Question Five – Social Media: A Virtual Storefront

To see how social media works for those of us in the wide-format industry, we talked to 10 print shops who, through trial and error, have found a way to make their mark in the world of online marketing.

Each day over the next week, The Big Picture will post a new, critical question centered around the use of social media in the world of wide-format with invaluable answers from our panel.

Our Social-Media Panelists
Ryan Broderson, Director of marketing and customer relations, SuperGraphics, www.supergraphics.com
Kaitlyn Burns, Britten Inc., Marketing special project coordinator, www.brittenbanners.com
Blake Castestter, Account executive, Advertising Vehicles, www.advertisingvehicles.com
Randy Clark, Director of communications, TKO Graphix, www.tkographix.com
Dolph Frederico, Owner, Pelican USA, www.pelicanusa.com
Damon Henrichs, Sales and marketing manager, ABI Digital Solutions, www.abidigitalsolutions.com
Jill Rowen, Sales and marketing coordinator, Apple Visual Graphics, www.applevisualgraphics.com
Darin Smith, Director of strategic planning, Printscape, www.myprintscape.com
Sean Tomlin, Owner, Designer Wraps, www.designerwraps.com

At your company, who is permitted to use your company’s social-media sites – do all of your employees have the password or access to posting? If not, who does?

Wilson: No, we only allow one core person to manage our accounts. This decision was made primarily because of volume. Our brand and community is not big enough that it needs more than one person to manage.

Castetter: All of our employees don’t have the ability to post on behalf of the company. In an attempt to keep a consistent voice throughout all of our posts, our online efforts are streamlined based on the product being offered. Each of our solutions has a separate online presence and is maintained by the respective specialists. This allows us to not only keep a consistent voice, but also share our client’s success stories, upload pictures, and answer questions in a timely manner.

Frederico: I and two trusted employees that have demonstrated good judgment in their postings have access to the post on the sites. We’ve had customers rant about problems at an event or something and it’s very easy to take it personally and post something snappy back at them. I make sure we answer these negative comments and solve the problem. If you just whack them or delete them from the page, you just lost one good mouthpiece for your company. Reach out, reply, and make them happy in front of the rest of the world. 

 Read question four: What sites work best for you? Worst? Why?

Tomorrow we ask our panel: Does your company have a social-media policy?