The last in a 3-part series this week on social media case studies.
Sometimes, your customers should be the star of your social media show, not the brand.
Such is the case for Spellbinders Paper Arts, a five year-old manufacturer of tools for the paper crafting enthusiast. If you’re looking to create the all-time greatest holiday card from scratch, Spellbinders is your outfitter.
Based in Peoria, Arizona, Spellbinders sells primarily to papercrafting stores and craft chains like Hobby Lobby. They also sell direct to consumers on the Spellbinders Web site.
Follow the Customers
Spellbinders is very active in social media. They maintain a blog with ideas on how to use their products, a Facebook page, a Yahoo! Group, a Twitter account, and have nearly 50 videos on YouTube. (A Flickr gallery is forthcoming).
And this decentralized approach is a big part of the company’s social media strategy, according to Vice President of Marketing Tobi Hall. “Wherever the consumer wants to be, that’s where we are,” she says. “We want all roads to eventually lead back to our Web site, and we’re redesigning it to make it much more social, but we don’t really care if our Facebook fans also are members of our Yahoo! Group. It’s about brand loyalty and recognition anywhere the consumer wants to find us.”
Hot for Teacher
Across all of their social outposts, educating customers about how to use the multitude of Spellbinders products is the objective. The blog includes how-tos such as “Wax Resist, Spellbinders Style“. The Inspiration Alley section of the Web site includes a whopping 327 ideas and instructions (think recipes for craft projects), many of them submitted by customers.
In fact, the ability to share their work is a major driver of consumer social media participation, according to Tobi. She points to the company’s recent contest to showcase a new product. The Pendants Contest yielded 91 entries from consumers, and significant awareness of this new technique. Note that the company selected finalists, but the winner and runner-up we’re selected randomly. “We are trying to build a community and stimulate participation, it’s not about critiquing the creativity,” says Tobi.
Social Partnerships
In addition to their marketing staff of 3, Spellbinders relies on a group of five freelance designers to create how-tos on the blog. The company also works with a team of more than 10 Design Team Members, who each have their own blogs and followings in the paper arts community.
Each year, the company holds a rigorous contest to select the Design Team. Winners are compensated per project they create and promote using Spellbinders products, and the Design Team is given free Spellbinders equipment.
Also, the company is very active on the large number of crafting blogs and communities, answering questions and providing resources where appropriate.
Because advanced projects require products not only from Spellbinders, but from several other companies, a symbiotic relationship has developed within the industry. “Our business partners include links to our products from their blog posts, and we do the same,” says Tobi.
The Payoff
Because so much of the company’s revenue is through the retail channel, direct financial impact of social media is difficult to ascertain at present. Social media progress is measured through community participation across the various social outposts, feedback from retailers, mentions of the brand in social media, and regular surveys of brand awareness. (This is great idea, and doing quarterly brand awareness studies of your customers and prospects is a best practice – especially if you can determine how much social connectivity increases brand ID)
Unlike many companies that are trying to isolate the impact of social media, Tobi and Spellbinders take a much more integrated approach. “Everything we do now has a social component,” she says. “So if overall sales, and mentions and awareness go up, social media is definitely a contributing factor.” (This is an excellent philosophy. I recommend treating social media as a marketing ingredient, not a marketing silo. A presentation/post on this concept is here).
Thanks very much to Tobi and Spellbinders for letting me write up their story. I hope we can do a follow up post on their new Web site, and the processes they undergo to make it even more social.
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RT @web20_marketing: More Is More – A Social Media Case Study | Social Media Marketing … [link to post]
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More Is More – A Social Media Case Study | Social Media Marketing …: Social Media Strategy Blog Social Media .. [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer: More is More. A social media case study. [link to post]
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No matter how big or important your brand. Your customer has to always come first. Without the customer you have no brand.
