Ah the pleasures of summer...shorts and tank tops, free outdoor concerts, bare feet on dewy grass, lemonade, ice cream and...sales! In August we usually see retailers make their big push for "back to school", but what's different this year is their use of social media in addition to traditional print, TV and online advertising campaigns. Mo Krochmal, journalism professor at Hofstra University and I, inspired by this article, traveled to Herald Square, site of the brand new JCPenney flagship store - its first ever in Manhattan - to cover the story. We wanted to see first hand how big box retailers JCPenney, Staples and OfficeMax are using social media. Facebook fan pages, Twitter and YouTube are big.
Will they be successful? Time will tell, but so far:
JCP Teen on Facebook has doubled its fan size to 17,000 since July 25th, and they're doing a a great job of cross marketing the fan page with a dedicated website where you can actually buy the products, plus they're also running other campaigns linked to concerts and skateboarding.
Staples has a back to school tab on its Facebook page which also links to a matching landing page for shopping. They have a 3 campaigns centered around giving to students in need. The fan base grew by about 4,000 members in the same period but it's hard to tell whether it's all from back to school or just supplies in general because it's all together. I took a quick scan of the latest comments but didn't see any posts from teens, like you see in the JCPenney page.
OfficeMax has no mention of the viral penny prank videos on their website and their Twitter account hasn't been updated frequently, although they do have over 500 followers.
Some points to consider when deciding whether your business should launch a social media campaign:
-Where is your audience? Do they spend time on social networks?
-How can you tie in your other web assets, like your website or blog to the campaign?
-Who will be managing content and moderating the conversations?
-How will you measure success? Is it traffic, sales, engagement?
How are you using social media for your business? Please share!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Social Media and Back to School
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I have two small companies engaged in using social media - Amberjewelry.com has long had a blog in addition to an ecommerce presence- and @amberjewelry twitters & uses Facebook regularly- especially if we have a fun in-store event, like a gallery opening. I find that deepening one's social media presence increases the comfort level of consumers & piques curiosity. It also helps root a virtual company in the real world & engenders trust. I do also find that the connections tend to be shallow rather than deep & rarely translate into direct sales. But all are helpful in establishing a site as authoritative in search. Twitter especially seems to be very narrow in scope.
My other new start-up company, Jooled.com - is geared towards jewelry enthusiasts because it spotlights companies who use promotional giveaways of goods to create buzz around the brand, shop or certain designs. It's a great way to create a bestseller, ignite a classic or frankly an inexpensive way to leverage existing inventory into page views & excitement.
I think ultimately social media requires a sustained effort & some sincerity in pursuit to be meaningful for a company- otherwise it can really serve as a distraction. I don't think of it as a separate function anymore though, it all seems like a garden that requires a bit of tending & watering.
I love your blog it is very informative and inspiring. please stop by slipstitches.com anytime.
Interesting to see all the new social media marketing campaigns around this back to school time of the year. It's definitely the smart thing to do now, for any business. I've already made sure I have a team working on videos to be put up on Vimeo, YouTube, and AdWido.
Post a Comment