In this day and age, it’s more important than ever for businesses to have a social media presence. Having a social presence is now becoming as commonplace as having a website. For many, they find social networks better than the traditional media outlets such as newspapers and TV programs – because it’s a great way for businesses and consumers to get involved in the ongoing worldwide conversation, as well as being more informed with real time information.
Social Media is used for the development of business reputations and branding (as well as many other things). It is so powerful that it can change the behaviours and decisions of consumers rapidly. For your business’s reputation management – having a well thought out and managed social media presence is a key component for success – particularly for those businesses that are customer facing. Customers want to interact with businesses and brands using social networks – and they expect to be heard and interacted with.
As a business that started in the 1950’s, Shelfstore understands that the business landscape is constantly evolving – and as a business that stays in line with the times, moving our business from high street shops to online, it’s no surprise that we’ve embraced the social networks as part of the way we communicate with customers. Here’s our story so far – how we got started on social media and the reasons why you should be considering getting on board!
Why Social Media is Important:
- It’s where your Peers and Customers Are
There are so many deals waiting to be done out there – whether it’s aligning your brand with another, finding someone to bounce an idea off or looking to gain potential customers. Social media is perfect for connecting you with other people who share the same passions as well as needs. Anyone who’s anyone is now joining the social media revolution – don’t get left behind!
- Best Way to Get Publicity
It’s a great way to communicate directly with customers – and the great thing is when those customers are happy they’re more likely to pass that message on to many others (sometimes hundreds and thousands) through one simple click of a button. Advocacy matters – if you are doing a great job – people can talk about it and share that news with their friends. It’s also a great way to get the word out about your business’ product/service – so don’t be shy!
- Make Sales
When you’re communicating through social media you are helping to build a little more awareness about yourself, especially if you have something truly interesting or exclusive to report. The more publicity you get, the more people you’ll end up talking to on social media – meaning that you’ll attract and encourage more web traffic, therefore increasing your sales!
Our Story
At the beginning, Shelfstore started off with four stores in and around London which were controlled by a Swedish director who had bought the shelving system over to the UK to sell to British customers. When there was only one store left, the manager Tony-Fitz Costa (that’s me) found that there was more appetite for customers to order online – so the business moved to Maidenhead in 2011 – and the website became the new shop front.
Moving the business from the London shop to an online business, was one of the best changes for future success. Having an online presence gave us the opportunity to expand our customer base significantly. Having a online presence via our website, made it easier for customers to access Shelfstore and our products from all of the UK.
Once Shelfstore became an online business – there was no reason why we couldn’t spread our online wings even further. The best way to get the word out was to take on the world of social media – creating more visible outposts online for our brand – so that’s exactly what we did!
Knowing that we had existing clients on the world of social media and knowing that we could reach out to potential clients was even more of an incentive. The best way to get the word out was to take on the top 6 social media platforms including: Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube (the more platforms the better as you’re more than likely be targeting different groups of people).
This just goes to show that keeping a business running whilst transferring it from shop to online can be done – and brings great success when completed!
Shelfstore have made everything about being online customer friendly as possible – from the design wizard (where you can do your own planning online), to the videos to show you how to put your product together and to each of their social media channels.
Social media is here to stay – customers really enjoy the freedom and choice it provides – and so it’s up to you as to whether you get left behind.
By Tony Fitz-Costa – Check me out on Google+.
Shelfstore is a system of creating furniture, shelving and storage solutions around your ideas – in any size, and to fit your space.
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