A new study finds that retailers that have been successful at generating attention on social media aren't necessarily translating it to word-of-mouth (WOM) attention offline.
Costco, Amazon and Kroger held the top spots for offline WOM sentiment, according to Engagement Labs' TalkTrack Word of Mouth rankings for offline conversations in the months leading up to the holiday season. But none of those retailers ranked among the leaders when measuring WOM conversations across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram over the same time period.
Instead, the leaders in "Total Social" data rankings were apparel and footwear retailers such as Nordstrom, Macy's and Kohl's, with a number of teen apparel chains ranking high on Instagram.
Bryan Segal, CEO at Engagement Labs, said many of the department store and apparel brands are being helped by social media's focus on visuals, while Costco, Amazon and Kroger benefit by having a "wide-range of products that are driving conversations."
Added Mr. Segal, "Knowing how a brand is performing both online via social media and how fans are discussing your brand offline, helps brands gain a better understanding of areas for improvement so they can work to grow their followings, drive greater amount of conversations and ultimately drive sales through the holiday season."
Among the findings around social media:
- On Facebook, Nordstrom, which benefited from "visual content showcasing its merchandise," saw the strongest eValue score and overall engagement with the highest active user base and the most likes per 1,000 fans. Despite ranking sixth overall, Kohl's had one of the highest fan bases and ranked first for Impact, frequently posting content for its followers to share. Kohl's lower Responsiveness score brought down its overall eValue ranking. Lowe's has the highest Responsiveness score, but a low Engagement score.
- On Twitter, Macy's ranked first in both eValue and Responsiveness due to its ability to engage two-way conversations with its followers and quick response time. Nordstrom, ranking second, had the fastest response time of the group at 17 minutes.
- Teen apparel chains dominated Instagram rankings, led by Hollister. In second place, American Eagle Outfitters saw the highest number of posts and most active user base. In third, H&M had the highest Impact and Responsiveness scores on Instagram.