inRetail_Guide-Turn_Facebook_fans_Into_loyal_retail_customers

TURN FACEBOOK FANS INTO LOYAL
RETAIL CUSTOMERS
inRetail’s Guide to Using Facebook to Increase Retail Sales

CONTENTS:
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Planning your Facebook strategy
Getting Facebook fans to your website
Gathering good data
Nurturing fans into customers
Closing the loop on Facebook marketing
Pulling it all together
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2
3
4
5
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3inRetailagency.com
FANS ARE FINE AND BUYERS ARE BETTER
Social media is one of the most cost-effective,
time-efficient ways to reach and interact with
your customers — both those customers you
already have and prospective customers you
want to bring into your stores. And with more
than 1.2 billion (yes, billion — and counting!)
users, Facebook is one of the best places
to start. Effective use of Facebook as a
retail marketing tool involves more than just
attracting a large fan base. You may already
be putting time and money into posting
news, promotions and other offerings to
your brand’s Facebook page, but the best
Facebook fans are those who are interacting
with you in positive ways, responding to what
you’re posting, and ultimately transitioning
from being Facebook fans to actual paying
customers and brand advocates, which
indicates you’re really reaping all the benefits
that a strong Facebook presence can provide.
ENGAGEMENT WITH BRANDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA DRIVES WEB SITE TRAFFIC
Visited the company’s website 52%
Purchased the company’s product 38%
Visited the company’s physical store/location 32%
Recommended the company 31%
Gave a positive review of the product 28%
Opted-in to receive newsletters/emails 28%
Bought deals for the company’s product 22%
Base: Those who follow or “like” companies on social networks, N=1,025. Q7B Because you followed, “liked” or interacted with a company on social network, which of the following have you done?
RESULTS OF FOLLOWING/LIKING A COMPANY ON A SOCIAL NE T WORK

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1. Quantify your goals
Facebook analytics are a powerful tool for
tracking user interaction on your Facebook
page, so use them to determine both your
current and your target click-through rates.
Having hard numbers and objective measures
to will give you a framework from which to
analyze your results.
2. Know your audience
To achieve your fan-conversion goals, you
have to know who your fans are, and who
they should be. Increasing your customer
base through Facebook is only possible if
you’re reaching the right audience.
3. Create a seamless campaign
Your presence on Facebook should map
exactly to the rest of your marketing efforts
to maintain a cohesive brand experience
that resonates with your customers. Make
sure the content you’re posting on Facebook
reflects the rest of your marketing efforts,
both online and in store.
Remember that old adage — “Well begun is half done”? It’s doubly true when it comes
to winning customers through social media. If you want to generate new Facebook
fans and turn existing fans into loyal customers and brand advocates, you have to
begin with a solid strategy.
PLAN YOUR FACEBOOK STRATEGY1
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1. Timing
If a Facebook post gets posted at 3 am, the
chances are very few of the people you’re
trying to reach will ever Timing: To optimize
the timing of your posts, take a look at what’s
worked best in the past by using Facebook
analytics to view posts with the highest
interaction and best click-through rates.
2. Frequency
According to Bit.ly, the average Facebook
post has a half-life of 3 hours. That’s shorter
than a snowflake’s time on earth. Frequent
posting helps ensure more people see your
posts.
Ultimately, Facebook marketing is a numbers game. The first step in expanding your
Facebook fan base is to increase the number of people you’re reaching. Here are a few
tips and tricks that will help you consistently up your Facebook numbers:
PLAN: EXPAND YOUR FAN BASE1
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3. Content
Nobody likes spam, which in the world of
Facebook is defined as frequent, content-light
posts. Make sure you’re posting information
that’s relevant and interesting to your target
audience.
4. Boost your visibility
These days a picture is worth a thousand
(or ten thousand, or a hundred thousand)
“likes.” The majority of Facebook users skim
their newsfeed rather than read it carefully,
and images are a great way to grab their
attention.
PLAN: EXPAND YOUR FAN BASE1
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Ultimately, Facebook marketing is a numbers game. The first step in expanding your
Facebook fan base is to increase the number of people you’re reaching. Here are a few
tips and tricks that will help you consistently up your Facebook numbers:

