Love Doves Birdhouse | Winestone Birdhouses

In today’s extremely social world, it’s become quite apparent that social media is as good an advertising campaign for your business as your local word of mouth can get.

Twitter and Facebook are the first two websites anyone thinks about but others like Stumble Upon, Flickr and Tumblr can be equally important, depending on where your audience hangs out.

So, how do we go about increasing your followers/fans and what can we do to make sure it’s a lasting relationship?

-          Personality

Show your true colors. The best image for your brand is yourself – the way you interact with your followers, the tidbits of real life you share and how related your product is to the real you are huge pointers for your audience.

Real life example – I like watching bad tv from the 90s and really really bad recent shows (there’s this little gem in British TV called The Only Way is Essex… read Jersey Shore mixed with The Hills – quite rubbish, quite addictive!) But I admit it. Some of my followers actually find it funny, and comment on it.

-          Don’t over-advertise

I have a pet peeve, and it’s those who use twitter /Facebook as their own advertising network. If you tweet more about your product than your life, I’m no longer going to be interested in following you as a person. That is not to say I may not continue to visit your website or your blog but I have other much more pleasant tweeps to read about.

Real life example – I send out about 5 tweets a week on my patterns/blog posts. I trust that if you’re interested in my business, you’ll go to the link – if you’re only interested on my fun, daily tweets I don’t want to force my business on you.

-          Follow alikes

Right, I’ve a twitter account, I’m following @MarthaStewart, @Etsy, @MegaBigCorporation… why am I not getting followers? Big corporations have those accounts mainly for advertising, and in the case of websites to let you know when something’s broken. You’re far more likely to be recognised by your own peers – not to mention the conversation will be nicer! Many of your craft circle friends have a twitter account – follow them. That quirky jewellery maker whose blog you read? @ them and let them know you love it.  Local yarn shop?  You know what to do! Check your favorite tweeple’s time-lines and see who they are talking to – chances are you’ll find kindred spirits to follow and talk to there.

Real life example – My followers consist of mainly knitters, and some designers as well as some crafters who have found me through … the people I follow! Who would that be? A lot of designers as well as some crafters whose insight on their field I appreciate, some photographers/artists whose work inspires me and a lot of people whose food tweets I enjoy. I mix and match!

-          Get your foot in the door

Always nice to see our followers are actually reading!  See one of your tweeps asking for advice on their new blog layout? Answer. One of them can’t think what to make with asparagus but you think someone following you may know? RT them.

Real life example – don’t stop doing it just because you don’t see them follow you straight away. In my case, I may follow straight away if your answer is so alike to what I thought that I feel we could be great buddies.

-          Share and share alike

It’s always good to figure out who does what in your followers and those you follow. Someone you follow has written an amazing photography tutorial? RT the original source and share it with those who follow you! Think Handmade Spark should run a feature on a great idea you have? Tell them!

Real life example – I’m not an expert on WordPress, but my friend Pippa was only starting her first ever WordPress blog and was puzzled by the options, she @’d me and we had a good chat about it. If I were to try and dye yarn, she’d be the one I’d ask – she dyes amazing yarn.

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A must read – Diane Gilleland of Craftypod shared this article on Handmade Spark on the messages we send out through social media.

A final word of advice – while personality always counts for a huge amount of following, it can also be a thin line to walk on.  Politics, religion and other sensitive topics tend to portray and weigh negatively on those who openly comment on them. If you do find yourself needing an outlet for those views, consider getting a secondary account, separate from your business – especially if your business set-up is not as a sole trader, your partner can be harmed if your business is harmed.

Your views may not be the ones of those who follow you, and therefore can harm your business in the long run.

Keep it light, keep it simple and most importantly – keep it FUN!

Ruth is one of the talented writers on our team.  She is a knitwear and crochet designer and designs garments and accessories that combine her love for timeless and effortless elegance with a casual yet sensual feminine look, all created in bright, cheerful shades.