DIGITAL MARKETING Shopfloor
The digital t
October 2025
ertonline.co.uk
The digital toolkit:kit: AI, social media, and SEO for the modern re
AI, social media, and S O f r th moder
retailer er In today’s retail landscape, a strong digital
presence isn’t just an advantage - it’s essential. Callum Puffett, Digital Marketing Manager at
Gekko Group, shares how retailers can strengthen customer relationships, increase brand visibility, and drive sales through effective digital strategies.
At its core, a good digital marketing strategy creates attractive online experiences that not only showcase products but also build trust and loyalty. It’s about meeting customers where they are, whether that’s on social media, in their email inboxes, or through search engines. This strategic approach allows even small and medium-sized retailers to compete with larger brands, extending their reach with a targeted message.
The power of social media While many retailers are already on social media, the key to success isn’t just being present—it’s being effective. The importance of social media is clear, with global spending on social media advertising projected to reach approximately $276 billion in 2025. This highlights social media’s dominant position in the marketing landscape. Furthermore, a significant majority of consumers who have a positive interaction with a brand on social media are more likely to recommend that brand to their friends and family. However, what matters most is the content you create. Content is King. This timeless phrase holds true now more than ever.
Your content needs to be appealing, engaging, effective, and consistent. Whether you create it in-house or partner with the brands you stock, the goal is to captivate your audience and showcase your products in a way that feels authentic. For many small retailers, the challenge is having the time, budget, and creative skills to produce high-quality content. Fortunately, modern AI tools have emerged as a real lifeline. What once took hours can now be done in minutes. AI can assist with everything from generating content ideas to writing compelling ad copy and even analysing campaign statistics. According to Talkwalker, 90 per cent of businesses using generative AI report meaningful time savings, and 73 per cent see tangible engagement rate lifts from AI-assisted content. Tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are at the forefront of this revolution. But AI doesn’t stop at text. Tools like Gemini’s Veo 3 & Lumen5 can
create professional-quality videos from a few words of text, complete with voice-overs. If you want to reach a wider, multilingual audience, Sonix
AI can translate your content and videos into different languages. This is a crucial strategy, as a majority of people prefer to learn about new products through short videos.
The unseen hand of SEO
Another crucial, often overlooked tool is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). In simple terms, SEO improves your website’s search engine rankings. It’s the difference between being on the all-important first page of Google or being lost on page ten.
The importance of SEO speaks for itself when you consider that 53 per cent of all website traffic comes from organic searches. SEO delivers a high return on investment (ROI), with some estimates suggesting a minimum ROI of 500 per cent. When compared to paid ads (PPC), SEO delivers a higher conversion rate, with some sources reporting that SEO converts at a rate of 2.4 per cent, nearly double that of PPC’s 1.3 per cent.
SEO involves a mix of strategies, including: • Use relevant keywords that your customers search for. • Create high-quality, valuable content that answers user questions. • Improve your site’s speed and user experience.
The goal of SEO is to increase organic (non-paid) traffic to your site, making it more visible to people who are actively looking for your products or services. A key benefit is its cost-effectiveness; many SEO tactics are free to implement. Simply ensuring your product pages include relevant keywords, such as “laptops” or “televisions,” for an electronics retailer can significantly increase the likelihood of your website appearing in search results. From AI for content generation to SEO for discoverability, retailers have a wide array of tools at their disposal. By strategically combining these techniques, mastering social media, embracing AI, and prioritising SEO, you can build a robust digital presence that not only attracts new customers but also keeps them coming back.
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