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Quality content is key to winning and keeping Facebook fans, but that takes time that
may be hard to carve out of your already-busy marketing schedule. An organized,
methodical approach to content creation can help ease the time crunch.
PLAN: BE CALCULATING AND RUTHLESS1
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Breadth and variety
The content you’re creating should cover
everything from targeted offers to info on new
products to style trends to helpful tips on
making the most of your products — anything
your fans would find interesting.
• If your brand is the topic of a glowing blog
post by a brand advocate, point the way
for your fans with a direct link to make sure
they see it.
• A celebrity captured on film using or wearing
your products? Put it in a post and get the
word out.
Your goal should be to post a broad variety of
interesting content as frequently as possible,
without sacrificing quality.
Be a machine (or use one at least)
Create a content calendar that outlines what
you want to post and when you want to post
it so you can stay on top of content creation,
organized and up to date. Utilize technology
and good, regular communications to keep
everyone on task and on deadline for new
content. Then automate your posts with
a social media publishing tool to ensure a
consistent flow of content even when you or
your team are busy with other tasks.
Organized labor
Applying an extreme level of organization to
your content creation and management will
free you up and your team for other equally
critical efforts, such as interacting with fans,
and monitoring your page and your analytics
and adapting to emerging trends and
opportunities.

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Stay above the fray
Consumers are inundated with marketing
content — from billboards to TV commercials
to circulars to print advertising, and that’s just
the offline marketing. When you add digital
communications to the mix, the amount of
content they have to cope with more than
doubles. Rather than add to the tsunami
of information your customers are already
drowning in, give your Facebook fans a good
reason to pay attention to your brand by
providing high-quality, high-value content.
Be responsive:
The most successful retailers know what their
customers want and excel at meeting that
demand. Giving your audience content they
find appealing rather than pushing products
will generate the kind of interest that
ultimately leads to purchases. Curate your
content as carefully and thoughtfully as you
curate your merchandise assortment.
Racking up Facebook fans is great, but a huge following won’t grow your business or
increase sales unless you can turn their passion into revenue.
MOVE FACEBOOK FANS TO YOUR WEBSITE2
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Show, don’t tell
All retail is theater. We know irresistible,
eye-catching images have emotional impact
and can get your point across quickly and
memorably, so use them whenever possible.
Don’t let cost get in the way.
Stay on message
Make sure all the content you’re creating
and posting maps to your overall marketing
strategy so your brand maintains a consistent
and appealing “look and feel.”
Tell them what you want them to do
It may seem obvious, but don’t make your fans
work to figure out what’s next: just tell them.
Make sure your posts consistently link back
to your website. Logos and other branded
imagery are a great way to express your
identity on your page, but on their own they
won’t move visitors through the marketing
funnel and turn them into customers.
Aggressively write action-oriented links into
your Facebook posts.
MOVE FACEBOOK FANS TO YOUR WEBSITE2
Before you can entice your Facebook fans visit your website and buy what you’re
selling, you’ve got to get their attention. And then you need to lead them by the hand.
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The best way to get fans from Facebook to
your landing page is to create a persuasive
“call to action,” or CTA.
CTAs can be anything from special pricing
to contests to exclusive offers to sneak
previews—anything that gives your fans a
compelling reason to choose your brand or
make a purchase. Creating a diverse variety
of CTAs helps ensure you’re engaging your
customers and prospective customers at
all stages of the purchasing process, from
consideration and research to browsing to
sale.
CTAs should reflect both your brand and
your customers’ priorities and preferences,
and the action you’re asking your customer
to take should be fully aligned with your
business goals and brand identity.
MOVE FANS: COMPELLING CALLS TO ACTION2
CLICKABLE CTAS
If your call to action is compelling enough, your
Facebook visitors will want to respond right away.
Make it as easy as clicking a button.
Consider your platform
There are a variety of online tools that make it
quick and easy to create clickable buttons for
your Facebook page, but make sure that what
you create fits well with your brand identity, looks
organic to your Facebook page and displays
and functions well on both desktop and mobile
platforms.
Do it right
Clickable CTAs can be placed in your Facebook
timeline or in sponsored Facebook posts or both.
Just make sure your offer is clear and that it leads
directly to the site or landing page you want your
fans to visit.
Bring ‘em home
Whatever you’re offering in your post and your CTA
has to be reflected in the messaging your customer
sees when they click through. Make sure the offer
and any next steps are crystal clear.
Keep it simple
Don’t use a CTA click-through as an opportunity
to pile on the offers by cluttering the landing page
with navigation bars or other links. Instead, give
visitors one option—to take advantage of your offer
or answer your call to action.

