Last year, we touched on the different ways you can use social media to promote your charity shop. You can read all about it here. In an age where your social media feeds update quicker than you can say “hashtag”, it’s important to stay in touch with your followers. To get you social-media savvy in 2017, we’ve put together five more tips to help you boost sales by utilising your social media following to drive people offline and into your stores.

Sharing is caring

By asking customers to share their purchases on social media, you can achieve great exposure that can be more effective than traditional advertising. Social media has become a powerful tool that enables retailers to reach a large number of their potential customers at once.  If your customers regularly #BagABargain, boost your online presence and introduce a hashtag for your charity stores. Encourage shoppers to tag your social media accounts in their posts and ask them to check in or even ‘Go Live’ – perfect for when you’re hosting an event or fundraiser!

Ask for donations

If there are particular products that your charity store needs, why not issue an online appeal for clothes, books or bric-a-brac? Posts like these can serve as the perfect reminder for people to have a look at things they’ve got tucked away in their loft or basement. Who said a spring clean was just for spring…!

Know your customers

Asking your followers what kind of items they’d like to see in your shop would not only increase engagement with them, but could potentially see sales really pick up. Stocking up on products that are in demand is a great place to start. An active social media presence will give you valuable insight into your follower base, allowing you to make more meaningful interactions with them, and turning these interactions into positive sales.

Pool ideas for fundraising

Your online followers will usually be passionate about the cause your charity serves and many would be delighted to get involved in coming up with ideas to support your fundraising efforts. In fact, some may want to get involved in the fundraising itself and may have a few friends who’d be interested too! Engaging with the community and opening up a discussion can give you great ideas that you may not have thought of otherwise. Whether this is a bake sale or a sponsored run, get your followers involved. It’s for a great cause after all!

Get your volunteers involved

Our previous social media post stressed the importance of giving your online presence plenty of personality. One of the best ways of doing this is by getting your volunteers and staff involved. You can encourage everyone to post and organise team takeovers for your social media profiles. You’d be opening the doors to varied content and personal interactions that would reach a wider audience.

Social media can be an incredibly helpful tool for achieving success as a charity shop. At Charity Retail Systems, we are dedicated to aiding the success of charity shops through the implementation of our CHARiot EPOS system.

If you would like to find out more about how we could help you or book a demonstration, don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can call us on 01204 706 000 to speak to a member of our friendly team who will be more than happy to advise you further.