Conversation is one of the most important tools at a consignment store owner’s disposal.
After all, conversation breeds closeness and connection, and it can help turn one-time customers into lifelong devotees of your brand.
As if that weren’t enough, talking to your customers about their family, home, and interests also provides insight into what merchandise they want from your store.
While there are many different ways to create a conversation with your customers, the “comment” section of your social feeds stands out as one of the most powerful.
Unfortunately, many consignment store owners fail to realize how powerful comment sections can be. Luckily, you don’t have to be one of them.
Follow these steps to maximize your online conversations with your customers.
1. Respond Immediately
Today, 39 percent of social media users expect a company to respond to their question or comment within one hour. Despite that, the average wait time from businesses is a whopping five hours!
There’s a great opportunity here for consignment store owners to stand out: the faster you respond, the more you differentiate yourself from the competition. With this in mind, make it a goal to respond to customers as quickly as possible after they leave an initial comment.
The best way to do this is to have someone at your store who manages your social media accounts. This could be a senior employee or manager. To cover the times when nobody is around to respond to comments, enable auto-responses on your Facebook platform. These responses go out automatically to customers who message your business, and can be a great way to provide engagement, even when nobody is managing the line.
2. Always Show Appreciation
When you respond to a follower’s comment, do it with an air of appreciation and gratitude. One of the largest mistakes busy consignment store owners can make is to be too curt or preoccupied with their responses. Customers are sure to notice this, and it can decrease your engagement and leave clients with a bad taste in their mouths about your brand.
Instead, take the time to respond to every comment you receive in full. Aim to be helpful to your customers – assisting them in finding what they’re looking for and ensuring they know what your store does and doesn’t offer. The more attentive you can be with them, the more likely they are to return the favor.
3. Keep the Conversation Going
Once your customers start commenting on your social media feeds, it’s up to you to keep the conversation going! Instead of just letting it die after the initial question, follow up with your customers by asking questions, telling them to contact your store for more information about a piece, or issuing polls.
When you take an active role in continuing the dialogue, you’ll get to enjoy a more robust and engaged comments section.
4. Use Images to Get People Talking
Did you know that Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without pictures? With this in mind, it’s obvious that using images to drive your Facebook engagement and earn more comments is a great option.
For best results, post images of your current items, your new additions, and anything else you think might catch your customers’ eye. Create a cross-comment platform for engagement by “Replying” to specific comments and mentioning people higher in the comment chain.
Using Comment Sections to Your Advantage
if you own a consignment store, social media will quickly become your best friend. More specifically than even that, though, the comment section of your various social media platforms will become useful tools to drive engagement and promote attention from customers.
By using these comment sections to create conversations, you can show customers you care, develop long-lasting relationships, and drive more sales.
CLICK HERE to learn more
