Social media masterclass: a modern way to engage your customers

”Ultimately it leads to sales. Engagement first, then footfall, then sales.” That’s the view of Pete Doyle, CEO and founder of specialist training provider the Social Retail Group, on the benefits an effective social media strategy can bring to a retail business. 

Two-thirds of adults are now on at least one social network, according to Ofcom, which means any defiantly antisocial grocer risks missing out on big opportunities to grow, and converse with, their customer base. 

Moreover, “as a single shop owner or independent retailer you don’t need an advertising budget, it creates a more level playing field”, Doyle adds. It sounds like a no-brainer.

And yet our barometer (see right) shows 85% of small retailers are yet to use social media. So what is putting them off?

“It can be a technical barrier, or a fear of one,” explains Doyle. “But once I’ve started to decrypt it for them, people see it’s just like any other conversation.”

Time can be another sticking point, with the sheer number of social media platforms available meaning there’s “a danger you’re spreading yourself too thinly, and trying to be a master of all of them, which can take up so much time,” says Ben Cook, business development manager at agency JC Social Media.

That’s why he recommends first working out which platforms will help best to achieve your own individual commercial targets.

For many, that can mean delving into Twitter. It boasts more than 15 million users in the UK alone, all of whom can be engaged publicly via a conversational tweet, unlike Facebook where access to users is more restricted to those who have ‘liked’ a business page. Moreover, users can focus interaction using geographically tailored hashtags.

First off, “invest time listening, and quite quickly you can build up a picture of who’s influential locally,” advises Doyle. That means adopting a ‘follow’ strategy that ignores the likes of Twitter giants such as Lady Gaga, however. “I’d be quite strict about that.” And tweets should “keep positive and upbeat. It’s important to be an ambassador for good news, and not to rant and rave.”

Most crucial is to avoid the mistake made by many larger grocers, who treat the platform as a free advertising tool, blasting followers with hourly posts on their latest sales and offers. “The shop owners who really use it well are the ones who thank their new followers and engage in conversation with them rather than just broadcast. Those who don’t do that don’t get the same ROI,” says Doyle.

Of course, engaging in direct conversation with your customers can come with drawbacks. The possibility of angry feedback broadcast to followers can feel like a big risk for small, independent retailers.

Doyle’s advice is not to be afraid and, whatever you do, don’t force the conversation - ie the direct message - behind closed doors. “That’s the worst thing you can do,” he says. “I’m an advocate for not being afraid of bad comments as it’s an opportunity to improve my business. Engage with them proactively, knowing it’s being played out in public.”

Facebook

This “free instant access” to customers and their comments is one of the advantages to social media that Susan Connolly, business development manager for Connolly Spar, has found since setting up a store page on Facebook two years ago. She now oversees accounts for each of the business’s four outlets, with input from store managers.

Facebook reaches 223 million users across Europe, according to marketers Zephoria, with 16 million local business pages created.

“It’s a free marketing tool where you can target your customers,” says Connolly. “We use it as a community board so we don’t put many offers on there, but we might say what we’ve got stocked. It’s about talking to our customers, not selling them anything.”

Connolly has tracked the success of the page with occasional password-protected offers in store, only available to those who’ve visited the Facebook account. She also uses auto-scheduling tool Hootsuite to manage the different accounts, which allows users the possibility of setting up a week’s worth of content in as little as half an hour.

When choosing that content, Cook advises prioritising image-led posts, and avoiding dry, corporate messages. “Users need an image to grab their attention, and imagination, to make them follow the link,” he says. But don’t expect that image to go quite as far as it may once have done. The US firm has made it increasingly difficult for companies to achieve organic reach, in order to encourage paid-for advertising. That can mean shelling out small amounts of cash to get noticed, says Cook.

“We’ve had some fantastic results by putting small amounts of money, as little as £20 a week, behind these posts,” he adds. The platform’s algorithms also allow business to tailor by area, age, and interests.

And for those who can’t get enough of the opportunity to interact with their customers, Twitter and Facebook needn’t be the limit.

Once you’ve mastered the basics, there’s the image-led Instagram and Pinterest, video sharing-based platforms YouTube and Vine, and alternative networks such as Google+. There are even “new flavours of social media” like Periscope, which streams live video. “If you’re an independent retailer and you have a tasting you could stream that live, and people get involved in the stream,” says Doyle.

The possibilities are endless. “Just keep trying and don’t expect instant results. Patience is important,” he adds. “Oh, and think twice, tweet once.” Sounds like good advice.