For the next in our series of case studies looking at how small businesses are using social media, we caught up with Emma Bridgewater Pottery
In no more than 50 words explain what your business is.
Emma Bridgewater is a leading UK pottery company which is based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. It employs a team of 150 skilled workers making more than 5,000 mugs, bowls and plates every day. It is the largest company to make all of its output by hand in Britain.
How do you use social media as a business?
We have developed an integrated social media sales and marketing campaign, primarily using channels such as Facebook and Twitter using digital experts, LEWIS PR who are managing the PR for our campaign ‘ Emma Bridgewater Spot on for 25 years’.
We wanted to grow Emma Bridgewater’s fan base as well as tapping into the brand’s existing enthusiasts via online social networking channels. LEWIS approached this by establishing an online community that would share in the brand’s 25th anniversary this year and create an online ‘buzz’.
Emma Bridgewater’s Facebook page and Twitter feed are also used as customer service tools making them interactive platforms where customers can post questions and receive feedback. This allows us to monitor sentiment about our business and gather information about consumers and that intelligence can then be used to adapt our traditional marketing strategy as and when required.
What are your business/marketing objectives for social media?
We wanted to drive online customer engagement in the run-up to and during our 25th anniversary celebrations and create a new generation of online fans.
We also wanted to Increase online sales by an additional 15 per cent over six months. Any business worth its salt needs to have a credible presence on the internet in this day and age as it is a cost-effective and direct way of interacting with existing customers and attracting new ones.
To demonstrate the longevity of the brand, we encouraged fans to share their Emma Bridgewater pottery collections online. As such, the campaign centred around asking fans to post images and comments on Facebook about their favourite Emma Bridgewater designs. This was done through a series of competitions and giveaways designed to drive sales as well as highlight the best product images from the past 25 years.
Another initiative involved a 25 per cent discount offer on Twitter and Facebook meaning that many customers have experienced real reward as a result of joining our social media platforms.
Do you measure the success of your social media marketing? If so, how?
Yes. Evaluation and measurement are crucial to any social media marketing campaign. As well as the obvious indicators – Facebook fan numbers or Twitter followers – we also monitor online conversations and blogs using tools such as socialmention.com and netvibes.com
We are delighted with our online audience and have built up a Facebook fan base of 2,000 and a Twitter following of nearly 2,500.
There have also been over 1,000 separate interactions with Facebook fans since the campaign began in March – each comment posted has received an average of 15 responses. Overall, this has contributed to a 30 per cent increase in online sales since the start of the social media campaign.
How does social media fit in with the other marketing your company does?
Everything is integrated. Online and offline work in tandem. For example, we recently launched a 25th anniversary range of products using both traditional means – TV, radio, newspapers and magazines – and digital methods.
LEWIS used the Emma Bridgewater Facebook page to highlight print and broadcast coverage to fans. This has proven to be an effective way of creating online debate amongst customers. For instance, following Emma Bridgewater’s recent appearances on Newsnight and Working Lunch, fans were able to discuss her comments on a Facebook thread afterwards.
Finally, we invited some influential mummy bloggers and their children to our factory in Stoke to meet our staff and see how are products are made. The tour was a great success and generated some superb coverage and commentary in the blogosphere – a realm which brands ignore or underestimate at their peril.
Do you have plans to increase your use of social media in 2010?
Yes. Social media has helped us to engage more efficiently, effectively and transparently with our customers and created new sales and marketing opportunities not only in the UK but also globally.
We would like to grow our number of Twitter and Facebook followers even more because their support for and interest in what we are doing is not only a ringing public endorsement for our efforts but also helps us to foster customer relationships and reach new audiences.
What would be your top 3 tips for businesses looking to get involved in social media?
1. Work out what you want from social media – increased sales, customer interaction or more tailored marketing – and set your targets accordingly.
2. Update fan pages and feeds regularly and answer enquiries as soon as you can. If you ignore consumers or fail to reply promptly, you not only risk alienating customers but also show your indifference on public forums to the world.
3. If you are not sure of your approach or are worried about the technical aspects of running a coherent social media plan, talk to experts.
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