Social Media Marketing

With high-profile brands such as Gap, GameStop and, in the U.S., J.C. Penney, having opened and then subsequently closed Facebook stores (presumably because they weren't delivering return on investment), it would be easy to assume that social media isn't suitable for sales — too easy, perhaps. But those who dig a little deeper may find that opportunities abound if social media is leveraged in the right way.

Retailers are aware that a social media presence is important to their business, but it also opens the company to risk factors. Learn the guidelines of developing a social media policy.

Having a social media-based, customer-centric approach is truly a retailer's best chance at having a competitive advantage. The quality of the customer's experience will convert straight into the retailer's ability to obtain and keep customers, improve sales, and ultimately inspire loyalty and continued support. 

Brandi Temple, a 39-year-old mother of four, transformed a living-room hobby into a retail company that ships 30,000 kids’ garments a month using online social tools that giant competitors haven't mastered. Lolly Wolly Doodle Inc., the retail brand founded by Temple in 2010, makes most of its sales through Facebook, using the social network to set prices, take orders, forecast production, and even market and design clothes.

Focusing on the omnichannel customer, mobile apps vs. mobile sites, and the real return on investment of social media were just a few of the many topics discussed at eTail West, which took place in Palm Desert, Calif. this week. Here's a look at a few key takeaways — and fun perspectives — via tweets sent during the conference:

After a tough day at work as a publicist in Minneapolis, Becca Bijoch would often indulge in a little retail therapy. She usually headed out to the stores as she didn't care much for online shopping. That changed last year when the 26-year-old joined Pinterest, a photo-sharing website that allows users to "pin" images to online bulletin boards based on their interests and to follow others. Bijoch says she's found all sorts of things that she bought after seeing them on Pinterest, from great kitchen tools on CrateandBarrel.com to clothes at Asos.com.

As on-site social software becomes increasingly common, online retailers are searching for ways to use social data from Facebook Open Graph to spot consumer trends and uncover insights that they can use to create smarter marketing and more relevant product offerings. In the process of combing through the data, some firms have found that their shoppers are exactly who they thought they were, while others found a few surprises. 

Online retailers seeking to maximize their market share need to embrace every tool in their marketing kit to win the day. Naturally, many retailers prefer to rely on a "paid media" strategy because accounting for spend, income, net profit and return on investment is easy, thus justifying financial allocations. But savvy retailers will not ignore "unpaid" media efforts, including search engine optimization and social media campaigns. 

A scroll through the Facebook Timelines of Bebe, Foot Locker and 1-800-Flowers.com reveals a common trait: each anchors its content with repeating themes and formats. Find out what these three brands are doing right — and wrong — with their Facebook marketing programs in this month's Retail Social Juice Index Spotlight.

Feb. 14 is definitely one of the most emotional days in retail, particularly for the customer service teams at flower retailers. And if you were a consumer looking for help with a flower order, it seems social media was your sweetheart this year. STELLAService analysts monitored the service performance of nine online flower shops from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Valentine's Day, logging how quickly the businesses were connecting with customers via phone and Twitter. Calls were placed in three separate time blocks and abandoned if the wait time exceeded 20 minutes.