Need advise using social media as a marketing tool

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

I know I'm way behind on this because I'm stubborn and have been opposed to social media since the days of MySpace. I do use YouTube as a learning source (how I learned this craft) and some entertainment of course.

The local market is a little stale right now and highly dependent on tourists. Tourist season is pretty much wrapped up and all the snow birds are flocking south for the winter (FL, AZ, TX). I've come to realize that I am missing out on free advertising to 2 (IG) to 2.5 (YT) billion people. I really have no clue what to do or how to present my work on platforms such as Instagram. Ican make short videos on the process like I see everyone else doing, but what would stand out? Does anyone have any tips, tricks or techniques to build an IG page that would attract more business? What kind of posts or reels work best for leathercraft? And the algorithm? 

My IG page @doublekcustomleather

I've been signed up to LinkedIn forever it seems, and have grown a decent sized network. So I decided to start writing weekly posts with images to hopefully promote my brand. I can't seem to keep them short and engaging. Although I did get more interest from my second post.

These two, and maybe YouTube are all I would consider using. My problem is I really don't know how to engage these platforms, or how to utilize the algorithm for selling custom leather products. There are plenty of YouTube videos on business, selling and building a following on IG, but it's all premade products. I am a made to order business and don't have an inventory of products. 

I'm just hoping some of y'all might have some advise to share

 

See.... I'm long winded. 

[Mulesaw]

@DoubleKCustomLeathercraft

Our small company uses IG and Facebook, but so far I don't think that we have had any business from IG. But it does help in getting people to know your business.

I looked at your IG account, and the products and pictures look great. But you don't use hashtags. Hashtags I believe are part of what helps the algorithm sending suggestions to other people. 

On your "hand of God" holster post, after your description of the product, you could write #handofgod #3:10to yuma #gunslinger #holster #western   etc.
Lets say someone searches IG for a HandofGod rig, then the search function will show those thigns marked specifically with the corresponding hashtags first. THere is no limit to how many hashtags you can use (as to my knowledge), but I try to limit myself to the most meaningful ones.

People on IG seem to love watching how things are made. So I have had far more views on small videos (reels) also with hashtags. It could be watching your hands do a bit of handstitching, or skiving some leather, using a sewing machine etc. You can edit the reel in IG, and for instance increas the speed or choose only a part of the film. There is also a thing called time lapse, which is good if you want to make a long project very short. Your phone will take a picture every 5 seconds or whatever you set it to do, and the result is that a 10 minutes job is compressed to 20 seconds, and it still looks good. 

I think that it is difficult to sell custom leather products via Instagram, since most people would probably like to feel and touch the products before buying them, but it could create an interest for your business.

By far our best marketing is "word of mouth" So if there's a shooting range nearby or a gun club etc. it might be worth going there and having a cup of coffee and showing your products to them. But that is a whole different subject 🙂

Hope it was of a little help.

Brgds Jonas