make your content count! social media best practices for this holiday season

MAKE YOUR CONTENT COUNT! SOCIAL MEDIA BEST PRACTICES

FOR THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

Zontee Hou for

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Poll: who they are

ABOUT ZONTEE

• Strategist at top consulting firm Convince & Convert• Digital marketing consultant & founder of her own firm, Media Volery, in New York City• Adjunct professor of communications at the City College of New York• Has worked with brands ranging from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to Allstate Insurance

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Contributor to the C&C blog, ranked #1 content marketing blog by the Content Marketing Institute.

TRENDS: RETAIL + SOCIAL MEDIA

Poll #1: How Do You Identify Yourself?

Photo by Jason Howie, used under Creative Commons license 2.0

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INFORMATION IS KING

78% of shoppers did holiday research online last year—with research ahead of their purchases a huge factor of their purchase behavior.

In 2014, customers consulted AT LEAST 12 sources before making a purchase.

[Think with Google]

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Start with your website and social profiles. Make sure you’re providing all the absolutely important information. Think with your “customer” hat on. Make sure you’re including important keywords. Change your graphics for the lead-up to the holidays.

SHOW DON’T TELL• Video content is more

important than ever: From experts talking about products to customers sharing their purchases, online videos have become the new “window shopping” experience.

• Visuals of all kinds should tell a story: Go beyond just showcasing products by helping your potential customers put themselves in the shoes of a purchaser. 5

LOCATION-BASED MARKETING IS IN PLAY• Beacons offer the opportunity to

reach customers in-store and post store-visit: Companies like Facebook and Yext offer Bluetooth-based geo-location beacons to let you showcase messages to customers in your physical locations.

• InStore recently highlighted an article from “Your Story” about “Five Ways Beacons can Transform Retail” which can have a huge impact for small businesses 6

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Last year, you probably heard that mobile was important. It’s still important and for this very reason: location-based marketing. Beacons are small, battery-operated, low-cost wireless devices that continuously transmit a simple low-energy Bluetooth signal saying: ”Hello, this is me, here is my ID.” Apps on smartphones can pick up these signals, perform various actions based on the ID, micro location, proximity, time, and user’s context to deliver rich contextual and personalized experiences. Even small businesses can request a beacon from Facebook and get set up.

https://www.facebook.com/business/a/facebook-bluetooth-beacons

http://www.yext.com/products/xone/

http://yourstory.com/2015/10/digital-commerce-beacons-retail/

THE SHOPPING SEASON HAS EXTENDED• More than half of consumers

surveyed said they’ll start their research before Thanksgiving: Shopping isn’t just about the purchase anymore—it’s about the touch-points that lead up to the purchase.

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CASE STUDIES Poll #2: What Social Media Channels Are You On?

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HERSCHEL: SUPPORT THROUGH SOCIAL• Listen: Good content and social

media come from listening to the customer and understanding their motivations.

• Monitor mentions of your products on social media channels, through Google Alerts, and using tools like Iconosquareand Hashtagify.me

• Relate: Share the kind of content that your customer wants to see.

• Respond: Treat every question as important. Answer ALL queries on social media—and in a timely fashion (36 hours for small businesses).

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LISTEN: They monitor in Hootsuite (a social management tool). RELATE: Hipster customer—talk to them on the channels that they relate to, with imagery that is true to them RESPOND: Using social media, Herschel Supply achieved a 20% lift in customer service satisfaction rate and 60% increase in overall positive brand sentiment. They try to respond to every question, even those that don’t specifically mention the business.

ROBBINS BROTHERS & LONGS: PROVIDE VALUE• Anticipate their pain points:

Find ways to be indispensible through advice that they didn’t even know they needed.

• Content curation tools: BuzzSumo, Topsy, Feedly, Google Alerts

• Entertain them: Social should be fun. Showcase your sensibility (or even your sense of humor) in the content you share.

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Address what they need, not what they say: Your customer may not say that they want a gift that is inoffensive even though they don’t know this person’s tastes, but you do. Can you write a blog post or shoot a video about bestselling pieces that are classic and timeless?

