Work this year has included part-time gigs as a Social Media Specialist. For my work at Babcock Gifts, I photograph and share new items from the store, grow BG's social networks, and respond to online inquiries.
But my favorite thing to do is build online relationships; connecting us (BG) with new customers, and sometimes, other businesses. A few of my (BG's) followers and friends have purchased items from Babcock Gifts after seeing them on Instagram first.
I can't always show what this follow-through looks like from start to finish, but in this example, I can. We just received these painted wine glasses two weeks ago, and I Instagrammed them on Friday. Here's my first post, along with comments from BG's followers:
Pearl Dragon Collections follows BG from Miami, FL. An interior decorator and online store, we've been following each other's products and "liking" (or commenting) on each other's posts for the past month. On Monday, she called and ordered 8 of these hand-painted glasses.
I like to think of social media as a game of tag. It's exciting to meet someone else who knows how to play (not everyone does!). When Pearl received her wine glasses, she posted a picture and tagged us on both Instagram and Facebook - letting us know that she received our product, and also, sharing it with her followers.
Naturally, I re-grammed her picture (of the received wine glass) to BG's followers on Instagram and Facebook, and tagged her back. Now, our followers can see that we have a happy customer, one who will be using our product, and they can follow her to see how she uses it.
Followers also get to see that both Babcock Gifts and Pearl Dragon Collections are actively participating in social media; not just posting pictures for likes. If a customer purchases either of our products and tags us, we're more likely to share that interaction on our social media and create more connections for everyone. It's a successful (and fun) social media transaction!
