Eggblogg

UK small business case study no. 2: Saronti

In this, the second of a series of mini case studies, I talked to Karine Large of Saronti, producers of personalised family books.  The business was started in 2006 and much of its success is down to social media, according to Karine.

What made you decide to use social media, and how did you start?

"We started exploring social media in our second year in business - we needed exposure but had no budget for marketing. I have a background in web design so I already had a good knowledge of what was out there and I also received excellent advice from Maz Nadjm who I'd worked with in the past.

The first thing we did was create a short video introducing what the products are all about. We needed platforms to put it on so I created profiles on YouTube, MySpace, BT Tradespace, Facebook, Twitter... and there are loads more to come. 

We also realised we needed more viral content to attract people to the Saronti site, so we created playlists on ineem and playlist.com. The key was to create content that our customers are interested in - not necessarily about books. Mums are our core customer target - they want stuff about kids, things to do with their kids, jokes, recipes, etcetera.

When I started on Twitter I realised that any content which makes people laugh is a real winner. Sending something funny each day got me 1200 followers in 4 weeks! As well as jokes and fun things I tweet quotes, recipes, 'how to's, printable games, online games, that kind of thing.  At the moment I post links to other sites but I'm currently working on adding all this content in a Saronti blog to drive all my Twitter followers to the Saronti website. Once they're there, hey - they might buy a book!"

What has really worked for you?

"So far Twitter has been the most rewarding. Since I started using Twitter, the web stats have gone up by 80%. Google used to be the top driver but now Twitter is delivering more visitors to Saronti than Google.

From Twitter contacts we've found help with SEO, numerous reviews,  partnership opportunities  and resellers. We've even been contacted by a reseller in Australia via Twitter and our books are on their site now!

MySpace seems to be working well at Christmas (our busiest time). We regularly add new friends to our network and leave comments on their profile with discount for buying books using the discount code MYSPACE. This has been very effective.

So far social media has been brilliant for us but we still have a lot to do. We're only at the beginning."

What other marketing activities do you do (online or offline)?

"We're very close to going live with a personalised free e-cards site  and we're also working on a site offering digital versions of our books which will come free with any book purchased.  That way people can easily show their books to family and friends and of course there'll be plenty of calls to action such as "Get a book like this" and "Share with friends".

We use direct mail to keep in touch with customers and recently started a monthly newsletter.

We have an affiliate programme and actively look for partners and resellers, and we also enter awards - we're currently working on applications to enter to HSBC Start-up Award, The Pitch award and the Book award.

Last year we had stands at various exhibitions to promote our school book. This brought a lot of new contacts. We didn't do any this year though as they are quite expensive."

What advice would you give other small business owners?

"Don't spend on advertising unless you have a big budget. Same for Google Adwords - It's great but unless you can be at the top it's a waste of money (well for us it was anyway).

There's no point having a good business if no-one knows it's there. Spend time and money if you can on SEO. If you're on Google page 1 people will find you.

When you feel like watching on good movie on TV, don't. Turn your computer on, go on Twitter, MySpace, Ping - chat to people, make friends with potential customers. Social media is not rocket science but it does take time. If you're going to try it, don't do it  just to promote your products - do it to give useful and interesting content to your core customer target and get prospects to your site.

Give them good content - make them feel special and be friendly. If you become their friend and communicate with them regularly, one day they'll buy!"

eTips - why ratings, reviews and recommendations matter

This month's eTips is about the currency of the social web - ratings, reviews and recommendations. Plus the usual round up of blogs posts, news and other ephemera that's caught my eye recently.

Here it is on the web or you could always subscribe to get it each month by email if you wished...

What I get up to on Twitter ...

