Specialty Retail in a Fan, Like, Follow World

Transcription

1 Specialty Retail in a Fan, Like, Follow World Top Tips for Building Your Gi> Shop Business Through Social Networking Kimberly Baker Museums & More Las Vegas January 2013

2 What is social media? Forms of electronic communica:on through which users create online communi:es to share informa:on, ideas, personal messages and other content (photos, videos, etc.) ~Merriam- Webster Examples include: Facebook TwiFer Pinterest LinkedIn Google+ YouTube Flickr Tumblr Instagram

3 How many of you are using social media? For personal use? For business use? 88% of readers surveyed have social media accounts for their businesses. Of those: 98% are on Facebook 57% are on TwiFer 48% are on Pinterest

4 A lifle more about our survey 37% log in to social media sites 1 to 4 Xmes per week 23% log in 5 to 9 Xmes 35% log in 10 Xmes or more On average, they post 3 to 5 Xmes per week

5 Top ways retailers are using social media Photos & Displays Sales, Events & PromoXons Highlight Products & Services Press releases Videos Staff Picks Contests Store News

6 Why they say they chose social media? Quick and easy RelaXvely inexpensive compared to other markexng costs (Word of cauxon: It s not really free ) Builds relaxonships It s viral Easy networking and builds more inxmate relaxonships Reach a wide audience Get feedback, requests and recommendaxons from customers Side note: More than 1 billion people are using Facebook They spend more than 8 hours per month on Facebook (PC World)

7 From a retailer As the expense of our adverxsing conxnued to increase with each passing year, we realized that we weren t seeing an increase in the return on our investment. This realizaxon, along with the obvious change in how people presently connect with one another, convinced us to make a substanxal change to our markexng strategy. This past year, we decided to eliminate all outside adverxsing and focus solely on our website, Facebook and TwiFer... The key to our social media success has been consistency and variety.

8 From another retailer Social media is an accent to our current markexng program. We do not expect sales to come from social media, but rather as a resource and entertainment.

9 Retailer recommendaxons Engage your customers it is, a>er all, called social networking Consistency and variety (read: be interesxng and be acxve) Make sure people know where to find you Encourage sharing Show em what you ve got: post photos and videos Make it a part of your full markexng plan Keep it on- topic and related to your business (Note: Be sure you re using a business page and not a personal profile.) Find some tools to help you manage it all

10 From a retailer Customers don t just shop here for our products, they shop here for the relaxonships and that s why we ve been successful... These relaxonships have helped us build our business, and Facebook makes that possible.

11 From a retailer Post pictures regularly We o>en have customers print off photos from our Facebook page and bring them in to us and say This is what I want!

12 Biggest retailer concerns about social media How do we make sure our Xme isn t wasted? Monitor Web traffic a>er posts Use your Insights! Time spent promoxng your business is never wasted the only waste is in serng up social media profiles and never showing up. I don t care if they respond to every post because they re telling us they saw our posts on social media even if they re not responding. They are seeing it and remembering it. Talk to your customers see what they want on social media and use social media to start a real- life conversaxon Make sure your posts are seen

13 Tip #1: Target your posts

14 Tip #2: Make sure they re seeing your posts

15 Advice from other retailers Be sure your page is set up as a business page NOT a personal page. ( Like vs. Add friend ) Use it or lose it. If you don t update regularly, your customers won t feel like they can/should count on you to deliver posts of value. Conduct yourself appropriately and professionally. Monitor what s being said about you and your business your online reputaxon is just as important as your in- person reputaxons. Jump in and do it. Even if you don t know what you re doing at first. It s not an overnight fix. Like in real life, it takes Xme to build your network. Promote your social media profiles in the store.

16 Tip #3: Help them find you Promote your social media accounts on: Signage in your store Your receipts Your website(s) and blog(s) All other markexng materials Get a Facebook username for an easy URL to promote Use a QR code to make your page easily accessible on smartphones Websites: Make sure your staff is encouraging people to like or follow you

17 Advice from other retailers Don t adverxse be social. Make each post different than the last. Stay posixve and be honest. And always respond, as appropriate, to any negaxve posts. Remember that business is business and personal is personal. Show your personality. Find out what works for you.

