I recently met Andy Clayton through our @simplybusiness twitter. He manages two stores – Newark and Lincoln – within the Printing.com empire. Andy talked about his strategy about opportunities for using social media to communicate with and atract local customers for our printing service. It shows that social media for local companies is finally taking off.

What role is social media taking in your business?

We find that the use of social media for business is a growing part of our marketing mix. In the last year we have seriously upped our usage and now have active business accounts on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and a printing advice blog on blogger. It fits in well with the other activities we do and has helped us re-affirm current relationships and also develop brand new contacts whilst reinforcing our knowledge as a brand.

It is important that small businesses see that social media is a very useful tool but only if it is used in the correct way. It is great for creating interactions with clients, prospects and suppliers but it is essential not to use it only as a direct way of selling or else it will turn people straight off. This is not to say that work won’t follow as we can trace that we have gained clients directly from our @LincolnPrinting Twitter account.

Do you think online marketing tools are important for your business?

Absolutely, we recognise the way that marketing is constantly changing and we adapt our marketing plan regularly to include new technologies and online tools. The prime example is our use of twitter – it allows us to keep regular contact with like-minded businesses and make connections through an online presence that can then be linked directly with other tools such as our website and blogs, all of which can be updated at the touch of a button. The great benefit of online marketing is that the message you give can be changed instantly. It is still important, however, to utilise a broad range of marketing tools including both online and offline marketing mediums, especially as some customers and businesses are not versed in the online world!