The Lack Of Social Media Savvy In South African Designers!!!

David Tlale's Creations.

The Lack Of Social Media Savvy In South African Designers

I have posted a while ago on my Facebook profile [ www.facebook.com/jerrypurfz ] about the importance of social media savvying and how you could potentially turn your lame social updates into SALES. The article was fully constructed by a friend Kim Garst, a Social Media/Branding Strategist and Mentor to small business owners, from the US.

I am going to take this closer to home and put a spotlight on some of South Africa’s Top Designers whom I think could hike their sales and popularity through social media. David Tlale is an established South African Designer who is well known for his excellence in womens’ clothes, has recently ventured into menswear, charactarised by flamboyant colors with finer details such as embroidery, pleats and most recently mini-skirts for men. He’s a well-spoken man who could possibly sell a glass of water to a fish in the sea, although this is not reflected on either of his twitter or facebook accounts. His twitter records shows he has only 5tweets, last tweet dated 02/Feb/2012 with followers just over one and half thousand mark while he only follows only two users. For someone of his stature, his social media accounts should be nearing 

“ It's no secret that social media is the marketing wave of the future. Everyone from high schoolers right through to Fortune 500 executives uses social media to connect with friends, business partners, and - in some cases - potential clients”, Says Kim Garst.

Ephraim(Ephymol) and Jerry Purfz

Another South African with immense talent is a former model turned fashion designer, and a friend of mine Ephraim Modingoana, dubbed “ The Black Armani”. Unfortunately for Ephraim, he is not as vocally gifted as he is about creating clothes. Except for the fact that he stammers, he really is not a guy who can convience you of anything, not even when you desperate. Ephraim’s twitter account has only 20 followers while he follows just about 5o users. His last and only tweet is dated 05/August/2009. His facebook account only has about 750 listed friends/fans with scarce updates, especially about his core business. Quite shabby for someone who supply various chain stores abroad. Through my time of working with social media for businesses, I've noticed that a lot of people lack what I call "social media follow-through. social media is a big community, and word travels fast. If someone doesn't feel you treated them well during a negotiation process, they're likely to Tweet about it, or talk about it on Facebook, adds Kim.
The list is endless, Reginald Molamu of RJ Kay Creations, Thula Sindi and alike, I could go on for hours.
This really calls for emergency PR assistance, bigger corporate companies does this with no shame. It is imperative that this emerging local brands starts investing in their public outlook.

[By Jerry Purfz]

26/November/2011