With the significant increase in social networking occurring rapidly, it comes as a surprise that businesses are hesitant to use social tools within the workplace. With over 800 million users on Facebook alone, this clearly indicates a platform in which, if used correctly can communicate with your target market and ideal demographics, depending of course on your business.
Implementing a social tool within your business is a risk in itself. However, in order to survive in such a technological driven society, taking risks is crucial in maintaining your businesses growth and success.
‘Sistaco’ is a Brisbane based jewellery company that I recently found via Facebook. I noticed in my news feed that a couple of my friends had liked their page so I was intrigued to find out more. From doing a little research I discovered that ‘Sistaco’ actually doesn’t have a material shop within Brisbane – they are solely based online. ‘Sistaco’ has its main home page which is basically an online shop for various types of jewellery (necklaces, rings, bracelets, etc).You can order jewellery directly from this website and they will ship to your address. However, they also have a Facebook page which seems to be generating positive word-of-mouth (a free and extremely useful marketing technique). With nearly 11 thousand likes, ‘Sistaco’ is using social networking to promote their product and create awareness. Over the last few months, they have been running a model search to showcase their new jewellery. People would post photos of themselves on the ‘Sistaco’ Facebook page and the winner would be determined by how many likes they would receive. I believe this was a fantastic idea to include the audience in choosing who they think would be appropriate to model ‘Sistaco’ jewellery.
On a weekly basis, ‘Sistaco’ also uploads any new photos of their jewellery which once again allows the audience to see how the jewellery would look on a person (rather than just in a store). Another aspect that surprised me is that fact that ‘Sistaco’ uses Facebook inbox messages and comments to communicate with customers that are interested in purchasing a product. Once customers are interested with a product they message ‘Sistaco’ indicating which product and whether it is available. ‘Sistaco’ replies with the availability and the price of products, including postage fee. Bank details are then exchanged and within a week you can expect to receive your purchases. This process is all provided by Facebook for free so ‘Sistaco’ is able to not only receive payments but target their ideal demographic free of charge. This is an excellent way for a small business to generate word-of-mouth and to create awareness of their brand. Although using Facebook as a purchasing outlet can be extremely risky, it seems to be working for them as they have sold large amounts of jewellery and have created a loyal fan base. I was intrigued to see how it worked and I was fortunate enough to purchase jewellery via the Facebook inbox message and was extremely happy with the result. Although I was hesitant at first, being able to read what other people have thought (another great social networking aspect) alleviated my hesitations in sending money to an unknown source. In saying this, I did only purchase a $10 product!
‘Sistaco’ is not the only business that has implemented social networking tools like Facebook successfully and I strongly believe that in a technological driven society it is imperative that businesses change and adapt to cater for their audience. Implementing social networking tools within your business could differentiate you amongst the rest and make a significant difference for your business.
caitlinhess 