We quiz Shenim Mehmet, marketing manager for Balance Me, about bloggers, future plans and building a world-beating brand.
Natural Beauty Yearbook: What sets Balance Me apart from other natural beauty products?
Shenim Mehmet: The days are long gone when a brown gloopy cream was the best that you could expect from a natural product. With Balance Me customers not only benefit from the fantastic results our products provide, they are also making a lifestyle choice based on their well-being.
Although we choose to work with naturally-derived ingredients, we believe no-one should have to compromise their skincare results. As a consequence we work even harder to create sophisticated formulations which combine pure high grade essential oils, naturally powerful actives and extracts plus sophisticated natural bases to ensure we can offer the very best in skincare solutions to benefit your skin each day.
NBYB: How have you used social media as a brand?
SM: Social media allows us to interact with our customers and fans in a two-way conversation. Previously, printed articles and more traditional media simply allowed for a running monologue or for the journalist / writer’s opinion to be noted. With the aid of Facebook, Twitter and our own interactive website, we are now able to converse with ease with customers and potential Balance Me followers.
The feedback and comments we’ve received have been reflected in the products we create, the offers we promote and the direction the brand is taking. Social media is a tool not only to deliver brand messages and values, it also allows us to receive feedback, ideas and comments from our customers. In a nutshell, it is an essential tool for us as we develop and grow as a brand.
NBYB: How have you reached out to bloggers?
SM: With the ease of creating a blog today, everyone is a potential reporter. As with all press we have times when we initiate contact and times when we take a more reactive approach.
With the public hunger for constant news stimulation, blogging is a frenzy of top tips, gossip and real life. This makes things very faced-paced. An article about Balance Me can be top of the page one day and replaced by ‘new shoes’ the next, but with the wonder that is the internet, we will be stored for weeks, even years to come. Every article, mention, Tweet is there for future reference. With blogging, yesterday’s news isn’t just fish and chip wrapping, it’s there for recall at any time!
NBYB: Have you had negative feedback through the internet? How have you dealt with it?
SM: As far as I am aware I haven’t seen any negative Balance Me online articles. However, the internet is a stage to voice all opinions and should we receive anything less than positive we would work to rectify the issue addressed.
