July 6, 2015
What is the next step for retailers on social media?
An analysis by Yes Lifecycle Marketing of more than 200 retailers across five major categories found 91 percent now have a presence on two or more social channels. But follower growth rates for the two most tapped channels — Facebook and Twitter — are both slowing down.
Only retailers in the big box and home goods categories saw significant Facebook follower growth rates.
Michael Fisher, president of Yes Lifecycle Marketing, said in a statement that while the focus on Facebook made sense years ago, follower growth for that channel has plateaued for most retail categories.
"The answer isn’t necessarily to shift resources, but rather turn a serious eye to audience preferences and return on social investment," said Mr. Fisher. "Social media has moved past the experimental phase, and retailers must know their audience and know the ROI of their efforts."
Across all retailers, 98 percent of retailers were present on Facebook; 91 percent, Twitter; and 79 percent, YouTube. Only 43 percent engaged with their consumers via Instagram, despite its 237 percent average follower growth rate.
Source: Nordstrom on Instagram
PwC’s Global "2015 Total Retail Survey" from earlier this year found social communication between retailers and consumers having a notable impact on shopping for the first time. When asked if their interactions on social media had led them to buy more, a total of 62 percent of respondents answered either "Yes in most cases" (19 percent), or "Yes in some cases" (43 percent).
PwC’s survey also found that virtually all consumer and retailer social media engagement saw an increase from previous years. Among areas notably expanding:
- Thirty-four percent of consumers followed their favorite brands or retailers on social media;
- Twenty-eight percent found brands they didn’t know;
- Twenty-seven percent researched a brand using others’ feedback;
- Twenty-three percent provided comments about their experiences with products;
- Twenty-one percent viewed videos about products.
Still, PwC noted that only 15 percent of respondents worldwide either "liked" products or shared them with others; 11 percent "checked in" at stored via social media; eight percent connected with people who liked the same product they did; and seven percent purchased directly via social media.
BrainTrust
Ryan Mathews
Founder, CEO, Black Monk Consulting
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
How would you characterize the overall social media opportunity for retailers? What’s the next step for retail and its relationship with social media?
Poll
Social media remains a great place for consumers and retailers to meet, discuss, solve problems and sometimes, if handled properly, generate sales. A social presence is necessary for retailers, but it is not the end-all and be-all for increasing revenue. Retailers should use social media to dialogue with consumers, not sell. A discussion could be about product usage, innovative solutions and problem solving. It’s hard, if not impossible, to measure social ROI, so retailers and brands hesitate to invest heavily, but that doesn’t mean that they should sit on the sidelines. Social media does not come with a big entry fee, so retailers should stick multiple toes in the water and test various social outlets.
The “overall opportunity” is entirely dependent on which retailer, what group of customers and which social media outlet we are talking about.
Michael Fisher is right. Social media has moved past the experimental stage and it’s time to take hard learnings and apply them in a strategic way.
I suspect most retailers aren’t there yet. Putting up a Facebook page or establishing a Twitter account aren’t the same thing as having a social media strategy. In fact, without more input, they can create more harm than good.
Retailers really need to know more about how social networks operate and, specifically, how their target customer segments interact with them, assuming they — in fact — do.
The next step for the vast majority of retailers is to become proficient in the use of social media and the marketing opportunities it offers, and to learn the software. Making decisions and spending money on something you know nothing about is insane. The larger your company is the more you need to know or the more you WILL lose. And finally, the only measure for success in these efforts is a proven number of sales receipts pointing to a specific campaign. Likes and memberships pay for nothing.
Few merchants and CPG Brands have mastered social media, regardless of the channels utilized. Slowing growth on the most popular channels doesn’t necessarily indicate full penetration of the markets, but certainly can show a less-than-optimized shopping experience for the consumer.
I believe there is still room to grow with compelling offers and experiences via social channels.
With Facebook, Twitter and now Pinterest adding “buy” buttons, retailers have a tremendous opportunity to sell directly to customers while they are using social media to research and show intent to purchase. The next step is to also focus on delivering great customer service on social channels and provide true resolution in channel. Customers now think that social media is better than traditional phone/email customer service options and expect similar or better/faster service, so if retailers are going to engage and sell on social, then they need to be better prepared to provide customer service on social as well.
