Tuesday, 2 August 2016

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

Social media is such an intrinsic part of our lives now that we forget how relatively new it is. It’s not so long ago when marketing your retail business usually involved making the most of your shop window and, maybe a bit of print advertising or editorial. How things have changed!

Customers these days expect to know everything about a business, good or bad and, social media is an important facilitator in this process. This makes it an extremely effective mechanism for marketing a retail business and communicating with customers. But, 21st century retail is without doubt a 24/7 operation and, this alone, creates many challenges, especially for independent retailers.

If you’re a small business and possible newcomer to social media, how does this work for you? 

Looking across the many social media channels there are some key influencers with many thousands, if not millions, of followers who have the power to bring, what seems like, overnight success to a business.

But, is it just about the numbers? I think for small retailers it should be about customer engagement and building a following of customers that are genuinely interested in your company. This may not immediately result in the thousands of followers you would like but, it will give you a dedicated customer base. In the long run, this will be worth so much more to your business.

You can't do it all so choose your social media channels wisely. Don’t just chase the numbers, instead, focus on the creative side of your business. Take some decent photographs to use on your social media platforms. Visual content is worth so much more than just words and, remember, retail is dynamic, not static, innovation and creativity are key, get these right and the people will follow…

All the best

Peter
#retail   -consultant  -designer  -visualcommunicator  -educator
tel      07907 691711

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