Social Media Marketing

Global social media use has exploded during the pandemic, with platforms like TikTok (38 percent growth from 2019-2021, according to Statista) and Pinterest (32 percent growth) leading the way. People are using social media to engage with friends and family, as well as to learn about brands, products and services. In fact, social media is…

The time of crazed customers huddled around front doors waiting for midnight is over. In the post-pandemic world, shopper habits have shifted. Black Friday 2021 saw 88 million Americans shopping online, with nearly 43 percent of Black Friday purchases made on mobile devices. Retail sales during 2021’s November-December holiday season grew 14.1 percent year-over-year to $886.7…

Demand for authenticity and representation from brands has caused the traditional influencer marketing model — which centered on brand-sponsored content from high-profile social media users — to decrease in its ability to engage and build trust amongst consumers. And with consumer spending starting to decrease as prices continue to climb, retail brands wanting to maintain customer loyalty…

It looks like Back to School 2022 will finally mark a return to the return-to-school shopping habits experienced pre-pandemic. Despite the return to in-person learning in the physical classroom, data from Mintel, a global market intelligence agency, found that parents and students will still be depending on digital channels for their back-to-school shopping customer journey.…

Today, nearly 40 percent of the video content watched in the U.S. comes not from major media companies, but independent creators. However, understanding brand investment in this market is surprisingly hard, with few good tools to track creators’ audiences and mostly soft metrics to evaluate their impact. While live commerce doesn’t provide a perfect solution…

As competition for consumer wallet share intensifies and shoppers get more digitally savvy, retailers and brands are constantly on the lookout for tools to boost engagement, conversion and sales. There’s never a shortage of tools that claim to solve it all, but when done right, social proof messaging stands out. It's a great conversion booster…

If 2020 was a year of unprecedented disruption and 2021 was the year that necessitated business agility in order to survive and thrive, then 2022 is most certainly the year of turning resilience into undeniable strength. This series is a peek behind the curtain of eight key initiatives that the January Digital consulting team is…

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the way people shop. According to a report from J.P. Morgan, the pandemic has pushed more shoppers online, with e-commerce now accounting for 16.1 percent of all U.S. sales. That’s up from 11.8 percent in the first quarter. This trend is likely to stick, even as brick-and-mortar stores open their…

In episode 331 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Justin Baer, founder of Collars & Co., a direct-to-consumer (D-to-C) brand that’s flipping the switch on elevated dresswear with a comfortable twist. Listen in as Baer discusses his entrepreneurial background, the inspiration behind Collars & Co. shirts' unique design, and and rapid growth of…

Consumer behaviors are constantly changing, and marketers face immense challenges trying to figure out what shoppers need and want, particularly in the tumultuous environment of the last two years. With the second pandemic holiday shopping season upon us, brands must leverage a combination of last year’s learnings with fresh data sources to form successful strategies.…