EXCHANGE VALUE FOR DATA3
Give to receive: Tying an offer to your
request for data is a great way to encourage
your customers and prospective customers to
share, but doing it right can be tricky. Make
sure it’s a compelling offer — commensurate
with the value of the information you’re
asking them to give you. Always have a clear
idea of what you plan to do with the data, so
you only ask for what you need and then use
everything you get.
Collect the right data at the right time:
Make sure you’re tailoring the data you’re
requesting to the offer you’re making. Asking
for too much, or something too personal may
scare off the very customers you’re working
to win over.
Deal differentiation: Tailor your data
collection efforts to your customers’ level of
interaction with your brand. New customers
responding to a 2 for 1 deal might be asked
only for a name and email address, while a
giveaway promotion might require more in-
depth information.
Be progressive: Smart forms progressively
store information so that return visits don’t
result in requests for duplicated information.
And as your relationship with your new
customer grows, smart forms enable them to
provide ever-richer data quickly and easily.
Your customers are much more than just another sale. By volunteering data on their
lifestyles, purchase habits, preferences and households, they can help you design
more effective marketing programs, products or retail experiences. Directing fans
to a landing page with a form is a great way to collect critical information that can
help turn Facebook fans into leads today, and help you track interactions with your
brand tomorrow. This interaction creates a virtuous cycle and strengthens customer
relationships and advocacy.

NURTURE FANS INTO CUSTOMERS4
WORKABLE WORKFLOWS
To ensure you’re following up with every
quality customer interaction your Facebook
marketing generates, you’ll want to create
workflows that automatically generate a
follow-up step based on customer behavior,
such as filling out a form, clicking a link or
making a purchase.
For example, if a customer responds to
special pricing on a particular brand or
product, automated email workflows allow
you to follow up a few days later with a
similar offering, or a CTA that lets that
customer know when a product they’ve
looked at is about to sell out.
Tailoring the content of your emails based
on the information you have collected from
Facebook interactions allows you to create
even better targeted — and more effective —
interactions. Segment your workflows based
on the data you’ve collected, and group
customer contacts according to specific traits
or behaviors.
Geography: Create different workflows
depending on where the customer is located.
A customer browsing in wintry Chicago
won’t have the same product interests
as a customer basking in sunny southern
California.
Lifestyle: Millennial singles have purchase
priorities very different from those of
millennial new parents. Mile-high heels, slinky
cocktail dresses, teething rings and high
chairs won’t have the same appeal across all
demographics.
Generational: Younger consumers — our
millennials again — operate on a distinctly
different frequency from their older consumer
counterparts. What speaks to a baby boomer
may leave a millennial cold—or worse, turn
them off altogether.
If your Facebook marketing efforts are successful, you’ll have people in all stages of
the purchase journey headed to your website or brick-and-mortar store. So now you
have to turn those visitors into customers. It’s time to take the data you’ve collected
and use it to create effective marketing and promotion strategies. No matter where
your customers are in their journey, the data should enable you to design the most
effective interactions for each stage and to promote your products or brand efficiently
and effectively.
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WORK THOSE ANALYTICS
To help ensure all that hard work composing
awesome Facebook posts, creating eye-catching
CTAs, publishing sleek and effective landing pages
and segmenting your customer database doesn’t
go to waste, you have to make sure that everything
you’re doing is working together to generate more
customers.
Marketing analytics tools quantify your results and
see which CTAs and landing pages are generating
the most customer interaction and which are falling
short of the mark, enabling you to better focus
your efforts, determine your ROI and document the
positive effect your Facebook presence is having on
your bottom line.
In Facebook marketing, the four most important
retail analytics are:
▩▩ Total visits
▩▩ Unique visits per CTA
▩▩ Clicks per CTA
▩▩ Transactions per CTA
Keeping up to date on your Facebook page
performance lets you track each action a Facebook
fan takes and determine how successfully you’re
turning fans into customers. Using this data, you
can better optimize your efforts to meet your goals,
recognize trends and repeat the strategies that
work best.
NURTURE FANS INTO CUSTOMERS4

