Social Retail: The Age of Consumer Conversations
Social media penetration has grown remarkably over the past couple of years with Facebook garnering as many users as a decent television channel, roughly 175 million, with Twitter at approximately 75 million. Unlike other media, social networks give marketers an opportunity to understand customer tastes better and, more importantly, initiate a dialogue with them.
Tasti D-lite, for example, has been an extremely popular frozen dessert franchise in the greater New York area for over 20 years. Today, thanks to social media tools like Twitter, they are engaging customers in conversations to gain valuable insights into customer needs, and offering unique promotions like Twitter-exclusive discount coupons to keep them hooked. (Read the full case study here.)
Consumers are now starting to increasingly rely on peer experts and opinion for product purchases. Folks with similar interests are connecting with each other through social networks and forming small, but powerful, special interest groups that can influence others about a product or subject. By becoming part of these groups and addressing their needs, CPG companies can leverage social media to foster relationships with customers and build powerful brand equity.
When used in synch with mobile technology, social media gives marketers the power to engage and interact with customers at the moment of truth when they are making their purchases. It also helps CPG companies to influence purchase decisions by offering relevant and targeted promotions at the right time.
While social marketing and social commerce present a compelling argument for investment, CPG companies still harbor some valid concerns about ROI measurement from such initiatives. Is Starbucks really benefiting from its over 7 million strong fan following on its Facebook page? Probably, but how does one know exactly how much they are benefiting? Challenging questions that we will need to figure out as we go along.
