Chicago-based Threadless has built a thriving t-shirt empire one quirky tee at a time and the company’s community-centered business model has a lot to do with that success. Cam Balzer, the vice president of marketing at Threadless, sat down with Forbes to discuss the company’s community-centric business approach.
Forbes: What advice do you have for other companies looking to build their social media strategies?
Balzer: The secret isn’t growing a huge fan base. We have 100,000 Facebook fans, but those fans have all come to us organically. We believe the more organic the growth, the more loyal the fans, the more likely they will be repeat customers.
The other key is that we act like humans on our own site and social networking sites. We act like we’re interacting with our friends, posting videos of our employees talking about their favorite bands. It’s not all direct promotion; it’s human.
Check out the
full interview for great insights on how to grow a devoted community around your brand.
