id0512_Social Media PH2.indd - Sophie Paterson Interiors

SOCIAL MEDIA | 51
Social media
We’re all of a Twitter, poking or being poked via our Facebook page, and
forging new contacts through LinkedIn. Or are we? We speak to interior
designers about how they rate the changing phenomenon of social media
Words BECKY HOH
Like it, love it or hate it, social media is no longer (only) about pictures of drunken nights
out and stalking your ex. It’s now an important marketing and research tool. An Ofcom report
showed that 48 per cent of UK adults said they used social networking sites in the first three
months of 2011, up from 40 per cent in 2010. Total time spent on social networking sites was
1.3 per cent higher in April 2011 than in April 2010. As a wider issue, it can make one
a little uncomfortable about the future of human communication (will we just have electronic
relationships with everyone in our lives? We hope not!), but from a professional point of view,
does the ‘who wants to know what you had for breakfast’ argument cut it anymore? It’s time
to realise social media is one of the most powerful tools for exposure on the planet. So, we’ve
asked about in the industry: who’s using what, how do you use it and why do you use it?
Although most agree that they like Twitter, no one wants to know what you had for breakfast. >
www.idfxmagazine.com | May 2012

SOCIAL MEDIA | 53
SOPHIE PATERSON, OF SOPHIE PATERSON
INTERIORS, USES TWITTER AND
FACEBOOK FOR MARKETING, GAINING
MAGAZINE COVERAGE, FINDING CLIENTS
AND AS A SUPPORT NETWORK
@sophieinteriors Twitter
sophiepatersoninteriors.com website
While social media isn’t new, a big percentage of
our industry professionals are still very wary and
dismissive of it, but as a designer it’s important
to keep up with these changes and adapt to them.
With the widespread use of the internet clients are becoming much
more informed and have access to a wider range of sources and choice.
These days if you don’t have a presence on the internet or have a halfhearted
website you are irrelevant. Twitter and Facebook are great ways
to interact with others (including potential clients) who are interested
in your company and the industry. You can transmit your brand and
what you are about in a way that allows people to interact with you,
and it’s a soft introduction to your company rather than a slick,
intimidating website. For small to medium-sized businesses or selfemployed
interior designers it can be a great way to interact with likeminded
people and other designers working by yourself can be very
lonely and some of the people I’ve met through Twitter have been
so delightful and inspirational.
Last year a very big job came about through my Facebook page. A
friend of someone who followed me discovered my work through the
page and liked my portfolio so much she employed me to redesign her
home... which happened to be a 465 sq m Edwardian house with modern
extension a dream job! As well as this, all my coverage in magazine
features and TV programmes have been offered to me because of my
endeavours on Twitter and Facebook.
SOPHIE’S TOP TIPS ON USING TWITTER
@If you put a link on your design website make sure your tweets are not
too personal and do not dilute your brand. That’s not to say you ought only
talk about your work, but filter what personal matters you talk about. Eighty
per cent interior design anecdotes and interaction and 20 person personal
anecdotes is a good ratio.
@Follow magazines and writers. You never know when they will do
a call-out for a feature they’re working on that you could get in on.
@Comment on people’s tweets and retweet them if you really enjoy what
they said.
@Tweet regularly but don’t bombard your followers with tweets and clog up
their feed. Two to 12 tweets a day is a comfortable amount.
@Provided that you are not a celebrity and don’t have tens of thousands of
followers it’s important etiquette to reply to people who tweet you even if
its just a couple of words.
@Don’t over share- your tweets and facebook posts will be stored in google
searches and will come up if someone googles your company.
@careful about tweeting on work related things after work hours, it can
prevent you from switching off if you are receiving tweets back in the evening
CAROLYN PARKER, OF CAROLINE PARKER INTERIOR
DESIGN, LIKES TWITTER AND BLOGGING TO SHARE
INSPIRATION AND BRING EXPOSURE TO NEW
PRODUCTS. SHE DOES NOT LIKE FACEBOOK.
@carolynparkerid Twitter
interiorinsight.com blog
I check Twitter at the beginning and the end of the day. Sending
images is really easy from my phone and I love to take and tweet
pics of what inspires me. I keep tweets as business-like as I can
I don’t want the world to know what I had for breakfast. It’s great
to get a celebrity follower, I have noticed that if that happens
I get a load more followers. I have recently launched a new
cashmere collection for Joshua Ellis and part of my arrangement
is that we regularly mention it on Twitter and our blog. The blog
complements all our social networking and adds a new dimension,
It is an amazing marketing tool. I have no interest in Facebook
and don’t allow any of my team to comment at all about our work
because of client confidentiality. Also I think uncompromising
photographs of my employees up on it would bring down my
company profile and result in a loss of respect. >
www.idfxmagazine.com | May 2012