Picking up where I left off, "Learning to market all over again," I am again exploring how social media could be useful to me and possibly to you. Specifically I'm looking into, and posting on, Reddit and my posts have already generated some positive feedback.
After years of mostly ignoring it, I am taking a serious look at social media. Yes, I've recommended it to others but my own reason for letting it slide has been simply lack of time and the attention it would take away from projects that are important to me. Social media involves constant interaction with others. Now, having cleared away the time consuming, attention stealing projects such as book writing and perfume making, I'm free for a while to devote serious time to social media. Reddit is my current focus. On Reddit I'm quickly finding people with whom I can interact and who, I hope, may someday (soon) direct people to my new product, a non-perfume related book on Amazon.
Reddit is not for everyone. There are some very serious limitations one of which being language. English is its only language. If you are not fluent in English, Reddit is not for you. Another problem is advertising. Although Reddit sells advertising I'm told that "nobody" buys from ads on Reddit. Reddit people are very anti-advertising. So how can you use Reddit?
Look into Reddit and you will see signs of intelligent life. Reddit is full of thoughtful posts, begging interaction. Reddit also has a very good search utility so it's quite easy to fined "Redditors" with interests similar to yours, if there are any. If you do several searches and don't come up with anyone within your area of interest, Reddit won't be for you.
Personally I seem to have found the people I'm looking for. What do I do about it? I can't just say "here's a link to my new product." That may break rules against self-promotion or it may just turn off readers. Either way, this is not the way to use Reddit.
What I see as my opportunity is to engage in conversations where I can add something intelligent to the discussion. Gradually, I hope, opportunities will emerge to make comments about my product -- that fit the thread -- and might be for interest to others. All the while I will be honing my Reddit skills and, hopefully, getting noticed by a SMALL number of people who I can influence. Always the touch must be light and never brazenly self-serving. Ideally I would like to direct the discussions so that it is OTHERS who point to my product and link to where it can be purchased.
While I think this strategy may be effective, it will not be easy to execute. Signs of progress along the way may be few. Discouragement may test my willingness to continue putting daily attention into Reddit. But this is the problem with any new promotional program. Coming from zero in name recognition I have to establish some credibility and trust.
Reddit, while lacking in "selling my own perfume" posts does have followers of cosmetics and makeup and, from what I have seen some posts asking what ingredients to add to a homemade perfume. I don't see these are particularly promising but you may have the touch needed to engage with the writers and then turn some of the discussions to your own effort to make and sell perfume. And, what is important, you may get some good feedback on what people are thinking, what trends are developing, and what various demographics are looking for in fragrance beyond the offerings of the global fragrance marketers.
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