Does the number of followers or an increase in followers equate to more sales? Has anyone documented that relationship across the retail industry? I have not seen that documentation.
Rather than striving to gain followers, retailers need to be encouraging dialog with their followers or customers. Dialog is the real power of social media. Through that dialog, retailers can determine what is important to their customers, what ideas their customers have, or what their customers’ problems are. Then the retailers can use social media to address their customers directly and not be concerned about what other retailers are doing.
Too many retailers simply look at social media as another channel to sell in. When they wake up and realize that social media is about engaging with their customers along the path to purchase, things will start to change for them.
The customer is often on the net looking around to see what’s out there, researching to make a better decision, not sure if this is how they want to spend their money, not sure what other options are, and the list goes on.
It would behoove retail (one of my mother’s favorite words) to figure out the right questions for their brand and get out there and listen and answer. There’s the beef!
For my 2 cents!
Sounds like a simple statement, but social media can no longer be grouped as if it is a collective category of media. Most importantly, consumers use different types of social media in very different ways, for different purposes.
While Facebook is perhaps declining in sheer numbers, it is still the number one place people go to socialize with friends and family. The operative word here is “socialize,” not searching or seeking out products per se.
There are other forms of social media that are very product centric. Instagram and Pinterest are two examples of where consumers are actually searching for both ideas and products to purchase.
TV is not the same as print, and both are different from radio. The next step for retail is to develop specific social media strategies based upon specific objectives, and reaching target consumer segments that have proclivity to use that type of social media.
Social media creates a great opportunity to create a better connection with your customers. It provides an additional channel (or two or three—or more) than just face-to-face or over the phone. The best companies are taking their social media presence to another level. Rather than just respond and react to comments (good and bad), these forward thinking companies are proactively engaging with value-added content. They are not waiting to react. They are putting content out and getting the customers to react.
Social media definitely influence purchases – both in-store and online. They act as extensions of the physical store into the virtual world, reflecting norms, trends and opinions of consumers.
Retailers and brands may overreach, however, when they try to control the social media dialog. Attracting followers to a corporate Facebook page is not the same thing as “organic” interest that grows within the community. An ad is still recognized as an ad, even on a mobile device.
Now that the social media experiment is moving into the mainstream, the next challenge for marketers is to learn how to continuously “take the temperature” of the community and its interest in their brands. Influences may be subtle or strong, and retailers will learn how and when to adjust merchandising and marketing plans to deliver on expectations.
Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, or the next new communal gizmo — and there will be one — social media continues to influence the way people seek and consume information and interact with the world, retailers included.
At its heart, social media can help retailers understand and predict consumers changing needs, expectations and personal preferences. When used to truly listen and genuinely engage with customers, social media can provide insights that help retailers deliver an experience that make their customers’ lives easier, safer and more enjoyable. This type of exchange is far beyond brand selling and leans more towards developing an emotional and trusted connection with the consumer.
The next step for retailers is to understand that social media innovation is here to stay. Social media and digital technology will continually evolve, offering new services and options to customers. The leading retailers will be the ones who quickly leverage a variety of social media channels to get a 360 degree view of their customer and are able to deliver high-value experiences that build strong emotional connections and lifelong customer relationships.
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Social media remains a great place for consumers and retailers to meet, discuss, solve problems and sometimes, if handled properly, generate sales. A social presence is necessary for retailers, but it is not the end-all and be-all for increasing revenue. Retailers should use social media to dialogue with consumers, not sell. A discussion could be about product usage, innovative solutions and problem solving. It’s hard, if not impossible, to measure social ROI, so retailers and brands hesitate to invest heavily, but that doesn’t mean that they should sit on the sidelines. Social media does not come with a big entry fee, so retailers should stick multiple toes in the water and test various social outlets.
The “overall opportunity” is entirely dependent on which retailer, what group of customers and which social media outlet we are talking about.
Michael Fisher is right. Social media has moved past the experimental stage and it’s time to take hard learnings and apply them in a strategic way.
I suspect most retailers aren’t there yet. Putting up a Facebook page or establishing a Twitter account aren’t the same thing as having a social media strategy. In fact, without more input, they can create more harm than good.
Retailers really need to know more about how social networks operate and, specifically, how their target customer segments interact with them, assuming they — in fact — do.
