As you’re probably aware of how to use social media to attract holiday shoppers, the retail industry is facing unprecedented challenges this holiday season. There’s intense competition from online rivals like Amazon and Alibaba, and many stores are reporting flat sales.
These trends are forcing retailers to adopt more innovative strategies to lure in shoppers. And the good news is that social media can be an enormous help.
In-store and online shoppers are increasingly turning to social media to find new places to shop, and you can use that to your advantage. Let’s take a look at some of the top strategies you can use to capitalize on this opportunity this holiday season.
Use social media as a form of customer service
There are many reasons why social media can be a useful customer service tool, such as the fact that 90% of respondents in a recent survey by Sprout Social said they’ve used it before to communicate with companies.
This means if you have not been using your social media channels for this purpose, now is the time because it’s an excellent way to improve customer service and boost retention rates [3].
Whether you use Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter-you can use the comment and chat features to answer questions from your customers or set appointments. You could also provide information through these functions in some cases.
Statistics have shown that 73% of customers will remain with a brand because of friendly employees or a great shopping experience. In this way, providing customer service via social media channels can make a huge difference for your business!
Track your performance
If you’re serious about boosting your in-store sales, you should track your social media performance. Do this by creating dashboards that track key metrics like your audience growth, sales volume, and brand sentiment.
If you’re already using analytics tools like Hootsuite, these metrics are already being tracked. If not, they’re simple to set up and will give you a wealth of information on your social media efforts.
Build a sense of urgency
Arrange an announcement on social media right before your busiest time of the year. This should be a large announcement that causes a sense of urgency for people to place their orders as soon as possible. It should be a big push that reminds people to shop now versus waiting for the next holiday season.
This announcement doesn’t have to be big. It could be a single announcement of announcement, or you could make a series of smaller announcements that add up to a bigger point. Either way, the goal is to create a sense of urgency in your followers.
Be genuine and personal
One of the best strategies for luring online shoppers is to be genuine and personal on social media. People are increasingly turning to social media for product recommendations, and in-person recommendations are falling out of favor.
You can address this by engaging with customers and showing that you’re invested in their experience. You can do this by responding to customer inquiries, replying to reviews, and discussing products and shipping times with your followers.
You can also show off your products by taking photos of your store shelves, shelves filled with your products, and other aspects of your daily operations that highlight the behind-the-scenes aspects of your business.
Use influencers and ambassadors
Many online shoppers turn to social media networks like Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter to discover new products. You can use this to your advantage by working with influencers and ambassadors.
These can be either active or passive users who are promoting your brand. An influencer or ambassador could be a well-known blogger with a large following, a customer who owns a specific product and is willing to talk about it, or someone else who’s willing to talk about your brand.
Don’t forget to show off your best deals
Shoppers are increasingly turning to social media to find new places to shop, and you can use that to your advantage.
You can draw attention to your best deals by posting about them on social media. You can also create special deals for followers that are only viewable on social media.
Use shipping and delivery incentives
Many shoppers are hesitant to make purchases online because they don’t want to deal with shipping and handling. You can help to alleviate these concerns by offering free shipping or free returns on purchases on social media.
This will help to boost your conversion rate, and you can also offer these incentives through email campaigns to boost your email marketing.
You can either ship the product to the customer or have them sign an agreement that they’ll return the product if they’re not satisfied.
Personalize Customer Experience
To make a consumer feel special, there are many options available to create an individualized buying experience. One way is through Instagram Presents, which can include personalized lists (ex. “Presents for Her,” “Unique Finds,” or even “For the Dad who has Everything”).
These guides are also easily shareable by way of Stories and Messages so if you’re creating valuable content that your followers want to share with others, you’re increasing your reach too!
Capitalize on trends, that relate to your audience
When you’re trying to promote your company on social media- a great way to start out if you haven’t necessarily gained traction (and even once you have) is to capitalize on popular hashtags, social media trends, and even “social media holidays.”
As an example, if I am building a social media strategy for my restaurant I might capitalize on trendy things like “#thirstythursday,” “National Pizza Day” or simply “#Instafood. All of these trends will not only help me connect with my existing followers but place my business alongside the larger community that’s participating in those hashtags or holidays.
These guides are additionally just shareable by means of Tales and direct messages so when I’m creating priceless sufficient content material at this time there are those who are sharing it amongst their followers then they’re also increasing their reach!
Make sure to capitalize on the trends that are relevant to your business and audience, as well as what’s trending for the specific social media platform you’re using. For example, Instagram is ideal for sharing images of food or fashion bloggers; Facebook would be a better place to post about new products or events.
Embrace user-generated content
Social media is a great tool because it allows everyone to have a voice. Now, if you are lucky enough to have customers who love your brand, they will tell you about it on social media or post pictures of themselves reviewing what they bought from you.
Just like we mentioned before in regards to social media trends and holidays, once people start posting about your business for the world to see and talk about- that’s when things get easier for marketing. This strategy is called user-generated content (UGC), which means brands take their users’ content with permission and highlight it!
There are two main benefits of UGC: firstly, this makes advertising much easier on the brand; secondly, there’s also an active community showcased by this kind of marketing strategy so consumers today seem more inclined towards these types of posts because 72% as per Mintel study say that opinion seekers aged 25-34 look up information related to products through people online contact lists
Capitalize on social media paid advertising tools
One of the easiest and most common ways to promote your business on social media is indeed through advertising. Every single one of these channels online offers a paid ads platform that allows you to run targeted campaigns to increase visibility and engagement with your target audience.
To get the desired result, for this strategy, you’ll need the budget- so make sure it is there before moving forward in developing or running your ads! You can also retarget people who have interacted with your business previously, as well as those in certain locations or who share specific interests – Facebook will help you do all this.
Different social media sites work better for different businesses. It all depends on what your target audience is and what your business offers. For example, if you’re targeting a lot of people over the age of 50, Facebook would be an ideal platform because it has more older users than TikTok does.
Output: Different social media platforms are great for advertising depending on who you want to reach and what type of company or service you have to offer – so do some research!
Bottom line
Retailing is tough this season, but social media can help you stand out. Set up social media dashboards that track your performance, build a sense of urgency by announcing a sale, be genuine and personal by engaging with customers, and use influencers and ambassadors to boost your brand, and don’t forget to show off your best deals and offer free shipping or free returns.
These tactics and many others are sure to help you attract new shoppers during the holiday season.
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