Connecting social media and the store

Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
Retailers use e-mail (79 percent) and their websites (77 percent) to promote their social commerce services to customers, according to the Retail TouchPoints Social Commerce Survey. But only 24 percent of retailers promote their social presence in-store at the point-of-sale (POS).
One retailer pushing the in-store/social connection is Nordstrom, which uses its Pinterest fan base to identify popular products and encourage social engagement. These "most-pinned products" are then promoted in-store with special signage and unique merchandise designs.
"What’s great about social media is that it creates a bigger platform for customers to share their experiences with us and with each other," said Dan Evans, business PR director for Nordstrom.
One hurdle appears to be many retailers viewing social media and the store as separate channels addressing different parts of the sales funnel.
"Social media is currently being used as a brand awareness, top-of-the-funnel initiative," noted Pau Sabria, co-founder of Olapic, which helps stores monetize fan photos socially. "And in-store retail is used as an end-of-the-funnel channel, or a sales channel. These are very different approaches and rarely compete with one another."
To ensure that marketing and engagement strategies are relevant, retailers need to clearly identify target customers and their preferred social channels. Merchants also should consider the value of specific social channels. For example, Instagram is a valuable network for retailers to give consumers a "behind-the-scenes" look at their brand, while Twitter is a valuable service channel.
Most importantly, retailers need to determine how they can amplify consumers’ shopping behaviors and encourage them to talk more about their experiences throughout the entire brand journey, according to Laura Davis-Taylor, SVP of omnichannel experience at The Integer Group.
"Retailers need to look at before, during and after the purchase and consider their consumers’ shopping behaviors," Ms Davis-Taylor explained. However, because consumers continue to hop between channels and devices throughout their browsing and buying journeys, there no longer is a standard path to purchase, she added. Instead retailers "need to create a shopping story."
- Connecting Social Media And The Store – Retail TouchPoints
- Strides In Social Commerce – Retail TouchPoints
How should retailers be looking to better integrate social media with the in-store experience? What approaches have you seen that show promise? How actively should retailers be promoting their social media presence and programs at the store level?
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20 Comments on "Connecting social media and the store"
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It’s all about ENGAGEMENT. The retailer that captures the imagination of the shopper – in and out of the store – and effectively creates a REAL connection with that individual has much more likelihood of success. If the shopping journey does not include this personal, one-on-one connection, then the retailer is simply a place to “buy products” rather than a place with an “emotional purpose.”
How actively should retailers promote their social presence? As much and as often as possible. If the retailer has a compelling story to tell and is GENUINELY interested in connecting with its shoppers, then a full court press is the only path to follow.
The first step is identifying your core customer – target and actual – and then understand why, what, when, where and how they use and interact with various social media channels. Simple in-store tagging (signage) or merchandising of top “pinned” products in Pinterest is a perfect example of how retailers can complete the connections.
The shopping journey is no longer done on a straight and clear road, rather there are many different trails, most all of which will lead to a successful purchase. All too often, retailers and brands operate as though the journey ends there – not so! The new journey continues after the purchase. In many cases this is the most important period of the journey.
What about a thank you, follow-ups making sure your customers are still delighted with their purchase decision? Many doctors now call 24-48 hours after a procedure to make certain you’re doing fine. Why can’t a brand do the same? It’s easy and effective! Developing these practices and disciplines are the foundation to building that “customer for life.”
The Nordstrom idea is a nice grab at a shiny object but really, wouldn’t you want a professional catalog as a shopper?
I think a totally different approach to leveraging social media is needed. I would suggest emphasizing building a brand audience that gives the retailer first party data…the most powerful asset there is for precision marketing in a digital marketing age. Encourage people to join a loyalty program and use social log-in so you have connected their social media activities with their clickstream and purchase behaviors. Once people become part of your audience in a social way, you can target and personalize messaging and offers to the highest response group possible — those who are predisposed to your retail brand but who probably don’t give you the share of wallet they could.
I don’t think it makes sense to view the question of whether or not to promote a retailer’s social presence in-store in a manner similar to how email and the website does. Instead, the question should be how social media can add value to the shopping experience, which leads to how you communicate this in multiple places along the purchase path (in email, the website, in-store, mobile app).
Wet Seal is known for using social smartly to complement and add value to the in-store experience by helping customers create, share and receive/offer feedback on outfit combinations. For other segments like food/grocery, the use case will differ but the goal should be the same; use social to add value such as participating in a promotion where an offer can be shared with your social network that in turn can lead to more customers following your brand. That in turn increases the universe of customers you can communicate with in the future.
Retailers should be thinking about social as a key ingredient in the total marketing mix, even though it can be difficult to quantify ROI. That is the first hurdle. Then I think there’s good advice in this article regarding clearly identifying the purpose of each channel and how it should be used. Do not ignore Pinterest if you have a very visual product. And be present – participate in the discussions shoppers are having about your brand and related lifestyle topics.
