Most brands have caught on to the fact that social media is the preferred tool of the present and future when it comes to reaching customers. 78% of consumers claim that social media posts have had some type of impact on their final decisions to make purchases. Your store likely has a presence on all the major social media platforms, but are you truly leveraging that platform to its greatest potential?
Why bother with social media?
Social media is a part of our everyday lives. In 2018, nearly three-quarters of surveyed Facebook users reported they engage with the site daily, and the results are largely unchanged in 2019. While these numbers are lower for other platforms, it’s clear people are regularly exposed to social media.
More than that, a brand’s genuine presence on social media platforms creates a level of trust which directly increases intention to buy. If you’re not engaging with your customers where they spend the most time, you’re leaving room for your competitors to pick up the slack and earn that trust on their own.
Inspiration creates need
It’s not enough to simply write a text post about a promotion and hope for sales to magically appear. You need to help your customers see your products’ potential to enrich their lives. The best way to do this is through inspirational content that truly showcases the design possibilities of your furniture and engages your shoppers.
Leverage word-of-mouth tactics
Word of mouth may seem like a marketing tactic from a long time ago, limited to small networks with slow diffusion. With television and print media, advertisers were able to up their reach substantially, but with the cost of authenticity – consumers don’t hold the recommendations of companies to the same regard that they hold the recommendations of their friends. Word-of-mouth recommendations are extremely effective – according to Neilson data, 92% of consumers believe the recommendations of their friends and family over any other form of advertisement.
That means word of mouth marketing is powerful. With the advent of social media, word of mouth has expanded its reach – a single post online can reach so many more people than before while still carrying that same weight. Therefore, encouraging your customers and consumers to engage with your brand on social media through user-generated content could yield massive results for you.
Getting your customers involved can be as simple as incentivizing them to post a picture and a review of their purchase on social media. This gets the word out and the more people that engage, the more goodwill is built up around your brand.
Show off new product
Social media is a great tool to build awareness with. You can display new furniture, new designs, and new inspiration as soon as it arrives in store!
Task your associates with creating beautiful displays that fit modern sensibilities and lifestyles. Invest in lighting, camera equipment, and software that truly captures what you’re trying to get across. Then post it to popular platforms like Instagram, where almost 50% of surveyed users say Instagram directly affects what they purchase and when.
Most shoppers do tend to start their shopping journeys by researching online. Often times though, they like to see what’s in season or in style by walking through stores. By showcasing your new stock and inspiration online through social media, you are able to marry these two customer needs together and make shoppers more likely to actually visit your store and make a purchase.
If you’re not utilizing social media as part of your store’s strategy, now is the perfect time to start. Engage with your customers, build trust, inspire them with your passion, and become a part of the future of retail sales.
Check out how Shoptelligence can help with this through our interactive ensembles and social sharing features!