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More is More. A social media case study. [link to post]
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Jay, I think the client has it right here, social media is such an ingrained component of their marketing presence that they cannot, nor likely should, attempt to extract the sole impact of their online media presence.
I just put up a post that alludes to the lifetime value of a customer and the frustration many firms are having in determining a campaign, by campaign ROI.
The case study is not complete yet, but stay tuned – I see the crystal ball becoming clearer.
.-= Steven Groves´s last blog ..Press Support =-.
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More Is More – A Social Media Case Study | Convince & Convert [link to post]
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More Is More – A Social Media Case Study [link to post]
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“Social outposts”. Love it. If you had told me that a Hobby Lobby vendor had a demonstrably effective new media presence, I would have laughed–and then I would have eaten my words. I always say that the tack-and-feed on the corner will not get a return for their new media efforts, but I’m beginning to rethink this assumption. THERE IS ALWAYS AN ANGLE. Make kitsch cool, etc. Bang-up job to you and everyone involved.
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RT @jaybaer: Make your customers the star of your social media show, not the brand. (a case study) [link to post]
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“Wherever the consumer wants to be, that’s where we are,” RT @jaybaer: More is More. A social media case study. [link to post]
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RT @SujataChadha: More is More. A social media case study. [link to post]
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Interesting -”decentralized approach & contributing factor “RT @jaybaer: More is More. A social media case study. [link to post]
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Great social media case study [link to post]
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RT @bnoinc: RT @jaybaer: Make your customers the star of your social media show, not the brand. (a case study) [link to post]
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RT @tweetmeme More Is More – A Social Media Case Study | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Consulting – Convince … [link to post]
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Good stuff, as always. Thanks for finding these hidden jewels — and new ways of looking at connecting.
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Reminds me of Fiskars RT @jaybaer: Make your customers the star of your social media show, not the brand. (a case study) [link to post]
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I love the creativity and the focus on value for the customer. I also like that they hired 5 freelancers to create how-to’s on the site. We hire freelancers for all kinds of things and they are the grease that make the social media cogs turn, in my opinion. Designers, copy writers, web developers, link builders, and more. Love ‘em!
Reminds me of Fiskars RT @jaybaer: Make your customers the star of your social media show, not the brand. (a case study) http://ow.ly/DBYU
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Great @jaybaer post: More Is More – A Social Media Case Study [link to post]
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Your customers should be the star of your social media show, not the brand [link to post]
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RT @HarpInteractive: More Is More – A Social Media Case Study | http://ow.ly/DIl8
Your customers should be the star of your social media show, not the brand http://ow.ly/DBYU
RT @jaybaer More Is More – A Social Media Case Study | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Consulting – Convince & … http://bit.ly/D1nDu
More Is More – A Social Media Case Study http://short.to/y5oc
LOL.
Now i can quote what Tobi Hall said to my clients.
““Wherever the consumer wants to be, that’s where we are…. It’s about brand loyalty and recognition anywhere the consumer wants to find us.”
.-= -tikabanget-´s last blog ..Ke Dublin ituh.. (2) =-.
Social Media Case Study : Spellbinders Paper Arts — http://bit.ly/1iv9vp
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RT @jaybaer More Is More – étude de cas intéressante des medias sociaux pour développer son entreprise … [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer More Is More – étude de cas intéressante des medias sociaux pour développer son entreprise … http://bit.ly/D1nDu
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More Is More – A Social Media Case Study [link to post]
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More Is More – A Social Media Case Study http://bit.ly/D1nDu
Jason – Really great story! The how to articles are really key to embracing customers. – Mike
.-= Michael A. Stelzner´s last blog ..Fun Social Media Promos Feed Souplantation Customer Frenzy =-.
RT @tweetmeme More Is More – A Social Media Case Study | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Consulting – Convince … http://bit.ly/D1nDu
More Is More – A Social Media Case Study http://ow.ly/166Kql
More Is More – A Social Media Case Study http://bit.ly/4VT0qb
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