Our Director of Customer Support, Justin Shoup, interviewed a current SnapRetail subscriber to get the scoop on her online marketing!
JS: I’m here with Karen from Sew Creative in Ashland, OR. Karen recently signed up for our Managed Services package where one of our Marketing Gurus creates content & posts to Facebook for Sew Creative for her every month. Karen, thanks so much for taking the time to participate in this interview today. Can you just tell me a little bit about yourself and Sew Creative?
KB: I’m Karen Bates and I’ve been in business for 5 years. I have a quilt store called Sew Creative in a small tourist town in Oregon called Ashland which is known for it’s Shakespeare Festival.
JS: Why did you give SnapRetail’s Managed Services a try?
KB: Because I am so busy in my store I don’t have time to deal with Facebook, Pinterest, and all of those things. I love SnapRetail for my website. I send out emails once a week and I love the ease of doing it through SnapRetail, but I haven’t had time to do all of the other stuff that I know I need to do.
JS: Yea, I think that is a common problem that busy retailers have. Are you a one woman show or do you have employees that work with you?
KB: I have 5 to 7 staff members depending on who is around. I always have 2 people on and then I’m the third person. But, between helping customers, teaching classes, ordering products, it’s pretty hard to find the time. I’ve also been the ones doing emails for a very long time. It’s just a lot.
JS: You wear a lot of hats! So, what was your social media marketing effort like before having us take it over.
KB: Well, I always do a giveaway on Fridays. It’s called Free Fabric Friday. People post a comment, I pick a winner, and they get a free yard of fabric. I was getting the same 15 or 20 people week after week and that was it. Rarely did I post something on other days. Now, I have something going out every day. I’m really amazed at how many people are commenting & sharing. It’s really great!
JS: That’s awesome! Consistency is definitely important on social media. When your Marketing Guru first approached you about our Managed Marketing Services and you decided to give it a try what was the process like getting started:
KB: Well, that was a breeze! I was already working with my Marketing Guru, so the next week we talked and I told him a little bit about what we do. My Marketing Guru already receives my emails, so he is able to take information from there and he also does research on his own. He is learning to become a quilter without ever touching a sewing machine!
JS: That’s funny! A concern we get from other businesses is that how can we take over their social media & email marketing if we don’t know their business. What would you say to a business with this concern?
KB: I would say the best thing to do is try it, have SnapRetail do a month of social media & emails for you and definitely go in and tweak them yourself. I don’t let anything go out without reading it first. Occasionally my Marketing Guru might get something wrong, but he’s always open to learning what my feelings are about whatever it is. For the most part he gets it right. It’s so much easier to go in and tweak something rather than coming up with it from scratch.
JS: Yea, absolutely. That’s a good point. With the Managed Marketing Services you still have access to go into your SnapRetail account and do what you need to do, but then get that helping hand and save you some time.
KB: It saves me so much time. It really does. It takes me 15 minutes to go in and do a whole month worth of reading what he schedules and going Hmm, you know, I want to say it a little differently, or no I want it to go on this day.
JS: Can you talk a little more about the results you’ve seen since we’ve started to post to Facebook for you?
KB: I have definitely seen a huge increase in people following and interacting. He’s also been helping me with Pinterest. He has been helping me with promoted pins. There I have definitely seen follow through. I have seen people follow up for my more expensive programs, because of advertising on Pinterest. I don’t think I would have gotten this far with Pinterest if I didn’t have his help.
JS: Would you say this has helped you make more money?
KB: Yes!
JS: Do you have a favorite post we did for you on Facebook?
KB: Just yesterday there was one that went up and it was just a blurb about quilting that I personally wouldn’t have put up, because it seemed too easy to me, but I got several comments and that surprised me.
JS: Sometimes it is the simplest posts that are the most effective. Last question for you. Would you recommend SnapRetail’s Managed Services to other businesses?
KB: Absolutely! Yea, if you can afford, do it, it’s so worth it!
JS: I really appreciate you taking the time, Karen. Thank you!
Check out Sew Creative’s SnapRetail-powered website at www.sewcreativeashland.com, follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SewCreativeAshland and on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/sewcreativeash
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