Antiques and a New World of Social Media he antiques industry has been slow to adopt web sites, e-commerce, e-mail marketing and social media. Failure to adopt may prevent bringing in new antiquarians and customers.
News-Antique.com - Aug 02,2009 - Antiquarians know well the ways in which communication has changed over the course of the last two centuries. From the day in 1844 when Samuel B. Morse transmitted “What hath God wrought” by telegraph, the tools we use to communicate have continued to evolve.
Deluged by the onslaught of e-commerce, email marketing and now social media, antiques dealers, show promoters and even manufacturers continue to spin in confusion and ask over again that same question, “What hath God wrought?” The uknown is often met with avoidance, but as history has shown, adoption is only a matter of when–and the sooner that when comes, the better off the industry will be for it.
Particularly in the last two decades the changes in communication have accelerated. From email to social media, communication through devices today is often in real time and direct. It’s a curious phenomena that the relevance of communication intermediaries like newspapers, telephone books and even television are fading. For businesses, that means a paradigm shift. A good consumer experience spreads fast, but not nearly as fast as a bad one. Offerings must be authentic, fair and complete—and there’s little tolerance for hype or spin.
“The lack of young people interested in antiques may be communication channels that don’t connect. The way young consumers are receiving information is not the same as the way antique dealers are sending it.”
Like all mediums, the adoption rates vary between industry and demographic groups. Somewhat expectedly, the antiques industry has been slow to adopt web sites, e-commerce, e-mail marketing and social media. That’s in part because the participating demographic is older, but the failure to adopt may prevent bringing in new antiquarians and customers. The lack of young people interested in antiques may be communication channels that don’t connect. The way young consumers are receiving information is not the same as the way antique dealers are sending it.
Pioneers in Social Media
Still there are pioneers who have ventured into these new communication channels and built up a following and built new friendships with Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other social media channels.
Linda Carannante, a glass dealer from Southeastern Pennsylvania says she first went onto Facebook after becoming aggravated with someone on television who advertised a page. “I signed up in order to complain,” she recalls. From there she signed up for a business page and began posting articles and gained a number of fans along the way.
The entire article is available here: http://www.urbanartantiques.com/2009/antiques-and-a-new-world-of-social-media/
Eric Miller is a public relations and social media consultant working with the antiques industry. More information is available at http://www.ericmiller.me
