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Back-to-School: How retailers are tackling consumers' social network activity to engage customers

In our final segment of our 10-part Back-to-School series, the focus is on social networks and social influence and how retailers are adjusting marketing strategy. Mavrck CEO Lyle Stevens offers up expert insight.

August 26, 2015 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com

As Retail Customer Experiencehas noted in our 10-part series, the back-to-school sales season is a unique opportunity to boost a retailer’s bottom line and market trend reports reveal how new technologies, such as new forms of payment are prompting retail strategy changes and social media use is driving revamped retail marketing efforts.

Some big trends this season include consumers delaying shopping in a quest for better sales and savings, teens and children having greater influence on purchases, and retailers boosting the mobile device experience to engage with shoppers outside of storefronts.

In this final segment RCE talks with Mavrck CEO and Co-Founder Lyle Stevens about how retailers are investing more energy in social media efforts as shoppers are increasingly sharing recommendations on where to shop and as social influence is gaining ground as a competitive aspect in the retail sector.

In response, notes Stevens, retailers are taking a more human-centered approach to brand content to drive higher customer engagement. The social-influence marketing company recently analyzed Facebook pages of the top back-to-school brands, including Staples, Walmart, Target, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Sears, Best Buy and Microsoft, revealing which brand has put up a better fight overall this back-to-school season on Facebook and how some, such as Kohl’s is making big headway with campaigns such as #BeYourself, #YesMoments/#MakeYourMove campaigns in the Facebook conversation battle.

RCE: At this point, are today’s consumers relying more on social-network interaction than traditional marketing?

STEVENS: Back-to-school shoppers continue to rely on multiple mediums when determining where to shop, but the emphasis on social this season is indicative of the shift in where the retail market is headed.

Today’s shoppers have a higher expectation for trust and authenticity, and less noise — especially when it comes to brand communication (the prominence of ad blockers is a huge reflection of this). They are turning more to their own networks of people they trust for product recommendations. In fact, when we surveyed our group of more than 500 influencers to learn where they discover new products, social was at the top of the list [61 percent].

Retailers are beginning to understand that, because of this, they need to leverage social influencer marketing. This human-centric approach also adopts an 'always on' messaging strategy, acknowledging that consumers don't exist in the silos that a majority of media is still purchased. An example of that right now is JCPenney. They had this huge, great #ShoutOutDay on August 12 to replace social media snark with positivity, and yet, their Facebook feed is newsjacked by the story on the brand sending an employee home because her shorts that she bought from the store's own career section were too short.

RCE: Does the trend to tap social network boast a bigger boon to the up-and-coming etailer or the longtime brands who are trying to remain dominant?

STEVENS: Being able to tap social networks doesn’t necessarily favor small retailers or large, longtime brands that are trying to remain relevant and dominant. What it does is level the playing field. Sure, big brands may have more ‘fans’ on social media so the reach might be greater. But up-and-coming brands have some really passionate fans that share information on those products via social networks and word of mouth. This is especially true for fashion brands on Instagram. Social marketing also enables up-and-coming retailers to compete at smaller budgets (compared to national TV spots, for example).

RCE: What is the key element in the online BTS customer experience? Is there one aspect that will drive a better experience?

STEVENS: There are two key things driving the online back-to-school customer experience this season:

1.) A sweepstakes or promotion that drives on and offline experience. For example, Macy’s (the frontrunner in our research) is running an “All School A Capella Challenge” that’s driving views across platforms. It’s not just a product placement, it’s an engaging experience.

2.) Retailers engagement on social media. Again, Macy’s is really excelling this back-to-school season with how they are engaging with their most influential shoppers on Facebook. Their social team is responding to Facebook customer comments — both positive and negative — in a timely manner. It was the only retailer we looked at in our back-to-school research that responded to everything. Other retailers usually did one of the following — respond to negative comments or not respond at all. Macy’s, on the other hand, would always respond with the name of the respondent to add a human touch and engage these highly engaged shoppers. Macy’s understands that these influential shoppers have the power to amplify brand messaging and drive conversion among their own friends and followers.

When looking at back-to-school retailers’ top 100 customers (those that are most engaged and influential), Macy’s boasted the highest percentage of engagement among these fans (73 percent), who are also engaging others at a rate 6X+ higher on average, compared with the retail brands analyzed. Of course sales are still, and always will be, important in our price-driven culture. What is interesting about this season is that 73 percent of moms used Facebook to inform back-to-school purchase decisions.

RCE: There may be a shift ahead in online consumer activity given data breaches. What can today’s e-tailer do to ensure a safe and secure consumer experience in case that comes about?

STEVENS: Two-point login and data verification is something that everyone should be implementing, although a lot of retailers aren’t doing this. This is another step that elongates the pathway to purchase and can ultimately lead to cart abandonment.

If you missed a segment in our 10-part Back-to-School Series, here is a quick way catch up:

Part 1: Back-to-School: Not too early to start planning as new trends factor into strategy

Part 2: Back-to-School: 8 tips for enhancing mobile customer experience

Part 3: Back-to-School: Sales to dip nearly 10 percent despite other economy gains

Part 4: Back-to-School: How one NY retailer is approaching the business season

Part 5: Back-to-School: Shoppers will make more trips, spend more and seek out the best price

Part 6: Back-to-School: Generational needs, budget-conscious shoppers present retail challenges

Part 7: Back-to-School: Making shopping easier key to driving customer loyalty, engagement

Part 8: Back-to-School: Reports reveal what’s hot, what’s not and consumer trends

Part 9: Back-to-School: 4 ways retailers can cash in

About Judy Mottl

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Judy Mottl is editor of Retail Customer Experience and Digital Signage Today. She has decades of experience as a reporter, writer and editor covering technology and business for top media including AOL, InformationWeek, InternetNews and Food Truck Operator.

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