In her new Brooklyn studio, Janine Mastrorilli, owner of
Independent Reign, designs and sews minimalist tote bags and purses using rich linen fabric and leather accents. After several years of slowly building her product line and customer base—and leaving behind a career in Wall Street technology—Mastrorilli now sells her creations on sites like Etsy and Bluefly, as well as her own e-commerce storefront.
Janine works with
PayPal to manage payment processing, support international sales. The benefits from working with PayPal have been undeniable for Independent Reign, with 70% of online payments now processed through PayPal—65% of which come from mobile buyers. Mastrorilli credits PayPal for giving her the confidence and security to run her own business successfully. Now, payments are one less thing she needs to stress about this holiday.
PayPal’s live customer support has helped provide Mastrorilli with navigating her checkout product experience and payments, freeing her up to focus her attention on building other areas of her business.
This includes giving her more time to launch and maintain a thriving social media program. Growing an online presence has actually been important for Mastrorilli, who was an early social media adopter. Independent Reign, which was founded in 2008, began appearing on social media as early as 2009 and now has full-fledged channels on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
In leveraging unique tools across all three platforms, Independent Reign is able to maximize customer engagement while continuing to build and grow the Brooklyn-based brand. Here are the creative ways Mastrorilli uses social media as a small business to help sell products and acquire new customers:
1. Leverage Facebook Shop
Independent Reign has leveraged
Facebook’s growing roster of merchant tools – from customer reviews, to product photos and most recently, opening a Facebook Shop – since starting a business page on the platform in 2009.
As an early adopter of Facebook Shop – a digital storefront feature new to the social media platform – Mastrorilli is able to list products for sale at the top of her company’s Facebook page. With the fresh offering, she can feature up to three bags at a time, which can be purchased via Facebook with just a few clicks! This opens an entirely new source of revenue for Independent Reign just in time for the holidays and requires little to no maintenance.
2. Use Instagram For Product Visuals
In addition to Facebook, Independent Reign has a bustling presence on
Instagram. In fact, Mastrorilli finds Instagram to be her most-used social tool. The visual nature of the platform allows her to showcase her products in vivid images while making her designs easily discoverable via targeted hashtags. She also recently used the platform to announce holiday sales for major shopping days, including Cyber Monday, to maximize consumer reach.
3. Utilize Periscope on Twitter
Mastrorilli has turned to
Twitter as well in telling her product story and building a customer fan base by taking part in Twitter-based Periscope live interview with small business expert and thought leader, Gene Marks. The interview was hosted by
PayPal for Business on Twitter and focused on the benefits of Independent Reign offering customers extended returns this holiday season. The successful video was also repurposed for the company Facebook page as well, to maximize visibility.
In continuing to prepare for the holidays, Independent Reign’s Twitter has also become more active, touting the company’s holiday sales and exclusive customer discount codes, similar to Instagram.And Independent Reign has taken to posting product images on the social media platform, to attract potential customers and fashion influencers.
Throughout holiday preparation (and beyond), Independent Reign maintains a steady stream of content online to engage and delight consumers. By experimenting with new tools, such as Facebook Shop, and researching the appropriate hashtags for her industry, Mastrorilli stays on top of the social media game to grow her customer base.