Droolworthy Social Strategies

Solid social marketing strategies separate the extraordinary from the ordinary in the world of e-commerce.  Recent studies have found that 27% of total time online is spent on social networking sites. On top of that, 46% of online users rely on social media when making a purchase decision. Due to the fact that brand success relies heavily on social reach, social implementation has become essential. In general, there are 4 aspects of a dynamic social strategy that are important to understand if you want to expand brand reach.

Fundamentals of Social:

1. Brand Management: Social channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest give online retailers the opportunity to engage with customers, develop brand character, and influence the way customers think of them. Remaining top-of-mind with your target audience is the goal.
2. Customer Feedback: Learn from how your customers react to products. Listen to customer feedback to better gage future strategies to succeed in the marketplace.
3. Customer Service: Answer questions and concerns about products and services in a timely manner via social to deepen engagement and develop relationships with customers.
4. Sales: At the end of day, your company still has a bottom line. Social channels make it easy to spread the word about new products and promotions.

Learning from other companies with strong social strategies not only allows you to adapt to changing social trends, but it gives you a head start on incorporating social into your marketing strategy. These 3 online retailers are not only widely successful, but they are mastering the fundamentals of social with droolworthy strategies.

• Zappos: As an online retailer of shoes and clothing, Zappos is the expert on engaging customers through customer service on social channels. Not only does the retailer reply to questions and concerns via social within 24 hours, but they have an average response time of 54 minutes!

• ThinkGeek: This ‘chic geek’ online retailer is effectively communicating and starting conversations via Twitter. With over 700,000 followers, ThinkGeek is maximizing social engagement increasing brand loyalty and sales. They even offer their customers reward points when they share photos of their products in action.

• Vat19: As an online specialty retailer of everything from giant sized gummy bears to rubber band guns, Vat19 takes a unique approach with videos. With over 260 million views on YouTube, the retailer effectively drives high traffic back to their site by featuring unique products in unconventional videos.

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