Marketing with Social Media: Start-Up Biz Case Study

Marketing with social media requires participation.

Participation means starting a meaningful conversation to build relationships.

Use marketing with social media as a way to say hello, gain followers and then introduce them to your company products and services over time.

Whitworth Photography is an example of a start-up business using social media effectively.

Samuel Whitworth is a 20-year-old photographer who has a MySpace page, Facebook page and a Twitter account. I advised him to send out about 5 - 8 "tweets" per day, say hello to people and then follow those in the greater Pasadena area to focus in on his geographical market of Pasadena, California and then the larger Southern California market.

Sam did this but he took it one step further. He created a simple flyer and messaged it to his MySpace followers and Facebook followers. He also used a picture from a recent shoot to attract attention. His web site hits started climbing steadily with more than 50 visits immediately after sending the announcement on his current rates and specials.

Then he went on Twitter and began saying "hi" to followers and beginning a conversation in a way that was interesting to them.

Do you see the universal principle at work here: if you walk in to a room full of crowded people and immediately start talking about yourself how do you think your listeners will feel?

Do you think they'll feel compelled to listen? Or will they feel more compelled to walk away?

Sam successfully started gaining new followers and then started "tweeting" his specials, photos of Pasadena, a wedding and other shots. He gained followers and at least two or three new shoots in a week.

Social media does work for marketing but it requires consistent participation and starting conversations that interest prospective followers and customers.