PGI: DRIVE PEOPLE IN-STORE• Help them take the first step in:

Over 50% are open to new retailers--just need to get them to take a look (Think with Google)

• Consider a social media contest: Contests increase engagement and can get customers to think in aspirational ways—as well as providing you with their contact information for the future.

• Rafflecopter and Shortstack are great tools for small businesses looking to host contests on social media.

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Ashley Monroe- social media contest & an in-store event Once you have customers’ information, you can remarket to them: e.g. send exclusive offers and invitations to future events.

NORDSTROM: INTEGRATE SOCIAL IN-STORE• Bring the online into the store:

Reinforce your social media by showcasing products that are popular online while also indicating great picks for your customer.

• Retarget: Using beacons to advertise (or even good, old-fashioned email sign-ups at the register), send follow-up communications to customers who come in-store.

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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

Poll #3: Have You Started Your Social Media Planning for this Holiday Season?

TELL A COMPELLING STORY• What’s the story of your brand?

What sets you apart from your competitors? Convey that through your social content.

• Don’t be afraid to be personal in your content—customers want to get to know the people behind the brand.

• Short videos (shot on your smartphone in good, natural light) can be a great way to get your message across.

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Brilliant Earth is a jewelry retailer (online) who’s brand is focused on CSR and providing consumers with as much stone source information as possible. @brilliantearth They are a supplier of conflict free diamond jewelry “we’re on a mission to serve the socially conscious consumer” and hold up to that claim within their product offering (including vintage pieces) and their advertising.

HELP SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS• At least 50% of your social media

content should be focused on your customer, not on your product.

• Curate resources for him/her on buying jewelry—even if they don’t include your website.

• Link to “best gift ideas” guides.• Tell him/her about local shopping

events.

• Offer a safe space to ask questions.• Host “ask the expert” or “personal

shopper” experiences sessions leading up to the holidays to support your customers’ buying experience.

• Reflect this attitude with social media help too!

• Best practice to answer social comments within 24 hours

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OPTIMIZE YOUR CONTENT• Be sure your content includes relevant

keywords, smart hashtags, and is tracked properly.

• Keywords: Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends

• Hashtags: Hashtagify.me, Twitonomy• Tracking: Google URL Builder, Bitly

• One in three shoppers use their smartphone to find information instead of asking store employees! Make sure your website is mobile-optimized.

• Post on a regular basis. Tools like Buffer and Edgar can help you schedule and keep track of your posts.

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Don’t post everyday to the same audience! It will reduce your reach and possibly cause burnout if the content does not have utility

SUPPORT THROUGH PAID TACTICS• Posts on Facebook, Pinterest,

and Instagram align with the jewelry customer.

• Be sure your EVERY paid post has a strong visual, a call-to-action, and a link to a page for more information (or promotion code).

• All of these platforms support paid targeting

• Target customers through filters.

• Be sure to target based on location, demographics, buying behavior, interests, and (where applicable) competitive pages.

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A very easy way to increase your reach on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram is through a custom audience – uploading your email database to target those same people on Facebook. They are already your customers, so engage with them! Try out new carousel ads during the holiday (think: a mini catalog of your jewelry products) to showcase gift ideas for multiple customers in the same advertising unit on Facebook.

CONNECT WITH ME• Twitter: @zontee_hou• LinkedIn:

linkedin.com/in/zonteehou• Website & email newsletter:

MediaVolery.com

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CONNECT WITH PGI AND WJA• Twitter: @ptjewelry• Instagram: @platinum_jewelry• Facebook: /jewelryplatinum.us• Website: platinumjewelry.com• Contact:

Meg DeedyMarketing [email protected]

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• Twitter: @womensjewelry• Instagram:

@womensjewelryassociation• Facebook: /womensjewelryassociation• Website:

womensjewelryassociation.com/• Contact:

Bernadette MackExecutive [email protected]

http://www.platinumjewelry.com

http://www.womensjewelryassociation.com/