if it's a strange sizing or a little blurry because it's not high quality or it's dark because the lighting isn't well, people are just gonna scroll right past and I think, especially as small business owners, you take so much time to get outside your comfort zone and it's not necessarily something that most small business owners enjoy doing is posting on social media. But if you're going through the motions and you're doing the post, you want to make sure they actually get seen and that you stop the scroll. And the easiest way to have people just scroll on past is if you are not using quality images and videos. So if you have questions about any of this but that portion specifically need help with sizing, need to run by is this a good image that would possibly stop the scroll? Both myself and Julie are at the subscription box basics Instagram. You could just pop it into our DMs. My other Instagram is at Subbox Creative same thing. Either one of those Instagram DMs, you can shoot us the image and we can send over. Yep, that's a good one, or that's a little too dark, maybe lighten that up. But it's really important when you are posting pictures and videos that it's something that is going to stop the scroll, because before they even see all of that beautiful copy and writing that you've created, that's curated just for them, they're gonna see the image in the picture and if that picture is something that's not pleasing to the eye. They're just gonna scroll and you're gonna lose them before they even get an opportunity to read what you've put in out into the world. So make sure you are using quality images and videos. If needed, this is a great place to outsource and have someone help you with your product images and your reels or your videos.

Speaker 1: 16:08

This is not an area where you want to try to piece it together. You can either yourself. If you are having difficulties producing quality images, it can be done on your own. Right next to I'm actually recording. If you're watching the video on YouTube, I am recording. I always sit right in front of one of our windows because there's natural lighting. So if you're taking photos next to a natural light, your sliding door or big window, because you have nice natural light and it's lighting up your products, you don't need fancy equipment at all. You can use ring lights. You can use outside sources of lights, but you can also just find out a good time of day where the lighting isn't harsh, next to a window and you can set up your box right there and get dollar store poster board to use as colored backdrops. It does not have to cost you a lot, but it does have to be high quality in order for your potential subscribers to stop their scroll and actually give you a couple minutes of their day to look further into what you're posting. So if you take nothing else out of this episode, make sure you are putting quality images and videos out into the world on your social media.

Speaker 1: 17:32

And then my last little piece of advice for this episode is to start to use a call to action to increase your engagement and take your conversation off of the comments. So that's a mouthful, and what I mean by that is you may see a lot of accounts now will say something like comment guide below. If you want me to send you this guide, for example, like that comment da, da, da below. And that is something where you can automate it. But if you don't have a way to automate this populated message that sends them the link to their guide, it is such a good way for a small business owner to copy what they are doing with this automated like sending them links. You can do that yourself and you can still use that call to action message because it is such a good way to get engagement on your posts. So you're telling them to comment in the post below. So that's getting you engagement. You're replying to them, so that's again upping your engagement because it's getting more comments on your posts. You're training them that you're gonna send them something through a message links.

Speaker 1: 19:01

If you send them your freebie, if you send them a discount code to your subscription box, you're moving them from the comments into the messages and starting a conversation with them. So a lot of these bigger accounts they have it set up to be automated and be a chat bot that pops those messages to them if they comment a specific word. But even if you don't have that capability right now, you can still use that format to your advantage and get the conversations into your comments and up your engagement. But also take the conversations off into your messaging and then really take advantage of being a one person or two person show and be a real person in those messages and let them know. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment or follow up with them in a day after you send them a link Like just wanted to check in and make sure you got that freebie I sent you.

Speaker 1: 20:00

Let me know what you think. You're building those relationships in the messages and you're doing what bots are doing on some of those bigger accounts. But then you're really making those personalized messages and letting them know you're still a small business owner, you're still a one person show and building those relationships. Guess what? If they have a good interaction with you, in those messages they're gonna think to message you. Or the next time you ask them to comment on their page or on your page they'll be able to comment because they had that first customer service interaction with you. That was a good one in your messages and they're like ah, this person's all right, I'm gonna keep supporting their business. I'm gonna keep asking for those images when they asked me to.

Speaker 1: 20:49

So really take advantage of and I'm sure, if you haven't seen it yet, let me know Again you can message us at subscription box basics, say, renee, I don't know what you're talking about, and I can send you an example post. We do it on our page too, where we'll be like drop an emoji and we'll send you this. So it's trending right now as a call to action and a lot of people have it set up as automation. We do not as subscription box basics. You were talking to us, but I think, as a small business owner, it's a great way to emulate what some of those people are doing and using with the automated technology and still be able to manage it and really use it to your advantage and create relationships.

Speaker 1: 21:38

Because, ultimately, social media is about being social and, as time progresses and we have social media longer and longer and you're trying to pivot and use it for your business and you feel like things the wheels are spinning but you're going nowhere. If you come back to remembering that social media is about being social and it's about these connections and building these relationships, you may not become an account that has a million followers, but you may get a really good group of curated followers that are following you for exactly what you want them to follow you for and turn into really loyal subscribers. As small business owners, as subscription box owners, you all started your business with a very specific purpose to help people in a specific area and if you keep that in your heart and stay authentic to what you are posting and really resonate with that audience, they're going to turn into subscribers. They are going to see your passion with your posts and realize that you are curating a box but also social media information that is tailored just for them and they are going to become your biggest fans and help you spread the word. I know social media can be overwhelming. I know it could feel one step forward and two steps back, but both Julie and myself are here to help you, and really just remembering why you started your business and letting the world know about that through social media is really going to help you in 2024. With growing your audience and potentially growing your business as well.

Speaker 1: 23:46

So a quick little recap five tips for social media in 2024. We're going to start backwards and work our way up. I just talked about using a call that in action and having that start in the comments, but then moving over to messages. Use quality images and videos, and if you take nothing else away from this episode, it is that start using quality images and videos, if you are not already. Find your unique selling point. You and your business are unique. You are different from your competition. There are ways that you can do things that no one else can. Make sure that your customers know that and find the sweet spot between what your customers want and what your business sells, and that is your unique selling point. Make sure your pages are set up as business pages. You are a business, not a hobby. Make sure, in 2024, you show that to the world. And the last tip the very first thing we talked about is set clear goals for what your social media will do in 2024.

Speaker 1: 24:59

So I am cheering you on. I am here to help. Julie is here to help. If you have any questions or comments about this episode, let us know. We are at subscription box basics and then we'll be back with another episode next week and it'll bounce back and forth. Julie and myself are going to continue to do episodes together, but we are going to continue to sprinkle in individual episodes as well and solo episodes. So I will be back in the near future with another marketing episode. If you have any ideas of marketing topics that you would like me to speak on or Julie and I to speak on, make sure you let us know too, because we are always looking for ideas for future podcast episodes. So thank you so much for listening and we'll see you next time. Bye.