The next step for the vast majority of retailers is to become proficient in the use of social media and the marketing opportunities it offers, and to learn the software. Making decisions and spending money on something you know nothing about is insane. The larger your company is the more you need to know or the more you WILL lose. And finally, the only measure for success in these efforts is a proven number of sales receipts pointing to a specific campaign. Likes and memberships pay for nothing.
Few merchants and CPG Brands have mastered social media, regardless of the channels utilized. Slowing growth on the most popular channels doesn’t necessarily indicate full penetration of the markets, but certainly can show a less-than-optimized shopping experience for the consumer.
I believe there is still room to grow with compelling offers and experiences via social channels.
With Facebook, Twitter and now Pinterest adding “buy” buttons, retailers have a tremendous opportunity to sell directly to customers while they are using social media to research and show intent to purchase. The next step is to also focus on delivering great customer service on social channels and provide true resolution in channel. Customers now think that social media is better than traditional phone/email customer service options and expect similar or better/faster service, so if retailers are going to engage and sell on social, then they need to be better prepared to provide customer service on social as well.
Does the number of followers or an increase in followers equate to more sales? Has anyone documented that relationship across the retail industry? I have not seen that documentation.
Rather than striving to gain followers, retailers need to be encouraging dialog with their followers or customers. Dialog is the real power of social media. Through that dialog, retailers can determine what is important to their customers, what ideas their customers have, or what their customers’ problems are. Then the retailers can use social media to address their customers directly and not be concerned about what other retailers are doing.
Too many retailers simply look at social media as another channel to sell in. When they wake up and realize that social media is about engaging with their customers along the path to purchase, things will start to change for them.
The customer is often on the net looking around to see what’s out there, researching to make a better decision, not sure if this is how they want to spend their money, not sure what other options are, and the list goes on.
It would behoove retail (one of my mother’s favorite words) to figure out the right questions for their brand and get out there and listen and answer. There’s the beef!
For my 2 cents!
Sounds like a simple statement, but social media can no longer be grouped as if it is a collective category of media. Most importantly, consumers use different types of social media in very different ways, for different purposes.
While Facebook is perhaps declining in sheer numbers, it is still the number one place people go to socialize with friends and family. The operative word here is “socialize,” not searching or seeking out products per se.
There are other forms of social media that are very product centric. Instagram and Pinterest are two examples of where consumers are actually searching for both ideas and products to purchase.
TV is not the same as print, and both are different from radio. The next step for retail is to develop specific social media strategies based upon specific objectives, and reaching target consumer segments that have proclivity to use that type of social media.
Social media creates a great opportunity to create a better connection with your customers. It provides an additional channel (or two or three—or more) than just face-to-face or over the phone. The best companies are taking their social media presence to another level. Rather than just respond and react to comments (good and bad), these forward thinking companies are proactively engaging with value-added content. They are not waiting to react. They are putting content out and getting the customers to react.
Social media definitely influence purchases – both in-store and online. They act as extensions of the physical store into the virtual world, reflecting norms, trends and opinions of consumers.
Retailers and brands may overreach, however, when they try to control the social media dialog. Attracting followers to a corporate Facebook page is not the same thing as “organic” interest that grows within the community. An ad is still recognized as an ad, even on a mobile device.
Now that the social media experiment is moving into the mainstream, the next challenge for marketers is to learn how to continuously “take the temperature” of the community and its interest in their brands. Influences may be subtle or strong, and retailers will learn how and when to adjust merchandising and marketing plans to deliver on expectations.
Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, or the next new communal gizmo — and there will be one — social media continues to influence the way people seek and consume information and interact with the world, retailers included.
At its heart, social media can help retailers understand and predict consumers changing needs, expectations and personal preferences. When used to truly listen and genuinely engage with customers, social media can provide insights that help retailers deliver an experience that make their customers’ lives easier, safer and more enjoyable. This type of exchange is far beyond brand selling and leans more towards developing an emotional and trusted connection with the consumer.
The next step for retailers is to understand that social media innovation is here to stay. Social media and digital technology will continually evolve, offering new services and options to customers. The leading retailers will be the ones who quickly leverage a variety of social media channels to get a 360 degree view of their customer and are able to deliver high-value experiences that build strong emotional connections and lifelong customer relationships.