Social media for retail made simple

Social media for retail made simple
Tags: Marketing, Social Media
May 12, 2011

If you're still wondering about how important social media can be to your business, think about this. Getting involved in social media is the same as bringing both a public relations company on board, and running an ad campaign.

In terms of PR, you get the publicity without hiring the company. You're saving the fee and getting the buzz, because social media is word-of-mouth on steroids.

When it comes to advertising, if you currently place print ads or buy commercials in traditional media–newspapers, magazines, radio and TV–and find it valuable, you'll want to use social sites such as Groupon to sell your product or service.

As with any advertising you pay money to get your message in front of the public, but you have complete control of that message. While you end up with a greatly reduced price for a specific product or service, you can sell more than what you put on the site and you can sell it to an immense new audience.

If you see the value of television as a promotional tool, now's the time to put your videos on YouTube. You can have your own show, your own channel, and you can have it for free!

As actual TV watching declines (just as fewer homes have land-line phones, fewer homes have sets), YouTube has grown. With tablets like the iPad becoming ubiquitous, the site's two billion viewers a day will only increase. Start with a good story, one that benefits your audience, and you'll get viewers. Think more about creating engagement than worrying about production values.

Remember when telegrams packed a punch? Those tightly worded messages have been replaced by Twitter. Its 140 character limit per post means you have to get your message out in a few words. Offer your Twitter followers messages they'll find informative, educational, or entertaining. Tweet and repeat to win converts.

Don't just use Facebook for keeping up with friends. Build a business page that allows you to acquire fans. It's an excellent tool for doing business. You can even build an online store.

LinkedIn has been compared to an old-style Rolodex, but it's so much more than that. It allows you to easily reach out and connect with other people who share your mindset and your business goals.

Blogs have been called the new newspapers. If you've always wanted to be a reporter or an editor, now's your chance to tell your story in your words.

That's the beauty of social media. It eliminates the middle man. Its two-way conversation immediately alerts you to what works and what doesn't, allowing you to be more nimble with your marketing.

Reader Comments

Glenn Renick

about 12 months ago

I disagree with the Groupon advice in this article. If you use traditional advertising you MAY want to consider Groupon, but only after a very careful analysis of the financials involved. You certainly do not have "complete control" of the message. Groupon requires that their writers produce the content and they do so in a silly manner that may not match the demographic you are trying to reach. Groupon works for some businesses and is counterproductive for others. If you have a pricing structure that supports very deep discounting, both on the initial sale and to bring people back, go ahead. If you already offer fair pricing and your repeat customers return because of a high quality experience, Groupon may not work to your advantage.
Elias Shams

about 12 months ago

It’s no brainer to see that social media is here to stay for good. Given vast variety of the existing channels to choose and stick with, it’s time for such a hot space to enter into a new category. There is a need for a portal to provide a quick and intelligent decision for both the consumer and the enterprise about their online connections.

A Platform to Help us to Distinguish Our Quality vs. Quantity Friends, Fans, Followers, and Companies

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Flickr and others have been doing a decent job of providing additional marketing exposure and even in some cases, additional revenue. However, as more and more social networking sites pop up, how do you manage your brand across all these channels? Maybe more importantly, which one of these sites should you select as the one that will help you best reach your target audience? The proliferation of the social media avenues is becoming overwhelming.

This glut of information reminds me of the early 90’s when WWW was adopted broadly by the general public. Every company rushed to have a presence, to the point it became literally impossible to find the right information on the Web. That’s when a better generation of search engines – at first the Yahoo! and then Google – entered the market and helped us find the most relevant information by just typing simple keywords in their search box. If you had asked before Google launched, if there was a need for another search engine – most would have said no, we already have those….

Then came Web 1.0 & 2.0 – Youtube, Flickr, myspace, Facebook, Twitter and countless others have turned everyday people into content producers, influencers and experts. We basically tripled down on the information overload How do you know which channels to select for deploying your social media strategy? How do you know which one is the right channel to let your fans and followers to find you, your products, and services? Most importantly, who is Joe Smith that is recommending that person, that company, that product?

I hope my awesomize.me can accomplish such a mission. The site is not another social networking platform. Yet the portal to all your existing social media channels. The platform helps you, your fans, your potential clients to make an intelligent decision as to which company to connect to or follow via which social media channels and why? It’s free!

Elias
CEO & Founder
http://awesomize.me
Christina Pappas

about 12 months ago

I agree with the opening of your article, that social media provides a unique opportunity to brands to make a more public appearance and build their influence within an industry or a topic. As Glenn mentioned, I dont believe that all brands that advertise on TV or use other broadcast methods should jump in and start selling discounted deals. Its just not for everyone. However, some of the more popular sites, such as Facebook Twitter and LinkedIn, should be highly considered as another channel to reach customers and engage with industry influencers and prospective customers. Its not a one or none question, its a question of where you audience is spending their time online, who they are listening to, what they are talking about and how your brand can participate. Just wrote a blog recently called 'Should My Brand Be On Twitter?' which is an extension of the conversation your article started here. http://www.zmags.com/blog/brands-using-twitter