Social Media Marketing

Sephora is continuing its efforts to tap into new ways of monetizing millennial-friendly mobile platforms, enabling its Snapchat followers to purchase products featured in live stories by taking a screenshot and downloading the ShopStyle application. The beauty giant, which announced the news on Snapchat last week, invited followers to shop a slew of popular cosmetics featured…

You hear it time and time again — the customer is the center of the universe for retailers. Brands are constantly trying to stand out from the competition to attract new customers and keep their current ones happy. In FitForCommerce's report “Commerce Disrupted,” disruptors and innovators for areas such as websites, digital signage and personalization are…

You don’t normally buy a sweater or a pair of sneakers on Facebook. But the giant social media company is becoming the biggest factor in retail nobody is thinking about. “You read the analyst reports and talk to CEOs, and a lot of the conversation is comparison to other retailers and to Amazon,” Tom Andrews of…

Ever since the online market exploded, consumers have been flocking to online stores in droves, which naturally has hurt the shopping mall as we know it. It’s driven a number of stores out of business, and it threatens the health of thousands more. Retailers are taking steps to ensure the online market doesn’t throw them…

When Instagram’s move from a chronological feed to an algorithm-based feed was announced in March, it caused an eruption of discontent within the community. Users and marketers alike felt that the algorithm would mean the end of organic reach on Instagram and content wouldn't be seen. For retailers, Instagram was a great (and mostly free)…

Is Calvin Klein the new American Apparel? It’s the first thought that entered my mind when I saw this “upskirt” Calvin Klein clothing ad with the text “I flash in #mycalvins.” I cropped the image, but The Daily Mail shows the full ad that spawned a negative consumer reaction on social media. And yes, I know…

When I think about the purchases consumers make, I often recall a book I read more than a decade ago, “Why We Buy” by Paco Underhill. The psychology of purchase behavior has always fascinated me. And it’s not just why we buy, it’s how we buy and the decisions we make along the way. As…

Influencer marketing isn't new; using celebrities to sell products is an age-old practice. However, a new type of influencer marketing — using regular customers as brand spokespeople — is on the rise. Highlighted in a National Retail Federation (NRF) article, “Customers Are the New Celebrities,” this trend of curating a group of select social media…

Snapchat users following beauty retailer Sephora may have noticed it pushing its presence on messaging app Kik this week. A series of videos saved to its “Story” demonstrated exactly what it is you can do on this other platform so heavily favored by U.S. teens. That might sound somewhat counterintuitive, but you can bet doing so…

Snapchat users following beauty retailer Sephora may have noticed it pushing its presence on messaging app Kik this week. A series of videos saved to its “Story” demonstrated exactly what it is you can do on this other platform so heavily favored by U.S. teens. That might sound somewhat counterintuitive, but you can bet doing so […]