This weekend I have come across the following e-book “Social Media Marketing in 30 minutes a day” by Janet Helft which is a good guide for beginners to this medium as well as http://www.mashable.com
I hope that both may be useful to others.

Best Wishes
Caroline
http://www.mutiboko.com

@moi and @Dahlia: It’s true that making a direct link between social media and sales is not easy. That being said, when certain influential bloggers or influencers independently feature a brand or product on their sites, these products often sell-out, showing that engaging trusted independent voices can indeed have an impact on the bottom line. This, it must be said, is a lot cheaper and a lot easier to track than a full-page advertisement in Vogue or Harpers, which is almost impossible to link to sales.

But we must remember, social media isn’t only about clicks and sales, it is also about engagement. Social media offers a new way for brands to engage their most loyal fans in dialogue, to get feedback, input and opinions. Not only does this feedback enable a brand or e-tailer who listens to their clients to make palpable changes, it also creates a more meaningful relationship between brand and consumer. This too is a lot more than one might expect from a static webpage with no interactivity or a conventional magazine advertisement.

@Caroline: Apologies! I have no seminar or structured place to send you for this. The truth is, people are just coming to terms with these tools so new ideas and approaches are emerging all the time. Best advice? Come back to BoF often as we will regularly be discussing Fashion 2.0, hoping to stay ahead of the curve.

Also, we must be careful of advertising agencies who create blogs under the pretense of being a fellow fashion “blogger” promoting certain products when in fact the blog was created and maintained by the agency itself, not an independent fashion blogger. Even real bloggers can get into the mix without knowledge by being solicited (in other words, bribed) in getting freebies from brands who would like to get a buzz on their product without merit.

I think in order to convince people to buy is to inform them of a product. I’m not talking about fluffed up marketing baloney of a “must-have” for summer, but I’m talking about real information like: will not wrinkle, doesn’t shrink, will not stain, has running threads, has loose buttons, etc. I’ve seen a Balmain jacket at Selfridges in shambles with buttons falling off and threads everywhere…and this jacket is supposed to retail at $12,000? Shoppers deserve to be informed of these things.

I am currently working on launching my website for my label Mutiboko Women’s Wear . Whilst over the last couple of weeks I have noticed that more and more brands are discussing the significance of using the social networks to engage with the consumer I am left with the feeling that I definitely want to explore this marketing method for my brand but don’t quite know how to go about it….For example how do I set up my Facebook page so that it looks like a professional brand page ? How do I use Twitter & Facebook so that they are complimenting one another ? Are there any seminars that you know of that cover this or is there someone that you could suggest I speak with ? I look forward to hearing from you…

Many thanks
Caroline Mutiboko
Creative Director