If you're reading this blog you know how important social networking has become for most businesses. Stationery Trends, one of the leading stationery industry magazines, decided to explore this phenomenon in their Fall 2009 issue. Sarah Schwartz, the Stationery Trends editor, was specifically interested in finding out how vendors and retailers use on-line tools like Twitter, Facebook and blogging platforms to communicate with each other and their customers.
At Bella Ink Designs we were skeptical about the value Twitter would have for our business, but once we learned the "right" way to use the site, it became a good marketing tool. We don't discuss what we're eating for lunch. We try to keep our tweets to announcements, like a cute news ticker. We direct our retailers to Bella Ink products or events, and answer any questions they may have regarding our releases. Oftentimes we send people on Twitter over to this blog where we can share our news with them in more detail.
In an effort to get as many of our retailers in the loop as possible, we put our blog and twitter addresses on all of our invoices, as well as on the bottom of any emails. We've seen this pay off as more and more customers are signing up and following us on-line everyday. This allows us to keep in touch even when we're not in the studio.
If you choose to join a social network, you obviously can't keep to yourself. Upload your address book to Twitter and find out if anybody you know already has account, then follow them. If you're a designer, follow your retailers, your vendors, important media outlets and other people that make up your industry.
Remember to share relevant information about your company or industry, not only when you post, but when you respond to the posts of others. This rule isn't restricted to Twitter, it goes for any blogs you may follow, too!
If you're interested in reading about Sarah's social networking discoveries, and more about what Bella Ink had to say regarding blogging, check out the entire "Negotiating the Social Networking Maze" article now!
{Pictured above, from left to right, Stationery Trends Fall 2009 cover and artwork from PH-3 by Bella Ink Designs}
