Canadian Retailer - Spring 2016 - 22

SOCIAL MEDIA

Targeting your customers

For any retailer, the key is to focus on the end goal, says Ho.
"You need to be where your target customer is, and you need
to provide content and communications to ensure that you are
building your brand. Obviously it's easier to manage fewer
platforms, but that's not the guiding principle."
Adds Poologasingham: "Our point of view is you don't necessarily want to be on every platform because it will be that much
more difficult to be as effective in your communications. So you
really have to be selective. If you have the ability to be on everything and really do it well that's great, but there are very few who
can. So that's why retailers have to pick and choose."
Both consultants acknowledge social media comes with
some headaches.
"Social media is still both a blessing and a curse for the retail industry, because it does require quite a bit of resources to
manage and to monitor constantly," Poologasingham says.
Warns Ho: "If your marketing messages are inconsistent,

Monetizing social

These provisos aside, where will our mass fascination with all things social lead us?
"Focus on customer engagement and creating great content first and foremost, and monetization will naturally follow," says Ho. "Social
media can drive purchases by creating a sense
of urgency. For example, Target in the U.S. does
a good job of tweeting time-sensitive coupons
and links to deals for customers to save. Retailers
are also using images and other sharing-friendly
content formats to increase their digital marketing reach as followers re-tweet and share with
their own social networks."
She adds: "Facebook and Twitter will always be
key platforms, but that's just covering the basics.
To truly connect with customers on social media,
retailers need to do two things: Find out where
their customers are already on"I think there will be a social commerce explosion in the
line, and identify the social media
next 18 months. But I see it happening in the next 6 to 12 platforms that best communicate
their own brand and value.
months. You just need to figure out how to transact and
"For example, apparel retailers
stay within the social media environment."
can engage successfully with their
customers on photo-sharing apps
- FREDERICK LECOQ, FGL Sports
like Instagram, where their cusyou could lose brand loyalty. Retailers who are not focussed on tomers already search for style inspiration. Meanproviding a great customer experience above everything else while, retailers like Lowe's have done very well on
will also turn off followers."
the video-sharing website Vine with its six-second
There are more ominous risks as well. According to a recent home improvement and DIY tips. Then there's
Accenture Consulting survey of global shoppers, two find- Pinterest, which retailers use both as a platform to
ings ranked high on the 'creepy' scale. More than a third of inspire and as a sales channel."
respondents felt it was too invasive if retailers tracked their
Lecoq points to his organization's move from
social media activity to make recommendations. They're also printed flyers to flyers distributed through Fatroubled if retailers provide feedback from their friends for cebook as an apt example of the power of social
items they're considering.
media as a sales generator.

60% of Canadians have
interacted with products and
brands through social media

46% of Canadians
say interactions on
social media have
led them to make
more purchases

46%

60%

32% of Canadians
follow some of
their favourite
brands or retailers
on social media

32%

27% of Canadians use social media
to research brands, including seeking
feedback from others

27%

22%

22% of Canadians
have discovered
new brands on
social media

Source: PwC Canada's "Total Retail Survey - Canadian Respondents" (April 2015)

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CANADIAN RETAILER | SPRING 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Spring 2016