Micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME) are now embracing the emergence of free social media to promote their products and services with encouraging results.
Tina De Vera quit her day job in 2010 to go fulltime on her telecommuting work on the internet. She said her earnings on her “internet” work is more than double from what she was getting from her day job less the trouble of braving the everyday traffic of going to the office.
It was from this experience where Tina learned the gropes of social media, promoting herself on various online forums, groups and job-out communities about her capability to deliver various remote services, varying from invoices validation, issuing purchase order, acting as online-assistant to catalog spin writer to social media community manager among others. She builds her reputation over time delivering excellent service to her customers. And those happy customers would eventually endorse her to her next client or project. She also have regular accounts too that even required her to travel for free to US and Australia to meet her employer, a fete that her local employer wasn’t able to extend to her – travel abroad on a business trip.
Six years after leaving her day job, Tina is now a budding entrepreneur operating a flower & gift shop and events management firm based in Daet, Camarines Norte, which she co-manages with her husband, Mar De Vera. Her husband, a seasoned florist and landscape artist to major hotels in Manila, provides the artistic guidance on their business while Tina runs the day-to-day operation and marketing for their business.
“When we started the flower shop in our home town in 2011 via a Facebook fan site, I wasn’t sure if my social media marketing know-how would work on a rural setup. As a telecommuting practitioner, I only get my clients online and that’s what I do best. I was surprise that after putting up our Facebook account, and did a little investment on promoting it via post boosting and a little of SEO, – I would generate the buzz needed to get the attention and receive orders in weeks’ time.” Because of the overwhelming response Tina received online and through word-of-mouth, they now see the need to open a physical store to cater to more customers. Early this year, the Daet Flower Shop now has a physical store, showroom, near the parish church of Daet.
Tina manages their FB fan site with rigor and discipline, since this remains to be their primary platform for promotion. She made sure her content posting appeals to her market and very timely. A balance content calendar of soft-sell and latest buzz proved to be working in attracting new fans. “I do my local marketing primarily on social media because it has zero cost to us and this is also the best way to get interactive with my customers through real-time messaging”; Tina added. Recently, they are now doing weekend radio plugs on the number one FM station in the province of Daet.
MSME can benefit more from using social media to push their products and services. It only takes time and dedication to master it and use its potentials to your advantage.
Visit Tina & Mar’s FB fan site at www.facebook.com/daetflowershop
Contributor:
Allan Catli – is a senior consultant of Muovere Veloce, Inc. and at present is working for Tao Community of Companies as Head of Marketing for Techbox International. He’s also the former marketing services head of Allphones, Philippines and previously worked for Globe Telecom under Small and Medium Business segment as Group Product Marketing Manager. Allan has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Adamson University, Manila.