Social Media Marketing

Flyers are frustrated with the FAA's in-flight rules that keep them from accessing their e-readers, shopping apps and emails during takeoff and landing. There's one company that's much more focused on reaching flyers once they get off the plane, however. The quirky, always-present SkyMall catalog tucked into airplanes’ seat-back pockets has transitioned from an in-flight catalog launched in 1989 to a thriving e-commerce site with $80.5 million in revenue in 2009. The majority of SkyMall's sales are now completed online.

These days, it's not just print and television that secure dedicated campaigns — Instagram and Vine are getting them, too. Earlier this week, Polo Ralph Lauren began rolling out a series of nine 15-second videos on Instagram as part of its "Polo Ralph Lauren Survival Guide." As of Sunday, seven of the videos have rolled out, demonstrating, for example, how to pitch a tent, how to start a fire, and how to chill and uncork a bottle of champagne.

This past week, Uri Minkoff, co-founder of fashion apparel retailer Rebecca Minkoff, sat down with Refinery 29 Co-Founder and CEO Phillppe von Borries for a fireside chat at Fashion Digital NY. During the candid conversation, Minkoff shared what "growth hacking" is, how the brand connects with its millennial audience and what it's like working with his sibling.

Most retailers now have some sort of social presence, but too often it consists of having an account on popular social media networks and little more. The following are five examples of recent retail social media offerings that leverage social media's unique ability to engage consumers, improve operations and boost profits.

Last Thursday, Diane von Furstenberg's studio in New York's Meatpacking district underwent a temporary transformation. Gone were the large pieces of furniture on the east-facing wall; in their place were cameras, studio lights and a half dozen production people, in addition to representatives from Google, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), public relations firm KCD as well as von Furstenberg's own design company. The occasion? Von Furstenberg was hosting the first shoppable Google+ Hangout, one in a series to be held by CFDA designers.

With over 130 million users, the Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram is being used by 67 percent of top brands. Marketers have been swift to realize the potential impact of Instagram by integrating it into their off-site social strategies. Yet the golden question remains: Can Instagram generate return on investment? Or are we all just wasting our time on yet another social network distraction.

Pinterest, and specifically the act of "pinning," is driving people into stores and influencing purchase decisions. Recent data distributed by Vision Critical and highlighted in the Harvard Business Review found that 21 percent of Pinterest users had bought an item in a store after pinning, repinning or liking the item on the site. Vision Critical describes this as part of a wider phenomenon it calls "reverse showrooming," in which consumers search or browse products online and then enter the physical shop to make a final purchase.

Physical gift-giving site Wantful — a joint venture with Nordstrom — was forced to suspend operations on Monday. Nordstrom and Wantful formed the joint gift venture earlier this year, but Wantful recently lost a planned follow-up investment. Nordstrom put up $100,000 in last-minute cash to help ease the blow to the 16 Wantful employees who would be losing their jobs. "What we didn't accomplish yet, both by circumstance and execution, is the kind of highly accelerated growth required to secure later-stage venture capital, despite the enduing enthusiasm around what we've built," Wantful Founder and CEO John Poisson wrote. 

The data for this list was collected in July of this year by social commerce platform provider 8thBridge. Companies from ROI's 100 Fastest-Growing Retailers’ list were compared. Scores were out of 100 possible points and calculated based on if the brand had a presence on the social platform, how large its following was, how engaged it was with its followers and how engaged people were with the brand. Note: Each brand's Klout score was factored into its overall social score. 

On Aug. 20, J.Crew demonstrated its increasing confidence in the influence of Pinterest by posting a "Style Guide Sneak Peek" of its September fashions. With the move, the retailer showed considerable savvy in stirring waves across the social media waters. Since J.Crew's September apparel didn't go on sale until the next day, its Pinterest board led with the following message: "Just for our friends on Pinterest, an exclusive first look at our September Style Guide. Love what you see? Our Very Personal Stylist team can help you pre-order the looks before they become available on Wed., Aug. 21."