We’ve been seeing it the last 5 years (at least!). Every retail Industry trade show out there has a technology twist; so much so that we joke that there aren’t any retail-specific trade events left out there…they’ve all morphed into full-on technology shows! That speaks volumes about our wonderful industry which has consistently been a frontrunner when it comes to adopting technology, especially when it comes to social technologies.
The link between the retail sector and social media cannot be denied. So, no matter what stage you are at with your social efforts our customers and employees choose social as their media of choice. It’s time to build social media success into your overall strategy! In fact, at Graff Retail, we’re committing to it in a more meaningful way this year (finally!).
Socially speaking, what are you doing?
Retail has always been a business about the people and shopping is a social activity. We are not social media experts at Graff Retail (we specialize in getting your front line teams to perform so much better), but we do know a lot about creating the ultimate shopping experience. It just makes sense to use our social media platforms to personalize the shopping experience for our customers, doesn’t it? And, it seems to me that link between the in-store shopping experience and the experience driven on a retailers’ social media platforms are not that different … are they?
If you’ve just been using your social media to push promotions and advertising on your customers, you likely aren’t getting the results you want and you certainly aren’t delivering the ultimate “shopping” (or social) experience. Put your customer and their needs front and centre in your campaign and you’ll end up shaping a community of faithful followers where you can engage in a meaningful way, learn more about them and build a reputation as a business that cares about its customers.
I think the point to make here is that social media is so much more than just another marketing channel. It’s a two-way street, just like an in-store shopping experience. Customers get to take advantage of promotions and discounts, get the customer service they need, find out about the latest products and even offer their feedback. Retailers get to boost sales and grow and engage with their customer base. A true two-way street.
At Graff, we’ve done the bare minimum in the last couple of years just to show that we have a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, but never really applied any strategy to our social sharing messages.
This year we’re changing that! We’re going to try to do it right and we’re excited to see if we just can’t expand our community by engaging with our retailers and sharing more meaningful information to support each and every one of you!
You’ll find us on the various platforms below. So, follow us. Like us. And most importantly send us your comments. We’d love your feedback!
