It goes without saying that the most successful marketers in the internet age utilize every available tool, including social media. Yet social media has its limits. It can only do so much for your business, and only if you know how to use it. That leads to a question that will form the basis of this post: how social is your social media strategy?

Here at Olympic Eyewear, our business model establishes us as a distributor of wholesale sunglasses. We mainly sell to retailers like you. Yet we still believe in the power of social media. Experience has shown us that sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – and even Pinterest and Snapchat – can help us reach our customers more effectively.

You might be interested to know that experience has also taught us that we cannot turn to social media only when sales are down. Customers pick up on that. If the only time we ever post is when we are trying to sell, followers will stop paying attention. They don't need new sunglasses every day.

Being Social Is in the Name

Whether a company sells bulk sunglasses at wholesale or operates a retail store selling sunglasses direct to consumers, the thing that must be remembered is that the key to social media is in the name itself. That key is being social.

Facebook is considered the granddaddy of all social media. When it was first invented, it was not designed to be a sales platform. Its creators originally intended Facebook to be an online community where friends and family members could stay connected. It was a place to be social online. Guess what? That is still the main point.

The vast majority of information shared on social media is not business information. It is not sales. It is personal information. It is pictures, memes, and personal thoughts and conversations. Businesses that know how to use social media effectively understand this. They share information that, while it may be related to core services and products, is not direct sales material.

The Topics Are Endless

So, how can you be more social with your social media? By posting things related to your business without actually trying to sell something. Again, we are a wholesale sunglasses distributor with products for men, women, and children. The topics we can post about are endless.

We could run a series of posts over the course of a week discussing the history of sunglasses. We could use social media to discuss how sunglasses are made, the materials they are made from, and how to tell a good pair of shades from a bad pair. We can even discuss how some manufacturers are turning recycled plastic waste into sustainable sunglasses.

A Little Bit Every Day

Being social with social media also means being social every day. Your followers don't need long posts to work their way through, but a little bit every day is good. Maybe post a thoughtful meme today and then a quick story relating to sunglasses tomorrow. Think of it as a conversation. Contribute a little every day and see what happens.

Another thing: don't forget to respond to comments left by followers or comment on the accounts you follow yourself. The more engaged you are in social media conversation, the more frequently your posts will show up in the feeds of your followers.

Social media is a pretty powerful tool for selling things. But it turns out that using it to sell is less about direct sales tactics and more about simply being social. Put the 'social' back in your social media and you should see good results.