Most dealer social media accounts post content nobody engages with to audiences that would never buy. Here’s a candid look at what actually drives revenue for coin shops and bullion dealers — and what to stop doing.
Walk through the social accounts of any 20 coin dealers and you’ll see the same pattern: inconsistent posting, generic “did you know” content, high production costs, flat engagement, and no connection to revenue. Everyone’s doing it because they feel they should. Few are doing it well.
Here’s a candid breakdown of what works on social for coin and bullion dealers, platform by platform.
Facebook: Still the Most Important Platform
Bullion buyers skew older. Facebook skews older. The two overlap heavily, and Facebook is still — for better or worse — where bullion buyer conversation lives.
What works:
- Live inventory posts (new arrivals, consignments, estate pieces)
- Market commentary tied to current price action
- Buy-side solicitations (“looking for pre-1933 gold, send photos”)
- Community engagement in bullion and numismatic groups
What wastes money:
- Agency-written “history of coins” posts
- Infographic content with stock photos
- Running the business page like it’s a consumer brand
Posting cadence: 3-5 times per week. Consistency matters more than volume.
Instagram: Numismatic Audiences
Numismatic buyers — graded coins, rare dates, estate collections — are active on Instagram. Bullion buyers are not.
What works:
- High-quality coin photography (this is a non-negotiable; mediocre coin photos look amateurish)
- Reels showing new consignments or auction previews
- Behind-the-scenes content (grading room, authentication)
- Specific dates/varieties with educational captions
What wastes money:
- Bullion content aimed at numismatic audiences
- Trending audio Reels featuring commodity bullion
- Buying followers to inflate perceived credibility
Posting cadence: 2-4 times per week with occasional Reels.
YouTube: Where Dealer Trust Gets Built
YouTube is where coin and bullion buyers go to learn before they buy. Dealers who invest in long-form YouTube content build real trust that converts across the entire site.
What works:
- Buying guides for specific product categories
- Market commentary tied to real-time events
- Interviews with grading services, mint representatives, auction specialists
- Walking-tour inventory videos for brick-and-mortar dealers
- “What to buy at $X spot price” category explainers
What wastes money:
- Thin content designed to game AdSense
- Clickbait titles that attract the wrong audience
- Low production quality (mobile phones work fine; bad audio does not)
Posting cadence: 1-2 videos per week minimum, or don’t bother starting.
LinkedIn: Dealer-to-Dealer and B2B
LinkedIn matters for dealer-to-dealer relationships, dealer-to-industry positioning (relationships with grading services, auction houses, trade publications), and B2B sales (institutional buyers, estate referrals).
What works:
- Industry commentary from the dealer-owner’s personal profile
- Trade event coverage (ANA, Long Beach, FUN shows)
- Dealer business news (acquisitions, new hires, service expansions)
- Published industry analysis
What wastes money:
- Running the company page like it’s a consumer channel
- Automated content from a scheduling tool
- Mass connection requests to irrelevant audiences
Posting cadence: 1-2 times per week from the owner’s profile, less from the company page.
TikTok: Narrow but Growing
TikTok has become a legitimate numismatic discovery channel for younger collectors. The audience is small but engaged. For dealers that can produce vertical-video content, there’s real opportunity.
What works:
- Specific coin highlights with clear value stories
- Market reaction content (bullion price moves, mint announcements)
- Educational content aimed at new collectors
- Behind-the-scenes shop content
What wastes money:
- Trying to be TikTok-funny when it doesn’t match the brand
- Chasing trends with coin content shoehorned in
- Expensive production (TikTok rewards authenticity over polish)
Reddit: Not a Marketing Channel
r/Silverbugs, r/Gold, r/Coins, r/Numismatics — these are communities where dealers who show up for marketing purposes get banned. Dealers who show up as participants, answer questions, and genuinely engage build credibility that eventually drives business. But it’s not a marketing channel in any direct sense.
What Not to Do on Any Platform
- Price-promise content (“guaranteed buyback at X above spot”) — compliance risk
- Investment advice framing — compliance risk and audience trust risk
- Agency-generated history content that could run on any dealer’s account
- Follower-count-chasing campaigns
- Paid influencer campaigns in the bullion category (regulatory risk, often fake-engagement)
- Automated posting that treats all platforms the same
The Pattern That Works
The dealers who do social media well share a pattern:
- One or two platforms done well, not six platforms done badly
- Content tied to actual inventory and actual market events
- The dealer-owner’s voice (not an agency’s) comes through
- Consistency over volume
- Measurement tied to foot traffic, inquiries, and online sales — not likes
Social media for coin dealers is less about marketing sophistication and more about showing up consistently in the places your buyers already are, with content that reflects the kind of dealer you actually are.