It all started in 2001 for memory preservation industry specialist Kim Guymon. That’s when she formed ScrapBiz, an online support group for scrapbooking retailers, and started taking advantage of social media tools. She began blogging to spread her marketing messages, then added instructional and editorial videos to her marketing mix. After adding two photo book websites to her business portfolio in 2008, Kim started participating on Facebook and Twitter as well.
“The industry I work in is a very personal one,” explains Kim. “Customers like to feel like they know the retailers and designers. Social media gives you a chance to put a personality on your business. It also allows you to instantly communicate…I have a Photobook company and I have been able to build a customer base this past year using mainly social media. I don't think traditional marketing methods could have ever reached the targeted audience that social media has allowed me to do.”
One advantage of social media for Kim is the ability to share tutorials and product demonstrations via video. Her videos on YouTube allow her to go beyond just telling customers about her business, toshow them the features and benefits of it. “It enables me to have customers all over the place,” she says. To further her branding and increase market exposure, Kim makes sure her logo and website URL “are all over whatever I do. It doesn't do any good to market your business without letting people know how to find you.”
Kim also appreciates the platform for instantly communication with her customers. “If I have an idea, I can blog, post on my Facebook fan page or Tweet it. I don't have to write it down and wait until I publish a newsletter. I do a monthly newsletter, but I'm too impatient to wait to share a good idea."
Kim’s online marketing experiments have included several other social tools, as well...
She subscribes to Google Alerts for several keywords, to keep track of who's talking about her company and the greater industry at large. She’s experimented with a campaign using Sprout.com. “It's interesting because you can update your widget and it automatically updates that widget wherever it is on the internet,” she explains. “It's a nice way to have fluid content without someone having to repost your information.”
Most of her experiments with social media are self-initiated. Being self-taught is a good and bad thing, she says. “It's good in that I can get up and going pretty quickly because I'm not afraid to try, but it's bad in that I don't always understand how to maximize benefits of the tools I'm using. I've never been that great at SEO. I'm sure there's a lot I'm missing out on.”
Another challenge Kim has found is trying to get people to engage. “I might have a lot of readers, but it's hard to know if they care sometimes,” says Kim. “I think it's important to understand how people use these things,” she continues. “Readers and listeners have a short attention span. The 1 hour podcast or 20 minute YouTube video is going to bore a lot of people. Shorter is always better and I've had to learn to pare down my thoughts. You almost have to present your info in a sort of 'bullet point' format. We live in a sound-bite world and you better learn that brevity is best.”
“I try to limit the number of times I contact a customer. As a customer myself, I get annoyed when I feel like a company is hassling me by tweeting 10 times a row or posting 6 updates on a Fan Page every
day. I think less can be more or your message just becomes noise.”
All the “noise” makes her sometimes wish that there was a filter to make “all the pointless stuff to disappear.” “Some women have been bitten in the rear by others after posting too many details about their private lives. Anything you post can and probably will be used against you at some point. There are just some aspects of your life that shouldn't be thrown out for public consumption.” She finds it frustrating that some people don't know how to produce valuable content. She advises business owners to “give customers something to chew on. Oh, and background music on blogs and sites should be outlawed.”.
Kim believes her best marketing success has come from sending email newsletters consistently. “It might take months before someone reacts to one, but my email opt-in list keeps growing so at least I know they’re interested. Our ‘Your First Photobook is Free’ campaign in partnership with Rocket Life has been great, too,” she adds. “People love FREE and it’s a nice headline for my Google and Facebook ads.”
Kim supports the new FTC regulations about transparency in blogging. “I most appreciate the opinions of those who are clear that they are not being paid or compensated for their opinions or information,” she
says. “I will tell someone if I have gotten something for free in exchange for a review,” she continues. “I don't think your opinion can be brutally and totally honest if you know the company just gave you a product. You're going to say mostly nice things to keep the freebies coming.“
If Kim could have any super power, she wishes she could time-travel. “I'd love to relive some parts of my life and speed past others.”
Fortunately, her passion for scrapbooks and photobooks allow her to do just that.
Memory preservation industry specialist Kim Guymon is the owner of two photobook businesses that feature the award-winning Rocket Life program. PhotoBooks{etc} is a retail site where customers can make their own custom photo books and gifts. PhotoBookBiz is a wholesale site where photo and scrapbook-focused retailers and service providers can add photo products to their current business offerings.
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