A glance back through my Twitter conversations the last couple of weeks reminds me once more why it's become a mainstay of my working day. A few highlights:

• In preparation for a presentation, I asked for examples of UK small businesses using social media successfully, and received several good recommendations, two of which resulted in mini case studies for my blog. The first is already up, and thanks to the retweets this blog received the most page views it's ever had in a single day
• I discovered Retweetist as a tool for measuring retweets and finding interesting people to follow by topic
• I found yet more interesting authorities on the social web, such as Jeremiah Owyang
• I shared my love of blackbirds, got hotel recommendations for a forthcoming weekend in London, commiserated with someone feeling unwell, discussed on what the Abruzzo earthquake might mean for organised crime, retweeted a number of informative and/or entertaining tweets from others and responded to enquiries about First Friday Lewes

Whatever did I used to do before Twitter?!

UK small business social media case study no. 1: Paganum Farmers Market

This is the first of a series of mini case studies on UK small businesses that are using social media, how they got started with it, how it's working for them and what advice they would give to others.

Paganum Produce Ltd describes itself as an online farmers market supplying meat and produce from family farms and small artisan firms in the Yorkshire Dales direct to the consumer and trade outlets nationwide. The word 'paganum' is Latin for 'rural tradition'.

Paganum's Chris Wildman admits he's a gadget lover and has always been an early adopter of technology - so when he and partner Heather Mitchell started their business in 2007, launching into social media channels seemed a natural decision.

Research revealed a huge network of food-related blogs - foodies, suppliers, critics - and Chris began to listen in, make contact and identify the hot topics. An early Twitter user, he knew that the micro-blogging community was awash with journalists, marketers and bloggers, so he started conversations and sent out food samples. He found people were quick to write about Paganum, which in turn sparked other interviews. The business has featured in Time Out and more articles are in the pipeline.

As well as a Twitter presence, Paganum has a Facebook page featuring photos, video, surveys & discussions. 'Photos are really important,' states Chris, 'and although some photos aren't the greatest quality it's still important to get them up there. People like them and comment on them. It's also another way for them to find us through the tags.' Interestingly, Chris notes that pay per click advertising on Facebook has produced a better return on investment than Google Adwords or any other PPC network due to the very specific targeting that's possible.

The ecommerce-focused website is complemented perfectly by the Yorkshire Dales Food Blog, which features recipes, reviews of restaurants where you can eat dishes made with Paganum products, even 'how to' articles. Chris's first foray into video was a demonstration of how to cook the perfect steak. More videos are planned, especially when the new website launches in May 2009. 'It's going to be even more Web 2.0 oriented,' says Chris.

Paganum's success in just 18 months should be an inspiration to other businesses in rural locations, rooted in the local community but looking for a national audience. I was reminded of Wiggly Wigglers, another UK small business punching above its weight thanks to really 'getting' what social media is about.

'I have had some marketing agency experience, so I suppose that helped me see the potential,' says Chris, 'but nonetheless social media marketing is something any small business could get into. We have a very tiny marketing budget, but this is about spending time rather than money.'

 

All photos: Paganum Produce Ltd

Where do we find the time for social media?

I read a fantastic post yesterday, by Clay Shirky, author of Here comes everybody. It wasn't new - it was the transcript of a speech he delivered a year ago, viewable on YouTube (thanks to Martha Leyton for sending me the link). But I found his central idea fascinating.

There's a common reaction from people who don't spend their time on the internet, creating stuff, having conversations, playing games , posting videos, writing blogs or contributing to wikis. It's 'where do these people find the time?' (usually said in a way that implies 'sad people with no life').

Shirky's answer is 'by not watching TV'. By way of example, he's worked out that the total time required to create, code and write the whole of Wikipedia, in all its languages, has taken about 100 million hours. As opposed to TV watching - "two hundred billion hours, in the U.S. alone, every year.' In other words, the time spent on participating in social media is a tiny fraction of time spent passively watching TV, much of it soaps and adverts. He calls this the 'cognitive surplus' - the time and energy we waste on consuming and don't spend creating, sharing and doing.

Shirky claims that if we were to watch just 1% less TV than we are currently, that alone would be the equivalent of 100 more wikipedia projects each year. For me that's mind-blowing. As is his story of the 4-year-old looking for the mouse that went with the TV. Go read the article or watch the video and you'll see what I mean.

Photo credit: NMeM – Hulton Getty