Published Monday April 6, 2009
Online villages help build customer bases
BY STEFANIE MONGE
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Business owners have increasingly turned to social media Web sites such
as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to build relationships with current
and potential customers.
Businesses can use social media to build credibility and to support
advertising efforts, said Jimmy Hendricks, co-founder of Artistic Hub
and Collar Free, which are technology and custom apparel companies in
San Diego.
Hendricks recently held a social media workshop for businesses in Omaha as part of the AIM Institute's Web 2.0 series.
Consumers are more cautious about how they spend their money during
tight economic times, which means they do more "due diligence" before
making purchases, he said. The more information available about a
company, Hendricks said, the more likely consumers will do business
with it.
Andy Melichar, director of business development at Rebel Interactive, a
branding firm in Omaha, said social media help businesses form personal
connections with their clients and customers. The Web sites make it
easier to target a specific group or demographic of people, he said.
That's part of the reason Bluestone Development started using social media, said owner Christian Christensen.
Christensen said his company is shifting its focus to primarily develop
projects targeting Generation Y, generally defined as those between the
ages of 8 and 26.
"We're getting into their world of communication," he said.
Christensen said Bluestone's blog provides prospective residents with
an idea of what it's like to live in one of its developments, which
include the Rows at SoMa and the Towns in Little Italy. The blog also
allows potential residents to do research when it's convenient, and
they can go back through the blog to get an idea about what has
happened in the community.
The company recently started giving residents bottles of wine with
blank labels on which they write why they are living in a Bluestone
development, Christensen said. The residents then photograph themselves
with the bottle, and the photos eventually will be posted on the
photo-sharing Web site Flickr.
Christensen said consumers respond to the transparency that social
media allow. Twitter provides "a real-time, authentic picture of what's
going on," which helps consumers feel more connected to his business,
he said.
That personal connection doesn't automatically mean a consumer will do
business with a company, Christensen said. But those who do will feel
more personally invested because of that prior relationship, he said.
Melichar, of Rebel, said that consumers who interact with businesses
via social media are engaged to take action and act as "ambassadors"
for those brands, goods and services.
Social media are as close as it gets to word-of-mouth advertising, said Hendricks, from the AIM workshop.
Sue Wieger, owner of the Sue Wieger Golf Academy in Omaha, said she is
using social media in order to expand her brand across the Midwest.
Wieger started her business in 2007 when she moved back to Omaha.
Laurie Wolford, owner of Spirit World, said she started using Facebook
for personal reasons, but quickly realized that the Web site could be a
good tool for her business. Wolford said she created a Facebook page
for her business that allows customers to receive information about
events at the store.
She said social networking Web sites make it convenient for people to
get information in one place. "With Facebook, people are going to it
anyway."
Social media are a two-way street that allows businesses to get
feedback from customers. "We're talking to customers in a different
way," Christensen said.
Hendricks, from the AIM workshop, said the most common mistake he sees
companies make with social media is trying to participate in too many
platforms simultaneously. A business owner could easily spend 30 hours
a week trying to manage a blog and LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and
YouTube accounts, he said. And the business would most likely receive
only a marginal return, Hendricks added.
"Do one or two things, and do them well."
Starting a blog that provides information about the industry is a good
starting point for a company, he said. Businesses also could post a
couple of promotional videos on YouTube, Hendricks said.
Hendricks said YouTube surpassed Yahoo as the second most popular search engine next to Google.
Business owners shouldn't be intimidated by social media, Hendricks
said. Using them is another way to position a business as the "go-to
company for a certain product in (their) city."
"Social media is not the be-all end-all," Hendricks said. "But it's a tipping point for lots of consumers."
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