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Retail Social Media Strategy - SocialMaurice



Until recently, social networking has shown little to no ROI for retailers. But as the new UPS Pulse of this Online Shopper study reveals, those days might be long gone.

 SocialMaurice - Legendary retailer John Wanamaker once said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half ." Once upon a time, exactly the identical lament may easily apply to dollars invested in digital marketing -- particularly social media.

"There is more to social networking than just making a sale ." -- Lauren Freedman

But that's changed significantly, and electronic advertising -- that is, paid advertisements and unpaid digital strategies -- has soared up considerably. According to a Duke University study from February 2016, U.S. retail entrepreneurs anticipate digital outlays from the next 12 months to raise 20.3 percent, while traditional advertising budgets are forecast to fall 12.1 percent.

There is very good reason to rethink the value of social media as a essential part of your internet marketing campaigns. At the 2016 UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper™ study in which 5,500-plus shoppers were surveyed, more than three out of four people say that they are social media users.

Overall, 34 percent say that social networking affects their online purchases, and nearly one-in-four online shoppers (23 percent) bought products directly via a social media network. One of many millennials, nearly one in three (32 percent) purchased products via social networking.

SEVEN OUT OF 10 CUSTOMERS USE FACEBOOK NOW

Retailers who want to capitalize fully on social networking need to know who and in which their customers are, says Lauren Freedman, president of the Chicago-based e-tailing group, inc.. For example, while overall nearly seven from 10 online shoppers use Facebook, she says, "if you are selling to 18-year-olds, then you might want to make the most of Instagram or even Snapchat. For a very visual category, Pinterest might be the ideal place to be."

She advocates using "buy" buttons where you can in social media, so customers can make purchases without needing to browse to your website. "It's also best to include 'share' ability to your pages, so that clients can share with somebody else quickly and readily."

In the study, 39 percent of online shoppers say they "trace" retailers on social networking, and Freedman recommends making sure you supply links to societal media so that people can find you, friend you or follow you. "It's another way you can reach fans, and somebody who comes to you personally through social networking is probably a bigger fan than a person who only lands on your website," she says.

CONSUMERS HAVE BECOME DIGITAL EVANGELISTS

"Another thing retailers can do is work very difficult to be 'evangelists' within their industry and to their customers," adds Sajeel Qureshi, vice president for Computan digital advertising and marketing consultants. "If you are selling steel water bottles, that may indicate spreading the word about the adverse effects plastic bottles may have about the environment ." For instance, he says, curate content which shows the benefits of using steel water bottles, or the way being drained can help clients on the job or at the fitness center.

Qureshi however advises retailers to pick their social media platforms carefully. "Choose the right ones for you, learn from other businesses that do this nicely, and do not discount using your children or the young people in your lifetime as resources," he says. "They're far more in tune with the most recent social media platforms and tactics then any 'marketing pro' will be."

THE FINAL WORD?

Success in social media depends on the plan you use and the goals you set. "There is more to social media than just making a sale," says Freedman. For some, the objective is engagement and leverage, turning strangers to visitors and maybe clients. "In that case success may be measured by time spent on the site, or the amount of times a item was shared," she says.

"Measuring revenue and visits in social networking is very easy to do using analytics software," says Qureshi. "Google Analytics is free and can easily monitor how many visitors come to a site through various social media channels. Popular platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter have built-in analytics which measure customer action also."

"The storyline of social networking is not fully composed," Freedman says. "A number of companies we have worked with say that one third of the customer service is presently being handled through social media." The analysis supports that tendency: 28 percent of online shoppers say that they are very likely to create a remark on social media when dissatisfied up 3 percent in 2015.

"There are a lot of ways retailers may use social media and they need to be able to tackle anything that comes up by adapting to the way customers would like to be communicated"

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