It still surprises me how some retailers still don’t understand why a good Social Media campaign is such an important part of their marketing activity . Having reviewed a number of Online Social Media campaigns for this year’s Bright Disposition Back to School Market Research report, I have picked up a few things that I think are easy wins to improve customer engagement and ultimately to bring customers either into store or to shop online.
Here are a few of the key insights I have gained, whilst looking at this year’s Back to School campaigns:
Know that your audiences are different
It’s become very clear to me that Instagram followers engage differently than those on Facebook, they are different to LinkedIn and completely different to Twitter!
Facebook followers love a story. They like to know what’s behind the image, they want you to engage with them, pictures and a little commentary isn’t really what they want. Make your posts meaningful and relevant – they don’t just have to be about what you are selling, talk to your followers about what your teams are up to and tell a story! The post here from Tesco is a great example.
Instagram followers want humour, they want lifestyle shots and clear images. They like your commentary to engage them. Posting with just hashtags isn’t really the best way, you need to speak to them in a way that will make them connect to the image you have posted. Paperchase has one of the best Instagram pages out there and they have 113k followers. 
Twitter followers are used to short and snappy images/posts. They want to be able to show off what they like and for you to recognise that. Retweeting is key, as Asda showcases very well. They have a mix of posts, but mostly customer led and it works!
Use Bloggers and Vloggers!
Some retailers, such as Paperchase, are using professional bloggers on their social media platforms to promote their products. They aren’t telling you it’s being promoted, they are letting the Blogger or Vlogger do all the hard work and rave about how much they love the products. This gives a face and personality to the brand.
Competitions, competitions, competitions
Facebook and Instagram posts where competitions are used is where I saw the most engagement. The post below got over 2,500 likes on Asda’s Facebook page and over 300 shares. Why? Humour, a competition and a reference to a mum who loved their uniform. Customers want to know what other people are thinking and doing.
Near perfect images!
Whatever the platform, people do not settle for blurred images. They want pictures
of food that will make them salivate, they want pictures of product that is colourful and bright! It can be a simple concept, but it captures the audience straightaway.
Have a method behind your posting!
There are so many ways you could post and I’m not here to say there is a perfect formula. However, posting regularly is key to keeping your audience aware of your presence. Leaving weeks without posts loses their awareness of you. On the flipside, posting every couple of hours is also not the best way, they don’t want to have multiple posts from the same retailer trying to sell them something. For retailers one post a day is a good way to always be around in the background, but not overdoing it!
Use Humour
I have seen some great posts across different platforms. For consumers, social media has become a means to escape from what’s going on around them, retailers need to make sure they help customers lighten their mood whilst reading their posts.
Typo mix humour posts with product posts in the images above and it works! They have over 526k followers on Instagram and you can tell why – most of their posts don’t feature products, engagement on many posts are over 9,000 likes!
These are just a few tips about how to put together a good social media campaign from us here at Bright Disposition. To learn more buy your copy of the Back to School Market Research report now for more insights across stores, online, social media, visual merchandising and more!
