Aug

Social Media And Retail: Do Your Customers Know How Cool You Really Are?

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Social Media And Retail: Do Your Customers Know How Cool You Really Are?

We’ve talked a lot about getting new customers through social media. What about the customer you already have? Is there a way social media can help you maintain loyalty with your current customer base? And do they know that you are involved with social media? Your store or selling location is a crucial piece of the social media puzzle.

The biggest opportunity for corporate retail is customer loyalty. Big guys work on very small margins and high overhead so they have no choice but to make it up in volume. There are 3 ways to do that:

get more customers
get existing customers to come back
make customers who come into the store buy more stuff

Social media can actually help you in all 3. We already talked about how to get new customers with social media and getting customers to buy more stuff is better served at the store level with your own unique merchandising layouts and customer service. That leaves us with getting existing customers to come back. Small retailers and merchants benefit 2 ways with increased customers loyalty. First, the customer comes back and spends more money. Second, the customer tells their friends about you and they tell 2 friends, and so on and so on. This is called word of mouth marketing (WOM for short) and it’s the best possible marketing you can get. If you think about it, WOM is actually a form of social media (please see the quasi definitions on Monday’s post).

Ok, so how can we use social media to increase and enhance customer loyalty?

Take a look at your location. Do your customers know that you are involved in social media? If I walk into your store, how will I know what your Twitter id is? Or where to find your Facebook fanpage? It is very important that merchants use their store as a marketing vehicle. You post up signs with specials and promos right? How about the big return policy posted at the register? And your hours of business? These are all bits of information communicated to your customer at the store level. The same elements can be applied to social networking. Use signage and bagstuffers to let your customers know where to find you in social media. Educate your associates about your social network marketing plans and let them know how important it is to talk it up with the customer.

One of my clients took it upon herself to reprogram her cash register so that her Twitter id appeared on each and every receipt that was printed. Another merchant I worked with gave a small discount to anyone who signed up on his brand’s Facebook fanpage. This deal was communicated through signage at the store level and his followers number in the hundreds. There is huge opportunities at the store level to market your social media outlets.

Remember yesterday when I said that social media will take up some of your time (http://cueworkshops.com/CUEBlog/?p=748)? If you want to truly build loyalty with your customers through social media, it is critical that you stay in touch with them frequently. If your customer signs up, there is a reason. They want to stay informed with your brand. I usually sign up when I see a merchant advertising themselves on social media. The problem is, I don’t get anything from them. And that means their customers are getting anything from them. One tweet a month is not what I consider a strong social media presence but the sad reality is that owner/mangers have very little time to invest in social media. My advice: make time. You are missing a great opportunity to stay in touch with your customer after they leave the store.

Here are some ideas for keeping in contact with your customers to increase loyalty and return visits:

Make sure your customers know that your store is accessible through social media networks by using signage and other visual tools
Use your team to build social media awareness with your customers. Talking it up on the sales floor is an excellent way to get customers on board and following you
Maintain the lines of communication. Deliver content that has value consistently. If you say you will publish an email newsletter twice a month, commit to that.
Offer promotions via social networks but do not over commercialize your message. The main focus should be content.
Embrace 2 way communication with your customer through services like Twitter. Brands such as Sears and Best Buy use Twitter as way to resolve customer issues rapidly. Answer emails and address issues promptly. Speed is the name of the game when it comes to social media.

Tomorrow @CUEHub: The last part of our series on social media and retail. It’s a surprise topic so be sure to check back on Friday for some new thoughts and a concise wrap up.