Social Media and Retailers - Upside Down Marketing
The conventional one-way approach to marketing - newspaper, radio, and TV are losing effectiveness. On the other hand, Social Media is exploding.
The big questions facing retailers are 1) Can Social Media help drive business and, if so, 2) how to harness it effectively.
There is an interesting article at MediaPost.com that suggests the answer to the first question is a resounding yes. According to their research, companies with the highest levels of social media activity averaged 18% increases in revenues over the last 12 months while those with the lowest activity had a 6% drop. There is also a great study at blogher.com that shows, among other things, that women in the study made 45% of their purchase decisions based on what they saw in blogs and that they were twice as likely to trust information in the blog as in conventional advertising. This is something that retailers of all size, and particularly smaller retailers, should be investigating.
The bigger question is how to harness Social Media effectively. First of all, there needs to be a different mindset about the medium. The conventional way of marketing was to broadcast a message out to the customer and then measure the lift in sales. This medium is far richer. Done correctly, you are not just talking to the customer, you are communicating with them. As in all communication, this means listening to the customer. While this can sometimes be unpleasant, it can also be incredibly powerful. Asda (WalMart in the UK) has selected 18,000 customers, called the "Pulse of the Nation" and is involving these customers in their buying decisions, before they make the buy.
The second requirement is to get familiar with the medium. If you're not on it already, take a look at Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to see what it's about. Go to Google Reader and search around for related topics. Just sign on and use the search function to find retailers that are already engaged. As the study from blogher points out, this is not just tweens talking about what happened at the mall this afternoon. There is a significant, and rapidly growing, percentage of the population that is using these different mediums. Ask around and you'll find people that are into this. Talk to them about it. Sign up for the SmartBrief on Social Media to get periodic updates and articles. In other words, jump in.
Finally, commit time and resources. The really good news here is that getting on to these different media channels is free, which is a lot less than newspaper, radio, and TV ads. Secondly, the technology is not complex and requires no investment on your part. Moreover, you really don't have to build a big organization to manage it. A recent New York Times article "Mom and Pop Operators Turn to Social Media" described Curtis Kimball, who has a creme brulee cart in San Francisco. Curtis sends out a tweet on Twitter every morning to let his followers know where his cart is going to be along with the flavors of the day. He's been doing this for three weeks and has 5900 followers. Cost to Curtis - Zero. Larger retailers have already or are in the process of setting up positions with a singular focus on managing their Social Media effort and harnessing the potential.
Now, more than ever before, connecting with your customer is critically important. This medium is here, is growing exponentially, and offers that opportunity basically for free. How could any retailer, regardless of size, not do this?
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Social MediaSocial Media Excuses
 There was an interesting commentary recently by Doug Stevens over at Retail Wire. The commentary was on "The Three Worst Excuses for Retailers NOT Using Social Media". Doug's three worst were:
- "We don't want everyone in the store slacking off and tweeting all day".
- "We don't want people to say bad things about us".
- "We're planning to get into it at a later date".
Social Media is having a profound impact on both communication and, increasingly, how brands are perceived. There are reasons that senior retail executives are reluctant to embrace this medium. If you are one of these or work in an organization like this, here are some tips on how to go forward.
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Guidelines for Social Media
 There's a terrific new post at the Harvard Business blog called "How to extend your customer experience through Social Media". It was written by Peter Merholz, who is credited with coining the term "blog" and is a recognized thought leader in this topic. Peter provides 4 basic principles for a successful Social Media execution, along with some links to examples and statistics. Definitely worth a read.
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Still Not Sure about Social Media
Still on the fence about Social Media? If you think it's just for Gen X and the Millenials, you need to think again. This is not just another fad. It is becoming the cheapest and fastest way to bring in new customers and, if done well, build customer loyalty.
Read More
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Retailers and Social Media - Upside Down Marketing
The conventional one-way approach to marketing - newspaper, radio, and TV are losing effectiveness. On the other hand, Social Media is exploding.
The big questions facing retailers are 1) Can Social Media help drive business and, if so, 2) how to harness it effectively.
Read More
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