A new study released recently by Forrester and GSI Commerce has concluded that social media has almost no influence on online purchasing behavior. Because the 2010 holiday shopper behavior analyzed for this study revealed that there is little direct connection between a click-through from a social media site and an immediate purchase on a website, the conclusion of the study is that the marketing and advertising efforts of retailers in social media spaces like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube do little to positively impact retail sales.
This is not really a study about retail social media. This is really just a study of the one-night-stand approach to retail marketing. The assumption of the Forrester/GSI Study is that there are only two relevant aspects of a transaction - the sales pitch and the immediate, measurable action that results from the sales pitch. In other words, either the pickup line results in getting the consumer into bed or it doesn't.
There are plenty of advertisers and retailers who are masters of the one-night-stand approach to marketing. But just because you're masterful at it doesn't mean that the consumer on the other end is open to receiving it. When someone has had their fill of pickup lines, no matter how smooth the next attempt is, they're still over it and they're not going to respond. You can't hook someone who's not looking for the hookup. When someone has made up their mind that what they want is a genuine relationship, then nothing less will do.
And that is what retail social media marketing is about.
Retail social media marketing is about connecting with the consumers who want a relationship, not a pickup line. It's about interacting in a meaningful way over a long period of time. It's about revealing who you are and what you value, and caring about who someone else is and what someone else values. It's about loyalty and commitment on your side of every interaction, despite how the person on the other side of the interaction responds.
If you're not, or are unwilling to become, this kind of retailer, then the study is correct - you're wasting your time with social media.
Saying that marketing efforts in social spaces don't immediately result in sales is like saying that your U.S. blow dryer doesn't work when you plug it into the electrical outlet in Bali. Duh. It won't work because they're not wired the same. (Trust me, I saw the flames. It won't work.)
Perhaps consumers have gravitated towards social media because they're sick of being hit on with marketing pickup lines. And perhaps when you invade their space with the same tired strategies, it makes them dislike you even more.
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The U.S. retail industry loves to study, measure, survey, and analyze itself from every conceivable angle, and certainly there's value in self-evaluation. But the danger in doing too much research is that you are lured into believing that unless something can be justified with a bar graph, then it doesn't exist.
Unfortunately consumer feelings exist. Energetic connection exists. Irrational behavior exists. You can ignore the humanity of your customers but just because it's not on a pie chart and you don't want to deal with it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
So the conclusion I draw from the Forrester/GSI social media study is that retailers that want to continue to use the one-night-stand approach to marketing need to take it somewhere outside of the social media arena if they want it to work. But for those retailers that do recognize the importance of having a meaningful presence in the social media spaces where hundreds of millions of people worldwide gather every day, it would be a good idea to stop reading other people's studies and, instead, study the social media strategies of the retail companies that are doing social media the best:
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Comments
Great read, thank you for the insight. I have had many arguments about Social Media advertising, primarily Facebook with my peers. While there are great audience targeting and delivery capabilities, the response rates are generally poor. This is outlined in your article as most companies push for a hookup not a relationship. Its not about a great pickup line, its about building relationships, which many marketers do not execute well as it takes longer to build the connection and convert. This is partially because people are on Facebook to socialize, not buy. Advertisers should position their brand as part of a community, or building on a common, relevant interest.
Indeed a good article…you have aptly said social media is all about building relationship….although its not reaping a short term result,in long run it would definitely bring some good money to the pocket of marketers.Keep going with social media ..
Social Media coupled with hand held devices have become the biggest opportunity for retailers to blow the lid off their business.
You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink seems to be relevant about the retailers reaction to these modern floatation devices.
As a Store Planning Firm we would be remiss if we did not find ways to incorporate the use of Social Media and HHD into the functional design of today’s Retail Store design.
The conduit to your customers is no longer printed media and retailers need to recognize what is currently sitting on the horizon.
This Barbara Farfan article is right on the money!