Retailers and Social Media - when are they going to learn?
Recently, I wrote about the new Sears marketing plan and slogan, “Where It Begins”. Today, a Google search for “sears + ‘where it begins’” returns an article from AdWeek first and my website second.
Good thing for Sears, I was generally positive about the new slogan and marketing campaign. Imagine if I was negative and ripped it apart.
As a retailer, do you know what your customers are really saying about your brand online?
Are people reacting favorably to your marketing strategy? To you Summer clothing line? To your latest sale prices?
Are people discouraging others from going to your store because of a bad experience? Because of a short tempered cashier they encountered? Because of the ugliness of your new dresses? Because your return policy sucks?
I can bounce across the web right now and show you a Facebook page where a guy is showing off the new polo he bought from Abercrombie & Fitch.
I can show you a forum where people are talking about the perceived lack of training the cashiers exhibit at Sears.
I can even pull up a Myspace group where employees are talking about mistreatment from management at Kohl’s.
This information is out there. It’s freely accessable. I know where to find it and I’m not alone in that.
If you, as a major retailer, are ignoring this information, you are giving away valuable information that could help you grow your brand, increase your sales, and make the changes that you need to make in order to compete better.
If you, as a major retailer, are reading this information but not interacting with your customers on your own, then you are completely missing the point. Start a corporate blog and encourage discussion, good and bad, on your own website.
Hire an evanglist. Someone who will be the e-face of your company. Someone who will interact with your customers through blogs, forums, and social networking websites. Someone who will drive people to come to your website, to your store, strenghten your brand, and build lasting relationships with your customers.
The answers to what your consumers want are all around us. You just have to look for them and let them know that you are listening.
Other industries are already doing this and succeeding. Why the major retailers in America haven’t jumped on, I don’t know.
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You’ve really hit on the core of the problem: it’s an organizational/cultural issue, not a technical one. There are plenty of tools and services out there that will enable you to monitor what people are saying about you online, but at these companies, apparently nobody wants to hear it. It’s really a shame, because they have the opportunity to engage their most vocal, passionate consumers, but they don’t care.