Social media users are 83% more likely to be loyal customers, retailer says
For a new marketing medium, social media isn`t doing too bad at Lion Brand Yarn Co.: 20% of shoppers coming to the e-commerce site from one of the retailer`s social presences, including those on Ravelry and Flickr as well as its own blog, buy merchandise. What`s more, Lion Brand Yarn finds social media users are 83% more likely to be very loyal to the brand compared with those shoppers who don`t use social media.
"We didn`t go in with a big P&L—blogs, podcasts and social networks do not involve big out-of-pocket costs, and they just made sense for us because we`re used to communicating with our customers," said Rabinowitz, who spoke at IRCE in a session titled "Social Media: If Not Now, When?" "Through social media we can talk with people online directly, we can convey we are a small, family-owned business, and we can help them understand who we are as individuals within a company, which is important because people like buying from people, not corporations. With social venues you can personalize your company."
Rob Laporte on 24 Jun 09Marketing Has Become Personal (Again) When the Big Guys want to look like Small Players, they make deep investments, mostly in social media. If you look at Coca-Cola's Facebook Page, for example, it doesn't look remarkably different from any other Facebook Page, even those created by tiny companies. On that Facebook Page, Coca-Cola -- one of the largest companies in the world and possibly the most recognized brand on the globe -- is presenting itself as not just small but also personal and approachable. In fact, if you are a fan of its page, you can write on its wall. Coke has videos of its fans and simple pictures of people enjoying a Coke. These aren't professional, glossy images but the sort of pictures we've come to expect online: a bit grainy, not well lit, and very real looking. The rule, and indeed the opportunity, of the new medium is to make your marketing personal. You need a bit of guts to do it. We all have a natural tendency to speak and act in ways we feel are professional when doing business, and this is true online as well. But social media is the single most important media space for brands right now, and its nature is different. If you are a big brand, you don't need to pretend you are small, but you do need to find ways to become approachable, engaging, and personal in the way that small brands do. Let's Get Small There are a few rules to follow when you try to get more personal in your marketing. Use these methods and you can start putting some real faces next to the brands consumers think they know: * Start with the current fans.This is really the great story of the Coca-Cola page. It was started by two guys who simply loved Coke, not by company itself. They amassed a following of brand loyalists, totally on their own. The company came to these guys and asked for the opportunity to help them out and keep them involved. Exactly what you would do if you were an actual human being, not a great big company more concerned with protectin
