Cover Story
Social media: Feeding the frenzy • Miracolo: Social media connects biz with customers
Local natural skin care retailer, Miracolo, has been around since 2013 but recently started to build up their presence online through actively posting on Facebook and Instagram.
According to owner and founder, Diana Su, efforts to increase their presence online was motivated by the belief that social media would be a good way to connect with their customers.
“In general for us, social media is very important because it is one of the ways for us to communicate and connect with our customers while also reaching out to new customers as well.”
She explained that because Miracolo had a business to customer (B2C) business model, social media was imperative to sustaining success as it was a way for them to show both current and prospective customers their products while engaging in a dialogue with them about the benefits of the products and how they can be utilised effectively.
“Frankly speaking, business with direct contact with end users will find social media very important to them as they can help not only advertise but also market their products and promotions to them and band presence,” said Su to BizHive Weekly.
On the other hand however, she believes that companies with a business to business (B2B) model will not find social media to be as appealing, as most communication within other companies would be through a network of contacts rather than through social media.
And since becoming active, Su noticed more customers are sharing that they found the store through their Facebook posts.
“We don’t have an exact percentage of how much of our customers come from social media, but we like to think that it does help a significant amount.”
In addition, Su adds that social media would also be great for starting businesses due to its cost effectiveness.
However, while social media is free, Su believes there still need to be a bit of investment in the exercise for a corporation’s presence to swell online.
She explained that direct ads in most social media platforms were available for businesses and would greatly help in gaining new customers.
“For example on Facebook you can post adverts for a limited amount of time. Prices can range from as low as US$5.00 and would be dependent on your set budget. In theory, the more you pay, the wider your reach will be on Facebook.
“However, it is still really a trial and error situation as it is not guaranteed that you might be able to reach your target audience despite a large budget.
“Sometimes you won’t hit the right spot, so you just have to keep experimenting with its advertorial settings until you get it right.”
Miracolo’s other social media platform, Instagram, also offers the paid advert function but Su notes her advertorial campaigns on Facebook has been far more fruitful due to her target market utilising Facebook more than Instagram.
While this is the case, she emphasised that it is still important to maintain both platforms in order to capture a wider audience. Looking forward, Su is also planning to enrol in any workshops and seminars to further her knowledge on how to enhance Miracolo’s social media presence and coverage.
And during the interim, she and her team at Miracolo will just need to “try and update as quickly as possible on what we have and what promotions we have.” • Continue on page P8