MAKE YOUR EFFORTS COUNT5
DON’T LET CUSTOMERS
SLIP AWAY
When it comes to social marketing, even
today’s news is already old. Yesterday’s
Facebook post is a distant memory, and last
week’s happened eons ago. That’s why it’s
so important to follow up on every possible
interaction, as quickly as possible. There’s an
astonishingly brief window of engagement,
and how you interact with your prospective
customers in this window is difference
between a meaningful customer interaction
and a missed opportunity.
Analyze the data generated by follow-up
interactions to identify the most successful
approaches and create variations so that
you can quickly recreate that success with
new customers. Work with a creative team
that understands how to generate the most
effective messaging, so your interactions with
customers lead to the maximum number of
sales. Be sure to pass along the conclusions
from your analytics so your creatives can craft
messaging that yields better results next time.
GETTING TO THE BEST ROI
You’ve spent time and money planning,
executing and analyzing your Facebook
strategies. Managing your return on
investment (ROI) will give you a clear sense
of how Facebook marketing stacks up against
other marketing opportunities.
To calculate your ROI, create different tracking
URLs that include the “Facebook” label for
each offer so that you can see precisely how
many people clicked on each offer directly
from your Facebook page. Then compare
the cost of each campaign on Facebook
(including media spend, marketing support
and employee time) to the revenue generate
by each efforts.
Once you have a clear understanding of your
success, you’ll be in a much better position
to either scale your efforts or refine your
strategy.

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TAKE THE LEAP6
Facebook is a terrific platform for increasing your customer base and helping you grow
your sales. After reading this e-book, we hope you have a clearer understanding of
some of the best practices for using Facebook to your advantage — not only to attract
new customers and increase brand preference, but to strengthen your relationship
with existing customers as well.
It will take some time and testing to get things running smoothly, and you may find
you need more horsepower to take full advantage of everything Facebook marketing
has to offer. Don’t be intimidated by it: success takes courage.
Cut yourself some slack: Start small if you
must and work on bite-sized chunks to prove
out the value of what you’re doing
Fail quickly and fail forward: Experiment,
be agile and don’t be afraid of small mistakes
— if you move quickly and make occasional
small mistakes, you’ll learn faster and improve
rapidly.
Who’s got your back?: Reach out to an
experienced social media marketing partner
who can help you maximize results — and help
you build a social marketing “machine” that
will sustain your efforts for the long haul.
Those 1.2 billion (and counting!) Facebook users are waiting to hear from you,
but they won’t wait forever. Good luck!

ABOUT INRETAIL
The inRetail team consists of experienced leaders from the world’s top retail brands: people
who have been in your shoes and have done the job.
Every day, we deliver strategies, insightful creative, innovative technology, and practical
solutions to help our clients thrive in today’s customer-driven, anytime, anywhere retail world.
We are the retail experts from within The Stephenz Group, Inc., that have combined experience
in retail technologies and inside retail.
inRetail is a division of The Stephenz Group, Inc., Silicon Valley’s largest brand and interactive
agency. inRetail is a full service division solely dedicated to the retail industry. Our team of
experts have over 20 years of proven success in retail technology and the consumer retail
sectors.
NEED SOME HELP PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER?
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Visit us at inRetailagency.com
or call 408-938-5444.

© 2015 inRetail, a division of The Stephenz Group, Inc. All rights reserved. inRetail, The Stephenz Group, and any inRetail or The Stephenz Group services, products or logos used herein at trademarks of The Stephenz Group, Inc. All other company and product
names or logos are trademarks of their respective holders.
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