Social Media Marketing

Last week the Gap announced a social media promotion for the holidays: the brand's Facebook fans can send their own photos as real, printed postcards to their Facebook friends for free. Gap is the first brand to use startup Sincerely's new "brand-centric service" Postagram Direct, which launched last week. Gap's Facebook fans can each send up to two free postcards, which are delivered with a pop-out square photo and the user's message. The cards usually cost 99 cents each, but Gap is giving away up to 1 million free postcards through the end of the holidays.

It might sound tempting to set up shop across multiple social media networks, but if even one of these accounts is neglected or mismanaged there’s a chance that you may be doing more harm than good for your business. According to the 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 85 percent of all businesses that have a dedicated social media platform as part of their marketing strategy reported an increase in their market exposure. Which social media platform do you predominantly use for your business and why? 

Warby Parker, the industry-disrupting seller of stylish, affordable eyewear, noticed fewer customers were using its 1-800 number and more were turning to Twitter to pose questions. But the retailer found it difficult to answer complicated questions, such as those about prescriptions, given Twitter's 140-character limit. Looking for a way to interact with customers outside the constraints of Twitter, the company's social media team started shooting videos of themselves answering questions, uploading the videos to YouTube and replying to customers’ tweets with a link to the video.

At an event shrouded in secrecy, Facebook unveiled 14 new retail partners for Facebook Gifts and said that the online shopping app, available as a trial to selected users since its launch in October, is now available to all Facebook users in the U.S. and Canada. Among the new participants in the e-commerce platform are Brookstone, babyGap, L'Occitane, Lindt, Dean & DeLuca, Mondavi, Chandon, Fab, ProFlowers, Random House, Inc., and NARS cosmetics.

Welcome friends to #ROIChat, a weekly Twitter discussion looping in the latest trends and most profitable practices in the world of retail. The holidays are fast approaching, and most brands by now have a clear marketing plan for the busy months ahead. You can bet that social media is going to play a big role for most retailers this holiday season.

With the holidays quickly headed in our direction, virtually every marketer realizes that now, more than ever, social media must be an integral part of any campaign. It's no longer the trendy thing to do — it's simply a necessary component of doing business.

For those who presume social media is handled by interns, it may come as a surprise to learn that Aliza Licht, senior vice president, global communications at Donna Karan International, is the voice leading the luxury brand's Twitter success. With more than 400,000 followers and 40,000 tweets on the @dkny account, Licht has helped prove to her luxury brand peers that social media isn't just a fleeting trend.

Sixty-nine percent of online consumers who visited Pinterest found an item they've purchased or wanted to purchase, compared to 40 percent of online consumers who visited Facebook and found the same, discovers a Bizrate Insights study. "While Facebook is far larger than Pinterest in terms of audience size — 63 percent of online consumers have a Facebook account, while only 15 percent have a Pinterest account — our study, based on a survey of verified online buyers, finds that Pinterest provides a better experience for shopping discovery, purchase consideration and deeper engagement with retailer content," says Hayley Silver, vice president, Bizrate Insights.

Marketers have been tapping into social commerce — the practice of using social media to assist in online buying — on a number of platforms, tweeting promo codes and offering fan-only merchandise on sites like Facebook. Now, according to a new eMarketer report, Pinterest's Social Commerce Potential: What Brands and Retailers Need to Know, Pinterest is beginning to draw their efforts.

The holiday shopping season happens inevitably every year, drawing the public into the appeal of the top retail brands within the United States. Evaluating the internet marketing efforts and budgets of these brands proves to be quite revealing. Stores are always altering their budgets, offerings and other aspects of their establishments, which plays a significant factor in their performance overall and their standings as the cream of the crop in retail. With the holiday shopping season upon us, retailers are also going to begin shifting their budgets to correspond to the change in the outlandish, sale-fueled shopping habits of consumers.