Secrets of T
he primary goal in participating in social media is to increase
revenue and profits, that’s a given. Often, however, we hear that consumers don’t want to be sold to on Facebook or Twitter. One
way around that is to create your own online network, where you can communicate directly with customers on your own turf, as it were. In a session entitled Integrating Social
Media Into Your Digital Marketing Plan, Naomi Paget, head of direct at businesswear retailer TM Lewin, shared some of her tips on how to maximise the opportunities from online communities and the pitfalls to avoid.
TM Lewin’s top tips • Avoid being too clever or showy—building
an online community isn’t about showing off to your customers, it’s about getting them involved, said Paget. One of the most popular videos on the TM Lewin community site, Off the Cuff, is a three-minute item on how to iron a shirt. The retailer also found that overthinking section titles didn’t work; a section named Style Surgery was eventually renamed Ask the Expert as customers were initially confused as to the aim of that feature. • Avoid the hard sell—just like other social
networks, consumers don’t want an overtly salesy message.
• Get the whole company on board—this
could mean asking everyone from the managing director to a call centre agent to contribute to the success of the community. Don’t rely on interns to answer all the queries, ask the boss to write from time to time. And sustain involvement—it’s important to keep content fresh to keep customers interested.
• Build partnerships and member
offers—TM Lewin, for example, partners with other noncompeting brands to offer customers perks such as VIP theatre tickets and spa breaks. Create a content programme that is SEO-driven—The popularity of TV show Mad Men contributed to one of TM Lewin’s most successful social-media campaigns. The retailer was interviewed in a newspaper’s “get the Mad Men look” feature, it blogged about the interview, and then blogged about the coverage it received. • Integrate the community fully into
your overall marketing strategy, online and offline—mention your most-popular blog posts in your enewsletters, promote your instructional videos in your print catalogue, follow up on customers’ suggestions to make your business better and more user-friendly.
Watch out for… • Allow plenty of time for planning—
never underestimate how long it takes to research and launch the site. Paget spent six months preparing content for the community prior to go-live date. • Technical integration with your current transactional site—you want people to be able to buy from you, so make it easy for them. • Balancing transparency and competitive
secrecy—Tell customers the truth about where the products come from and how they are made, “our competitors will find out what we’re doing anyway,” said Paget at the session. The products discussed on the community are what is available now, “so it’s not [as though we’re]
giving away our future plans,” she added. • Internal buy-in takes time and maintenance—it’s key to success, so make sure the whole company wants the community to work.
• Be ready for tough conversations—in TM
Lewin’s case this meant preparing for questions about why the shirts are not manufactured in the UK. Ensure that you know how to respond to negative feedback. • Start small and gradually expand—Off the
Cuff started out featuring only menswear; slowly but surely more womenswear content is being added. Don’t try to do too much at once.
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