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Across the world, businesses are incorporating social media into their marketing strategies in new and exciting ways. Fishtown business owners are no stranger to this marketing tool and have been taking advantage of all that is offered on these websites.
Whipped Bakeshop, located at 636 Belgrade St., creates custom baked goods and has started using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Flickr to engage customers in its projects.
“On a daily basis, we try to post pictures of what we’re working on, so we use Instagram and Facebook and Twitter and, then we post pictures of the finished project,” said Brennen Lukas, co-founder of Whipped Bakeshop.
Not only does this strategy attract new customers, but it also gives businesses the chance to show off the work they’ve done for other customers to a wide audience.
“What would be seen by only the customer is now where the whole world can see,” Lukas said.
DiPinto Guitars at 407 Girard Ave. uses Facebook not only to show off its products, but also feature some of the celebrity artists who use its instruments.
“I was just talking to the original guitarist from Joan Jett, Ricky Byrd,” owner Chris DiPinto said. “He’s got a new record out, so we’re sending a guitar to him in New York this week, and he’s going to play it, try it. Hopefully we’ll get a shot of him. Every few weeks we get someone exciting. We had Nels Cline in here, and he decided to get the guitar.”
Social media is not only for the business owner, though. It also helps engage the customer in a personal way that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
“They really feel like they’re part of the company,” DiPinto said. “I think that’s really exciting. When I was growing up, and my favorite guitar company, whatever it may have been, Gibson, if I could have been part of their day-to-day, it would have been great.”
DiPinto said he likes the immediacy of Facebook in contrast to using traditional media to post advertisements. However, this immediacy also brings the need to spend a lot of time keeping a social media page up to date.
“It takes a lot of time and energy to keep up with social media pages,” Lukas said. “It can get stressful if you haven’t posted in a couple of days.”
Still, most business owners agree that the pros outweigh the cons. Since social media is a free marketing tool and highly customizable, it’s doubtful its presence will go anywhere anytime soon.
“Social media is probably the biggest part in our marketing mix,” Lukas said.
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