May 2022 ertonline.co.uk


Omni-channel marketing: Social proofing? It’s time to start listening


Reviews give your customer the opportunity to discuss their experience


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Whether it’s in-store, on the phone or online, today’s consumers EXPECT a seamless experience


By Emma Louise Smith Director| Moxie Business Marketing


Te goal of most retailers is simple – build one lifelong, continuous conversation with their customers, via whichever means of communication necessary. Whether it’s in-store, on the phone, via your website chat, text/SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook, or various other social media/chat apps… 86 per cent of today’s consumers EXPECT a seamless experience! Te first step of integrating an effective omni-channel strategy starts with ‘Social


Listening’ – this means monitoring your brand mentions, or hashtags related to your niche, and products on social media. Te next stage is to pick the right tech! What CRM system are you using? How are


you collecting and analysing customer data? Tere’s a reason when you purchase goods in retail stores these days, they ask you for your email address! Once you’ve decided on your tech, customers’ emails can be uploaded to CRM


systems for targeting ads on social media platforms, and Facebook’s custom list feature allows you to send messages to subscribers. And the best part? You don’t have to worry about GDPR, since they have already interacted with you, they are considered a pre- qualified lead for your business. Maximise your systems and use email campaigns to launch competitions on social


media, announce new products, offers, or informative blogs or guides to drive them to key digital touch points.


Consider chatbots! Whilst we don’t endorse ineffective chatbots, Facebook Messenger, closely followed by WhatsApp, are the most popular mobile messaging apps in the UK, and when set up correctly, can be used to answer queries, make recommendations and direct people to your website. Another great retailing tool to add to your arsenal – say hello to social commerce!


You can leverage social channels to sell directly to your customers! But whichever digital touchpoint it is, remember your messaging should be consistent and coordinated, streamlined and seamless.


A social strategy Tere are 53 million active social media users in the UK, so why wouldn’t any retailer want an opportunity to get to know these people and effectively market their services/ products to them? As 96 per cent of people that visit a website for the first time aren’t ready to buy,


social media provides retailers with a key digital touchpoint until they are! Not only can you keep them engaged but you can retarget them with ads based on their browsing experience. And just a few more benefits of integrating social media into your omni-channel approach:


• To create a compelling customer journey online • To supplement existing campaigns • Enhance brand awareness • Reinforces trust and reputation • Increases conversion rates • Allows customer feedback


Encourage online reviews Customers look for reassurance before committing to a purchase, and reviews give your customer the opportunity to discuss their experience. If positive, they offer social proofing to other potential customers, and will improve your local search rankings on Google. If negative, they give you insights into how to improve the customer journey. Here are a few tried and tested methods to encourage more online reviews and interaction:


• Adding feedback buttons in SMS and email marketing • Inviting feedback via survey links in social media • Ensure links are included in all customer-related email marketing • Encourage delivery/installation/repair teams to invite feedback (notice the current trend on social media anyone?)


• Encourage staff to ask customers in-store, over the phone, and via all digital touch points I would advise creating a review process that can scale with your business (i.e.


automated ones). Get creative and meet your customer where they’re at; are they on mobile? Great! Send them a quick, simple three-question review that you can then use to build social proofing on your own website. Wherever you are in your quest for the holy-grail of omni-channel retail marketing,


it starts by getting to know your customers well, and unless they’re good friends and pop into your store every day, it all starts with listening to them via social media.


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