Time 32:21

The eMarketer report How Retailers Handle Negative Buzz caught my eye. eMarketer senior analyst Jeffery Grau and I talked about what we are learning from the first phase of retail social media. According to a report by Dynamic Logic and Milward Brown, AdReaction 2009: Brands + consumers + Social Media” 71% of respondents which were social networks users say they follow companies and brand in the retail space compared to 33% who follow restaurants, or 23% who said that follow banks or financial brands.

Grau singles out Best Buy for having success in social media because they are using it across the board. From promoting products and services, to crowd sourcing new ideas about to to customer service. Based on that report I engaged Grau in some of the experiences of retail brands.

Social Media Tactics for Retailers

1) Build a group of supporters who are socially savvy either as an inner circle group or by giving some kind of value. I’d recommend added access compared to a quantitative remuneration in dollars, discounts or products.

2) Expand any PR crisis communications plan with something a little less menacing, such as defining an escalation and response process for public consumer complaints.

3) Extend social media processes to capture new product and service ideas, criticism of competitors and other market research or product development information.

4) It is an “Always-On” environment sad to say, but a party-induced online rampage from consumers late on a Friday night can get pretty messy by Monday morning.

5) Twentieth century structure corporate structures won’t work. Some parts of the corporate retail structure may not reflect the way consumers on the social web behave or expect companies to behave, for example geographic sales territory, delayed responses, and not having access to certain types of consumer data will disappoint and confuse consumers on the social web.

6) Answers Please – If you have a consumer product that is somewhat complicated, it is becoming necessary to have dedicated “answer people” or at the very least respondents to engage those posing questions on Twitter. You especially see this in these products mobile device, computer, and software. Also with these services, travel, finance and taxes, and real estate.

What are your lessons learned during the first phase of experiences with social media?

Time 14:22

Slowly retailers are understanding that in a world of Free Speech and Equal Access (via the Internet), consumers and employees are talking about them. Many retailers are reluctant to jump into the social media world for an assortment of fears, some real, most perceived.

Adam Cohen, author of the Thousand Cuts blog, a regular read of mine, led a study of retailers using Facebook pages. Cohen’s firm, Rosetta, monitored uses of Fan pages by major retailers overtime from May to September of 2008. A highlight from the piece;

“A September 2008 study by Rosetta (formerly Brulant) that focused on the top 100 online retailers in the US found that 59 had a fan page on Facebook, up from 30 in May 2008. Among the 29 who added Facebook pages since that time were Best Buy, Toys “R” Us, Kohl’s and Wal-Mart.” The report is available for a limited time on eMarketer.

Adam and I discuss in this Marketing Edge podcast how, in some cases, employees or customers may have already created a Fan page on Facebook without the permission of HQ or the Brand Manager. You’ll have to blame James Madison and Thomas Jefferson for their wacky free speech idea in part for this behavior. However, as you have seen with Barack Obama’s campaign the ultimate in retail, when consumers are energetic about your brand, it’s best to watch the energy and not shut the lights off.

For a little background on my perspective on retailers and how they can assemble a comprehensive online strategy, dial back into the archives of the Marketing Edge blog to January 3, 2008 and the potential social media play for REI.

The Classic Question?

Is it best to dip your toe in the social media pool with a more conservative approach with a bit more corporate style like Target (nice grouping of more than 100,000 Fans)

Or a bit less structure like this page produced by fans of Jeep Wrangler

What are your criteria for how retailers can participate in social media?
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