Adorama and B&H Photo: Social Media Marketing That Works
Adorama and B&H Photo are two of the most popular camera stores in New York. I personally purchase from both stores mentioned and I follow both of their Facebook, Twitter, respective blogs, and YouTube pages. Both companies utilize multiple social media marketing channels although they are not mentioned. The following article only details my opinions on the social media marketing channels I personally participate in daily.
Adorama Social Media Marketing
Adorama’s Facebook page boasts over 250 thousand likes. Adorama posts links to many of the articles found on their blog as well as videos from their YouTube page. They do a great job interacting with visitors/consumers, answering questions and offering assistance with their products. They feature photographs from consumers using their products and allow other consumers to comment on one another’s work.
Thursday while visiting their page, as I do almost every day, I noticed a rather harsh comment from a consumer that was obviously unhappy with Adorama’s customer service. I was a little surprised that it took almost 24 hours for a response from Adorama. As much as I think they do a wonderful job overall, this was a not a positive reflection of their company, especially considering the fact that the comment was posted during their normal business hours. The lack of a timely response aside, I think they have a successful, robust, and interactive page that is appealing to photographers and videographers.
Adorama’s Twitter page has over 98 thousand followers. The page is always busy with a lot of interaction between the company and followers. While they promote some of the same articles and information as they do on Facebook, they also share in the moment tweets from around their area in New York. If you happen to be in the area, this can be a great way to meet up with the Adorama staff and other local photo enthusiasts. Although this isn’t something I can take advantage of due to my location, I do enjoy seeing the updates, posts, and photographs.
Adorama’s YouTube page has over 450 thousand subscribers and it is by far my favorite part of their social media campaign. I cannot get enough of their informative videos on photography and gear. I enjoy the speakers in the videos, not only are they quirky and fun, they know photography inside and out. The videos are usually short, which I find convenient, but they are also helpful and creative. They use products in the videos that they mention are available for purchase, they are not aggressive with their sales pitch. Most videos will mention the products used and provide a link at the end of the video or in the information section below the video.
The Adorama Blog or Adorama Learning Center is a great mix of informative articles, product information, and links to their various videos. The site is categorized for easy access to what you are looking for, whether it’s a how to video or gear. The content is fresh, helpful, and informative. With over 450K subscribers, clearly I’m not the only one that believes they do a great job keeping the content relevant and exciting.
B&H Photo Social Media Marketing
B&H Photo’s Facebook page has over 670 thousand likes. The page is also a wonderful example of Facebook utilized constructively. With links to articles and interaction with consumers, as well as consumers supporting one another, it is a busy, interactive, and exciting page. Unlike Adorama’s page, I didn’t see any recent negative comments to see how they address them; I did see Facebook stating that they typically respond to inquiries within a few hours, which is a good sign. I like that they offer a weekly Ask B&H Forum on Facebook, encouraging consumers to post their comments or questions and promising a representative is standing by to assist them with answers. I think this is a great way to encourage interactions not only with staff, but other visitors as well providing a sense of community.
The B&H Twitter page has 397 thousand followers, which is quite impressive. They also offer many links to articles linking back to their own blog. They also provide links to relevant articles outside of their own branded content. Like Adorama, they post local events they are sponsoring or participating in encouraging visitors or followers to join them around the city.
While the B&H YouTube page has over 450 thousand subscribers and is informative, I prefer Adorama videos to B&H’s. B&H tends to post long, sometimes dry videos that I don’t always have the time to watch. While technically interesting, they lack the personality, creativity, and brevity of the Adorama videos. I don’t always want technical; I want the artistic exciting side of photography that I get from Adorama videos.
The B&H Explora Blog is on par with Adorama in regards to interesting articles and product information. They both provide pertinent content that is broken down into categories. I think both companies do a satisfactory job of providing content and keeping it fresh.
Overall, I think both companies do an exceptional job with their social media marketing campaigns and they are great examples of what to do in your own efforts towards a successful campaign.
