... research marketing through social media channels

I like research. Conducting it and reading it. Something to do with the facts and figures. Reasoning based partly on evidence and partly on opinion. It has something for everyone.

A couple of months ago I ran into an old friend in a petrol station in Liverpool. I no longer live in Liverpool and I drove purposefully to that particular petrol station because I knew they ran a card only system so the queue tends to move quickly. The friend, who I hadn't managed to arrange to meet up with during the trip, happened to be in front of me in the queue. That in itself surely warrants a probability study but it was the outcome of that meeting that got me thinking.

My friend had just picked up some cupcakes which he kindly shared with me and my daughter (securing a friend for life) and because they were so delicious I emailed him the next day for the supplier details.

There began my online relationship with Laura's Little Bakery. Not only does Laura bake truly yummy cakes (the first step to a successful cake business) but she's also an incredibly friendly business woman. During the last 2 months I have watched via Twitter, Facebook and email as her company profile has soared, mainly as a result of marketing through a combination of social media channels. Yes, she has a few flyers in cafes in Liverpool but almost 95% of her marketing is via Twitter and Facebook. She has the use of both sites down to a fine art using a mixture of personal messages, lots of photos and sharing tweets from the interesting and the famous. In Liverpool she's building a reputation as a master baker as well as the sort of company you'd like to do business with, and her 'Kopcakes' are becoming legendary especially after being presented to Rafa on Football Focus this week. (My personal favourite is the salted caramel with union jack.)

It's peaked my interest. Outside of news based organisations there are very few national/international companies that I'd choose to follow on any social network, after all it's the personal element that makes it interesting, but the small businesses...now that's a different matter. Some of my favourites aside from @LaurasBakery are @lemanoir, @nothsdotcom and @EdinburghZoo all of which bring an element of personalisation and sometimes humour to companies and institutions that I'm already a fan of.

And that's what I'd like to research. What's the difference between success and failure in this channel?  Why is it that people like Laura and the Not on the High Street team 'get it' when others don't?

I suspect it's partly down to passion about the product and partly as a result of the right type of  personality. Whatever it is, if the companies I like keep it up they'll have a loyal follower for a long time to come.