How Social Media Helps One Small Business Connect with Fans
Jan 21, 2010 -
Customers of Seattle-based bag manufacturer
The company’s namesake has been designing and making bags for more than 20 years. He always has a sketchbook, regularly works on up to 10 designs at once and always sews the prototype of the new product himself, according to the company’s Web site.
Tom Bihn has a Seattle factory showroom/retail store that is open to the public one day per month. Otherwise, the bags are available exclusively through its Web site. The company’s social media presence is rich with customer experience about their products and photos of bag-toting fanatics all over the world.
What makes Tom Bihn’s social media efforts successful? Among the keys are product passion and that the social media networks are updated regularly. Engagement is going on among members on these platforms, not simply the company broadcasting promotional messages. Each social media platform has unique Tom Bihn content that doesn’t overlap with the other platforms the company is on, yet at the same time, they’re integrated and linked to each other.
“All of us at Tom Bihn are fortunate to work for a company that makes truly innovative and high quality bags -- bags that we are proud to stand behind, bags that we use ourselves,” said Darcy Gray, vice president at Tom Bihn, in an email interview. “While Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, our blog and the Tom Bihn Forums give us an endless variety of ways to communicate who we are to our customers, we don't think those efforts would resonate if we weren't so excited about our company and what we do.”
Gray manages the Tom Bihn Facebook fan page, forums, blogs, Flickr andTwitter. She said updating them is a lot of fun and works on them whenever she checks her iPhone. Yash Khemani, a longtime customer and friend, is the master behind the Tom Bihn channel partner videos on YouTube.
She said engaging directly with customers began with the TomBihn.com forums.
“In 2006, it occurred to us that our customers and potential customers could get significant value from talking with each other as opposed to just with us. They could share their experiences of their Tom Bihn bags, offer advice for selecting the right bag to new customers, and post reviews/pictures of their experiences with their bags,” she said.
She said the company’s success on social media starts with their bags and that social media tools have given them more powerful ways to connect.
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