Using Social Media to Boost In-Store Sales
Social media is a great way to promote your product or brand. It’s free and can have a huge reach but unfortunately many business owners don’t think it’s worth the effort.
The Stats
74% of people use social media to guide their purchasing decisions.
60% of those engage with the brand across their social channels before making a purchase.
71% of consumers who have a good social media experience with a brand will likely recommend it to others.
Customers who engage on social media spend 20-40% more in the long term.
41% of independent retailers rate social media as a very effective marketing tactic.
Social Media & Its Role in the Customer Journey
Social media can influence potential customers at every stage of the buyer funnel.
1. Drive Awareness
Consumers often look to social media for word-of-mouth referrals, recommendations from influencers, or brand promotions.
Even the biggest retailers need to make customers aware of products on offer during the awareness phase.
2. Influence Consideration
During the consideration phase, it’s vital to have a robust content marketing program to entice customers to pick your brand over that of competitors.
If your social content is not updated regularly or is filled with boring third-party links, you risk turning customers off.
3. Drive Purchases
When customers are actively looking to make a purchase, they can often be driven from social channels to in-store visits.
Using social media to drive people to your store saves on shipping costs and may result in customers buying more items than intended in-store.
4. Build Loyalty
Loyalty is the key to profitability and far too many brands don’t put enough attention into social care.
Ensuring customers get quick and informed responses to queries on social media is just as important as having an efficient system in place via phone, email or in person.
Creating a Cohesive Social Media & In-Store Experience
Be ruthlessly consistent on social media and in-store. When people learn about your store’s personality on social media thay expect the in-store experience to have the same personality.
Educate Your Employees
In-store employees need to know what’s happening online so keep them updated about any news/offers you’re running through your social media channels.
Adding Some Screens
Putting screens or iPads in-store lets you bring elements of social media to real-life and can influence in-person buying decisions. This will also make customers aware of your online presence.
Enhance the Mystery of the Physical/Digital Divide
Leave a little bit of mystery to your social media and don’t just use it as a catalog for your store.
If you give away too much you risk losing impact when they set foot in-store.
Get Customer Facing Employees Involved in Social Content Initiatives
Giving customer facing employees a spotlight on social media is a good way to put faces to names and can make people on social media feel more connected to the store.
Livestream a Mini Series In Store
Retailers should look at how they can make the in-store experience more interactive and engaging.
One option is to live stream from the store once a week and invite shoppers to participate.
Using Social Media In Store Examples
Instagram can be used to promote your business and you can benefit greatly from placing pictures of your products on the platform.
One great example is by Kellogg’s who came up with the idea to offer people incentives for Instagram photos.
By showing in-store customers the items that are most pinned on Pinterest, it gives them the confidence they need to push through with the purchase.
If their peers on Pinterest went to the trouble to pin the item, it’s likely to be a worthwhile purchase.
A clothing company from Brazil called C&A showed the number of likes each item of clothing had on Facebook.
This is a quick way to give customers information about the most popuklar items and infor their purchasing decisions.
Key Takeaways
Social Media can help to bridge the gap between online and offline worlds.
Remember that social media can draw customers to your store when used effectively.
Look at how you can use social media to bring more people to your store today.
