Did you Etsy Today? Grassroots Twitter movement

In case you missed #etsyday on Friday, Geoffrey Fowler explains on the Wall Street Journal’s Digits blog. Etsy is an online marketplace for artists to sell their wares. Susan Schumann, an etsy user who sells her photos, decided to start her own grassroots campaign to increase awareness. She encouraged people to Twitter about etsy and to post fliers in their car windows or local coffee shops that read “Did you Etsy today?”

Keep in mind, Schumann took on this campaign herself. She has no connections with Etsy. She simply wanted to organize a one-day event to try and get the word out about a site and service that means a lot to her. (If you’re in doubt about Etsy’s faithful, buoyant fans, check out the comments on the WSJ.com story. I quickly scanned more than 60 comments and could find only one negative comment buried amidst positive raves from Etsy fans).

Again, Twitter proved its viral nature as #etsyday reached the top of Twitter discussions for Friday.

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Numerous companies are trying to figure out how Twitter will fit in with their digital marketing efforts. However, before companies try to figure out how to replicate an #etsyday of their own, they should stop and study #etsyday. Schumann was so passionate about the service that etsy offers, she started the campaign herself.

Are your customers so passionate about your product or service that they want to tell thousands of their family and friend and strangers? If not, before you try to manufacture a Twitter or grassroots digital buzz, maybe you should think about what steps you could take to create a product that customers not only use – but love.

If you’re a B2B company with a product or service that people depend on, but don’t necessarily love, what can you do to fan the digital flames of a grassroots movement? One possibility is creating a definitive resource for your customers – and potential customers – to learn about industry news, trends, and issues (even – gasp! – if that news doesn’t include mention of your product or service). If a B2B company worked long-and-hard to build a vendor-neutral clearinghouse of industry facts, figures, and news, I’d bet money that someone in their industry would Twitter about using the resource.

B2C or B2B, what can you do to create an etsy passion with your customers?

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