How Social Has Changed The Way Customers Shop

There’s a theme I’ve been hearing from brands and retailers lately. The time has been spent, the vibrant fan base has been built, and it’s time to generate some real return on our social investments – but how?

Well, we know it’s not a question of volume. After all, there’s no shortage of content being created by brands of all shapes and sizes. Most have someone in-house managing social media full-time, and they’re tweeting, posting and pinning with the best of them.

It’s not an “information overload” question either, contrary to what many experts have been suggesting. In fact, according to new research, “the high volume of information available these days seems to make most people feel empowered and enthusiastic”.

The daily deluge of updates from friends, family, news networks and brands doesn’t look to be scaring customers away, but it’s not generating the return anyone expected either. It seems the question, then, isn’t the quantity of posts in social, but rather the quality of what’s being posted. The social customer is unique, and they need to be marketed to in a way that’s sensitive to their needs.

What’s the message you’re sending them? Are you promoting product in an exciting and engaging way, or just keeping the customer in touch with your brand? If the goal is to drive product discovery, encourage deeper product exploration and create brand affinity and loyalty (and chances are one of these goals exists for every brand today), it’s about what you say, not how many times you say it.