A picture is worth 1,000 words. Can it attract as many leads and clients for small businesses?

How do small business specializing in couture clothing grab the attention of a nation-wide audience? The answer: a quality social media marketing scheme driven by photographs. In order to compete in this global economy and internet stores, small business retail shops are frequently using inexpensive social media outlets to promote their store, products, and services. Many businesses are using pictures of merchandise as an outreach tool.

One mid-Michigan couture business using social media to reach a young adult audience is Fantastic Finds located in Lansing, Michigan. The company primarily specializes in bridal attire, but it also has a large department for adolescent special events called Fantastic Prom. Fantastic Prom carries some of the most popular and fashion forward young adult special event designers. Although this store has been in business for over 3 decades, in recent years, the owning couple, both Baby Boomers, now employ a social media specialist. This is the first year the company actively posts pictures of popular prom dresses on their Instagram Site and has over 1,300 followers. These pictures instantly post to their Fantastic Finds Prom Twitter account. Additional, pictures are posted on the company’s Fantastic Finds Facebook page. The majority of the content published on all of these social media outlets are pictures with captions in the style of a mini-blog. These sites have increased web page and store visits, as well as widened the geographic demographic of clientele. When high school girls can go anywhere to buy their prom dress, this company has sold dresses to over 300 different high schools in the midwest and the number is growing thanks to the reach of social media.

Another “mom and pop” retail store that is using the power of pictures to market on social media is Bivouac located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In business for over 45 years, this store now sells a diverse offering of outdoor gear apparel and high end men and women’s fashion clothing. Although a completely different sector of clothing retail than Fantastic Finds, Bivouac uses pictures posted on Bivstagram of current merchandise. Pictures are cleverly tagged to attract the

eye of adventurers, University of Michigan sororities and other college students, fashionistas, occasional travelers, or climbing enthusiasts. These photos, taken by a University of Michigan student intern, are linked to the Bivouac Facebook and Twitter accounts. Bivouac also has a very active Pintrest, that features pictures taken by the company’s social media student intern and categorized to reflect the diverse interests of the store’s clientele. These sites also draw customers to Bivouac’s Online Store, a live account of what is available in store to ship merchandise nationwide. Customers frequently visit the store looking for particular items seen on these social media sites, and are knowledgeable when new products arrive in store without the company paying for costly brochures and magazines.

Many are familiar with the phrase “a picture is worth 1,000 words,” but small businesses are now realizing that it can also be worth 1,000 leads and can provide a national clientele. There is much more these companies can do to increase their social media presence, but benefits have been reaped by simply keeping up to date pictures on a few sites. These two clothing retailers, as well as many other small businesses, are using pictures posted on social media sites to cut costs of print advertising while at the same time reaching an audience that far extends these businesses’ city limits, and reminds people of their options to shop local on their own city’s main street.