18 Tip #4: Try out different Xmes of day and days of the week for posts There are a number of recommendaxons about when to post for the most reach. But remember: What works for one business may not work for another business. Experiment and talk to your customers to see what works best. Some guidelines: Recent data shows that the op5mal 5me to post on Facebook is between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Links posted between 1 and 4 p.m. get the highest click- through rates. Wednesday at 3 p.m. is the best Xme to post all week. Links posted before 8 a.m. and a>er 8 p.m. are less likely to get shared. ~Social Media Examiner

19 Tip #5: Schedule your posts Why? Post when you have Xme Post more than one thing at a Xme Pre- post specials/promoxons Schedule post around holidays or special events Add items to your Xmeline/history Note: You can always go back and edit them before they post.

20 Scheduling tool: HootSuite

21 What I wish I had known... It will take Xme before you see the results Have a plan and make it part of your day Make sure your enxre staff is aware of your efforts and can contribute But have one person in charge of overall social media messaging How much Xme it can take How powerful it can be to help start conversaxons

22 Tip #6: Reach out to the media Become a fan of the reporters in your area AS WELL AS the news organizaxons Reporters o>en have their own celebrity page separate from the news staxon Tag them in posts about events and news happening in your business Give them relevant informaxon depending on their news cycle/season Invite them to any events you post on your page Post on their pages when something newsworthy will be happening at your business or in your area Always follow up with a phone call and/or /press release

23 Tip #7: Use Facebook s SEO Facebook has more than 1 billion users, so search engines are all over it! Use that to your benefit to show up higher on search rankings (some people are finding their FB pages are higher in search results than their business pages) Use keywords in your About descripxon Use an appropriate username Build links to your Facebook page off of other pages (website, order site, blog, etc.) Get more fans the higher the number, the higher you show up in search Of note: Facebook s new Graph Search will allow you to search likes, check- ins, photo tags, etc. of your fans. (And then use that data for markexng purposes.)

24 Tip #8: Get pinning

25 Tip #9: Give them something special Show them you appreciate their parxcipaxon in your Facebook or TwiFer community by giving them something they can only get by being your fan or following you. Invite them in to your store through social media. Make them a part of your store.

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30 From a retailer: Have a party! Host a TwiFer party Invite people to afend from the comfort of their own homes to talk about a subject relevant to your business and your customers (holiday gi>s, home décor, etc.) Choose a hashtag so everyone can find you double check it s not used elsewhere (#holidaygi>guide) Incorporate Instagram and encourage people to share their photos just remind them to use the hashtag Have a Google Hangout Host a Q&A on your Facebook page

31 Tip #10: Add social sharing to your websites Add the icons and social sharing tools to your websites so people can share things they like immediately to Facebook, TwiFer, Pinterest Help make it easy for people to spread your store s products, displays, ideas around BONUS: The social networks provide the coding you need, so you don t need to know HTML coding to be able to put it on your website.

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34 From retailers: What not to do Maintain a person page rather than a business for your business It hurts your search capabilixes; it makes it hard for people to see your Xmeline posts; it can get you reported to Facebook. It s a misrepresentaxon of your business. Forget your pages if you neglect it, people can sxll find it and see that you re not updaxng. It creates a bad feeling toward your business. Ignore or encourage negaxvity. Neglect to respond (and moderate) what s happening on your social media accounts. A lot of Xmes your own fans will stand up for you, but you can t count on it. Instead, take responsibility for your page and your brand. Forget to create a plan or allow any of your employees to post anything any Xme.

35 Final Tips Update your cover photo seasonal displays, window displays, special décor, etc. Size: 851 pixels x 315 pixels Just make sure you re following Facebook s guidelines No price or purchase informaxon, no contact informaxon for your business, no references to Facebook features ( like or share ) and no calls to acxon ( get it now or tell your friends ) Update your page categories Be acxve as your page on Facebook Post comments, share images and links Ask your customers what they want nothin beats good ol face- to- face interacxon. Use social media to expand the conversaxon in the store. Have fun with it!

36 From a retailer We ve had a lot of success on Facebook. Probably because I have a lot of fun with it!

37 In summary: Your social media rules 1 Don t post just to post. 2 Invite them, speak to them don t try to sell them. 3 Use your Insights and analyxcs. 4 Post o>en enough to engage, but no o>en enough to annoy. 5 Interact! 6 Don t be afraid to experiment. 7 Show your store s personality What makes you you? 8 Keep it short and sweet. 9 The Golden Rule: If it s inappropriate in real life, it s inappropriate on social media common rues of exquefe apply.

38 Looking for more help?

39 Thank You