News You Can Use. 12 Things to Consider Before Starting a Social Media Marketing Campaign Charles Crawford, August 2016 paraphrased

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1 Ashley Tri-State Newsletter 12 Things to Consider Before Starting a Social Media Marketing Campaign Charles Crawford, August 2016 paraphrased There s no denying the role social media marketing now plays when it comes to driving website traffic, brand awareness and business leads. But if you re not keeping 1. Define Goals up with current trends, it can go south really fast and cut into your resources while yield- 2. Success through Numbers ing unfavorable results. In this issue: 12 Things Social Media In Store Shopping: No. 1 Millennial research method How Mobile Has Redefined the Consumer Decision Ashley Goes Outdoor 3. One Platform at a Time Around 90% adults aged between are on social media, including 35% adults aged 65+. A third of Millennials use social media as their preferred source of communication with businesses. Global social media usage, meanwhile, is projected to hit the 2.5 billion mark by Put it Down in Writing The potential is huge and you need to be on social media to be able to cater to this growing audience. Take the following into consideration before kickstarting your social media marketing campaigns: 11. Twitter is Great for Testing Out Content Ideas 5. Bring it to Life with Visuals6. Monitor and Tune 7. Invest in a Social Media Management Tool 8. Profile Your Ideal Customer 9. Audit Your Social Presence 10. Identify Key Success Indicators 12. Continue to Create and Curate Highly Engaging Content Click Here to Read More Online

2 In-store shopping: No. 1 Millennial research method Dana French, August 13, 2016 When researching outdoor furniture to buy, seven out of 10 Millennials shop and browse in brick-and-mortar stores. That s right: Instore shopping is the No. 1 method for Millennials researching outdoor furniture. That s part of the exclusive findings from sister publication Casual Living s 2016 Millennial Outdoor Survey. More than half of Millennials absolutely need to sit on and touch outdoor furniture before making a purchase. Another four out of 10 say it depends on the product. What is the best characteristic when buying online: Is Philanthropic 10% Best Customer Service Has the Best Deal 55% With online shopping resources, half of Millennials use 35% Google and other search engines to check out product, and nearly half look at retailer websites. For Boomers, 48% use Google to search, and 43% research outdoor furniture via retailer sites. It turns out the younger Millennial buyers are not very different from Baby Boomers when shopping for outdoor furniture. According to a 2015 Casual Living survey with readers of Apartment Therapy, seven out of 10 Baby Boomers head to a store when shopping for outdoor furniture. And with Boomers, 48% use Google to search, and 43% research outdoor furniture via retailer sites.

3 How Mobile Has Redefined the Consumer Decision Journey for Shoppers ThinkWithGoogle.com, July 2016 When people shop, their smartphone is now their go-to advisor and assistant. For retailers, this means big opportunities to be there and be useful in shoppers' micromoments. This introduction to a five-part series reveals the mobile retail trends shaping the industry and why they matter. If we took a snapshot of the shopping experience a decade ago, it would look something like this: When looking for ideas and inspiration, a shopper would either go online, browse a catalog, or walk the store aisles. When in-store, a shopper would learn more about a product and either head to the cashier or head home to buy online. The point is that a shopper interacted with channels independently. But the rise of mobile has changed this picture. What's different today is that even though this behavior still happens, shoppers are omnichannel: Six in 10 internet users start shopping on one device but continue or finish on a different one, and 82% of smartphone users say they consult their phones on purchases they're about to make in a store. They get ideas, look up information, and make decisions, all from their smartphone anytime, anywhere. Continued on next page

4 How Mobile Has Redefined the Consumer Decision Journey for Shoppers Continued How consumer behavior on mobile is shaping retail industry trends What's happening? Mobile is driving local. People use their smartphones before heading in-store to gather ideas, research products, and then search for local information. It's no wonder that searches for "near me" have doubled in the past year. But research isn't the only way mobile is changing the shopping experience. Shoppers buy on mobile, too. A person today might make a buying decision about a $15 tube of sunscreen, a $300 camera, or a $3,000 handbag on a smartphone while on her commute to work, as she walks the dog, or waits to pick up her son in the carpool line. Time on site for mobile users in the U.S. is down 5% year over year,6however retail's share of online purchases is still growing. Thirty-four percent of online retail purchases now happen on mobile devices. The bottom line: In this mobile-fueled shopping landscape, the retailers that thrive see the opportunity to be there and be useful for shoppers in what we call micro-moments those intent-rich moments when people turn to their smartphones or other devices to know, go, do, or buy something. Click Here to finish reading the article online Don t Forget!! October HighPoint is almost here! Keep watching your inbox for more information coming soon!

5 Your Ashley Marketing Specialists In Case You Missed It: Ashley Furniture is now OUTDOOR By: Erin Berg ARCADIA, Wis. Ashley Furniture Inds. has announced it is adding outdoor furniture to its home furnishings line-up. Arwan Rug The company has hired industry veteran Andy Sokol as vice president of merchandising for outdoor furniture to lead the Outdoor by Ashley team and its launch into the category at the upcoming Las Vegas Summer Market that begins July 31. After exploring the opportunity in this category for the past few years, we feel the timing is right for us now, said Todd Wanek, CEO. Outdoor furniture is a rapidly growing category, and the outdoor room is a room we want to fill with both fashion and value. Outdoor by Ashley will include dining sets, seating, fire pit chat sets and umbrellas reflecting a variety of styles and constructed of quality materials and high performance outdoor fabrics. Sourced from a select group of proven vendors who have partnered with Sokol in the past, Ashley is focused on bringing ontrend styles and value while limiting risk for retailers who have been interested in carrying outdoor furniture for some time. The manufacturer and Furniture/Today s Top 100 retailer plans to feature in its Las Vegas showroom 15 room settings that demonstrate Ashley s ability to identify and deliver style and price points that are popular with consumers, according to Sokol.

6 Progress always involves risks. You can t steal second and keep your foot on first. -Fredrick B. Wilson AshleyTriState.com Click the pictures to visit each social media page