Retailers Reveal Their Most Effective Social Media Practices

By Greetings etc.
"The use of Twitter forever changed the course of my business and career strategy. Making connections on Twitter led to collaboration, the sale of my retail store and a fabulous partnership between The English Paper Company and my online company, PaperConcierge.com.  That being said, LinkedIn and Facebook both significantly increased my industry presence."
Caroline Brant, Founder  
PaperConcierge.com

"The MOST effective social media practice I have implemented is to write personal notes to the brides I meet at shows and customers who order personalized stationery. They come in carrying those notes and seem impressed with getting them. I am very afraid that if we just keep hopping onto the 'technological' social media, we are just reinforcing the fact that people don't need to write anymore; and since most of us are in the social stationery business, we better be training our customers how to write notes and letters. Yes, I will do some web stuff, but I am too afraid of putting myself out of business by not practicing what I preach and making my business irrelevant."
Jean Betses, President/Owner
Village Paperie, Kennebunkport, ME

"We have a Facebook page  but find that our customers respond best to e-mails or direct mail, especially for in-store events. We're working on building a better social media presence but many of our clients tell us they appreciate old-fashioned communication, with something that comes in the mail."
Edie Frere, President
Landis Gifts & Stationery, Los Angeles, CA

"My most effective social media practice for increasing brand awareness --and hopefully sales --is my Facebook fan page. I post promotions, events and new products to the wall and also have it set up to automatically pull in my blog posts to my Facebook page. I also use Twitter quite a bit; however, the primary benefit of Twitter for me has been networking with vendors and other stationers, as opposed to interacting with customers."
Holly Bretschneider, Chief Style Officer
Salutations, Charlotte and Chapel Hill, NC

"Well, the only 'new' social media we really have experience with is sending out e-blasts instead of traditional postcards (we just launched our Facebook page so it is a little too soon to see if there is any impact). We send out bimonthly newsletters -- generally short and sweet -- and include any promotions we have going on. There does seem to be a bump in traffic and the items featured generally pick up over the next several days. We receive many comments from customers that they enjoy receiving them, even when we sent them out 12 days in a row for the 12 days of Christmas.

I fought this trend for years. Being a stationery store, I wanted to set a good example and encourage letter writing.  The truth is, this is much more cost effective and because of that, we can do it much more frequently so the trade-off is worth it. I am hoping with the addition of Facebook, we will continue to increase awareness and drive more traffic to the store.
Tanja von Kulajta, Owner/President
R.S.V.P., Plymouth, MI


BEST SELLER LIST
A delegate reveals what items are flying off shelves. "More than once I've actually picked a best seller straight out of Greetings etc. such as Happeez by Mayfair Lane. It doesn't get any easier than that! Our best selling item last month was Bella Ink's graduation imprintable (Model #WCH-30)."
Gentry O'Neill, President
Paper on the Avenue, Richmond, VA