Social media and in-store are all part of the shopper experience, from considering a purchase, through the purchase, to after sale service. Each step of the way, retailers should be asking questions, listening and making reasoned suggestions. No other media can satisfy each phase of the process.
Retailers who are active in social media should promote their availability by placing social media website/app logos on their bags, on point of sale materials and in their communication vehicles.
It’s no longer good enough to just encourage consumers to visit a store. Consumers want a dialogue throughout the shopping experience, both with friends and with the retailer.
Social media is a great vehicle for engaging with shoppers. If a retailer is really committed to using social media, the promotion of it should take place consistently and everywhere possible. Of course, promoting it is only part of the equation – if social media is not used to create an emotional connection to the retailer (or worse yet, is never updated) then it is a wasted effort.
Integration of sales channels is key and retailers should look at what best meets their specific needs.
Interesting, but not surprising, that Nordstrom gets the focus in 2/3 discussion articles today that deal with sales channel integration.
As a consumer I am really fed up with the aggressiveness with which marketers throw social media campaigns in my face. And I have heard similar major frustrations from many consumers – of all ages.
Retailers should be very cautious about this. In reality, marketers too often try to get consumers to do their jobs for them. That approach always fails. Stores do best when they enable people to BE consumers. After all, isn’t buying what’s most important both for today and for your brand in the future?
Friends and colleagues don’t limit where they have a conversation, so why should stores limit where they engage social media? Since the whole idea of social media is to create a conversation, it makes since to continue any dialogue in the store – just like friends would.
It seems a wise choice then to integrate social media with the in-store experience because it offers continuity and an opportunity to deepen the relationship with customers. Posting the most pinned items at Nordstrom communicates to their customers that they are listening and care about their opinions. This helps to build loyalty. Seeing that other shoppers agree with them also creates validation for a shopper’s choice and taste.
The challenge is determining which social media is most relevant to your customers and how to integrate that at store level.
Offer Wi-Fi with a link to a mobile app so that shoppers can quickly/easily share their experiences in the store on social media, and connect with them on their devices at the same time for the post-store exepreince. Another good thing about social media is that it can help draw traffic to the store if you offer in-store only content. Providing signage in the store with call to action to follow on social media or install a mobile app would be a good start
Social is really a mobile play for in-store and most retailers do not see the connection there. Everyone complains that mobile has a low CR but few really look into why. Most customers are using their phone in the store so if the product is in the store, why buy on your phone? Mobile is an augmentation of the in-store experience and so will social. But until retailers start changing their internal structures to meet the way customers shop, it won’t matter what they do with social.
Showing what’s trending online into the store experience is a great way to engage members of these audiences who are not aware of online developments. It’s one of the things we are supposed to do as retailers: provide our shoppers with ideas.
So I suppose the question is: how can we best provide ideas to audiences using social media and how can we then support the actions that follow…and that’s a full circle back to the need to understand audiences and how they engage.
But that’s just one layer of an onion – I think the best way to do it is to do it is to ask customers in stores why it connected with them, and figure out audience-specific nuances.
The bigger context is, we are in a period of transformation – figure it out because these ideas will become noise very soon.
If a company is not using social media to promote and market their stores, they are not only behind the times, they risk extinction. For many retailers, this is where customers are “hanging out.” Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest and more; these are the places people turn to to engage with a company, interact with other customers and friends and learn about a company’s products.
The key for retailers is to balance selling with engaging. Big difference. Build the relationship and you won’t have to sell nearly as hard, if at all. Create value through social by helping customers be more successful with their products. Example: Ace Hardware puts How-To videos on YouTube.
If you create a community and engage at the relationship level versus the sales level, your customers will appreciate you, buy from you and talk about you. And, if you’re lucky, they will become loyal to you.
Perhaps the real question here is how important is the integration of social media in the store. By its very definition, social media is NOT true advertising or promotion, and since it is largely dependent on consumers having a smart phone, phablet or tablet that is “on” and part of the consumer’s active shopping experience, we have immediately decreased the number of shoppers who are exposed, or even sensitive to an in-store social media presence. Instead, these resources would be better spent on going back to better OTS advertising, promotion, and shopping basics….
Companions and associates don’t confine where they have a discussion, so for what reason should stores restrict where they draw in web-based social networking? Since the entire thought of web-based social networking is to make a discussion, it makes sense to proceed with any exchange in the store – simply like companions would.
It appears a shrewd decision at that point to incorporate web-based social networking with the in-store encounter since it offers congruity and a chance to extend the association with clients. Posting the most striking things at Nordstrom imparts to their clients that they are tuning in and thinking about their feelings. Seeing that different customers concur with them additionally makes approval for a customer’s decision and taste.
The test is figuring out which web-based best social media campaigns networking is most applicable to your clients and how to incorporate that at store level.