Target uses various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram to increase brand awareness and engage with customers. It posts about products, sales, and responds to customer complaints. While Target has an active social media presence, it could improve engagement by using more interactive posts and increasing YouTube content. The company also lacks unified branding across some location-specific Facebook pages.

1. Target
Josephine Porto
Manuel Savino
Ebony Wheeler

2. Culture
•Target is the second largest retailer in the world and has massed
quite the customer base.
•Most consumers correlate some sort of brand association when
thinking of Target (i.e. Red bullseye, white dog).
•Target values ethics and morals
•Target strives for employee satisfaction almost as much as
customer satisfaction

3. SWOT Analysis
Strengths
• The company is very well known after Wal-Mart for the discounted retails
of the item displayed
• The stores covered area are of 95,000 to 135,000 square feet
• The revenue of the company increases every year with the current
revenue of $67.390 billion
• The differential product strategy emphasizes more on quality products
than that of discounted ones; this policy makes it different from its market
rivals
• Price matching of online retailers
• Different payment options for customer like Target REDcard, Target Visa,
and Target Card
• Renewal of the appearance of the store

4. SWOT Analysis
Weaknesses
• The demographic is only focused in America (except Alaska, Hawaii, and
Vermont), neglecting the need of global presence
• Pricing perception. Over emphasis in quality makes its products rather
expensive than its competitors
• Brand popularity in stores is relatively low compared to its competitors
• Litigation. Past legal cases has affected brand image

5. SWOT Analysis
Opportunities
• Expansion at global level, especially in emerging economies
• Focusing on products which are having private labels.
• Enhance efforts to be environmentally friendly
• Increase advertising for private brands
• Engage in exclusive designer partnerships
• Diversify its grocery department

6. SWOT Analysis
Threats
• Increasing competition and changing economic scenarios
• Dependent of US market
• High level of competition in retail industry. K-Mart and Wal-Mart share
the same place of service and almost same product range.
• Annual government taxes and increasing interest rates
• The inflation is forcing consumers to move towards low price rather than
better quality.

7. Social Media Sites
•Linked-in
•Twitter
•Pinterest
•Vine
•Facebook
•Instagram

8. Social Media Sites (cont)

9. Social Media Sites (cont)
•Target interacts with its customers
to deliver a personalized guest
experience.
•Target frequently replies to its
customers that reach out to them
via social media.
•Target highlights what is is selling
through its social media and brings
about brand awareness

10. Social Media Sites (cont)

11. Social Media Sites (cont)

12. Social Media
Strategy Analysis
The purpose for the use of social media is to increase
brand awareness to different demographics.

13. Social Media Strategy
Analysis (cont)
Objectives
Increasing:
- Fans
- Followers
- Likes
- Social awareness
- Shares
- Retweets

14. Target Audience
● Target offers a more upscale experience than its competitors by
offering higher quality merchandise. Thus it tends to attract a
younger and more educated customer.
● The median Target shopper is 41 years old. This is the
youngest consumer of all wholesale retailers that Target
competes with.
● The median income of the average Target shopper is roughly
$63,000
● 45% of that group have children and 80% have attended
college

15. Target Audience
● Target’s use of social media is directed to its main demographic, families.
● The company’s social media posts typically involve the products they are
promoting (mostly household items) and brings awareness to any sales or
events the company may have.
● It also uses its social media to respond to customers

16. Analysis of Social Media
tools
Appropriate Tools for Target:
● Facebook
○ Disadvantage: Likes don’t guarantee consumers are seeing updates
on page
○ Advantage: Easy to target specific markets with paid advertisements.
● Pinterest
○ Disadvantage: Could face copyright issues if sharing content that
does not belong to Target without permission.
○ Advantage: Encourages online purchase decisions through pins
made by the company.

17. Analysis of Social Media
tools (Cont.)
● Twitter
○ Disadvantage: Requires to be updated multiple times a day which
could be costly considering you need the labor for it.
○ Advantage: Easy to engage with their audience by retweeting and
favoring user’s Tweets.
● Youtube
○ Disadvantage: Video production could be costly.
○ Advantage: Gives the company the opportunity to partner up with
manufacturers to advertise their products (Ex. A customer buying a
Pepsi a Target)

18. What is Target doing right?
● Target is active on all major social media networks
● Postings are well crafted posts that keep their audience
entertained
● They address customer complaints placed on their social
media sites and try to find them a solution
● Every post contains an image or video
● B2C and B2B strategies are used where they belong
○ ex(B2C on Facebook B2B on Linkedin)

19. What does Target need to
improve??
● Target lacks the involvement of their audience on social media
○ More interactive posts that engage their audience (ex: Poll
on Google Plus)
● There are many profiles on Facebook that are location specific.
○ This may confuse the user.
○ Unnecessary redundancy
● More content on Youtube
○ Target uploads a video to Youtube once per month on
average, more activity could yield more subscriptions

20. References
● Anonymous. (n.d.). mbaskool. Retrieved October 24, 2015, from Target Corporation:
http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/lifestyle-and-retail/4911-target-corporation.html
● Kasi. (n.d.). Divi Target Corporation. Retrieved October 24, 2015, from Marketing Mixx:
http://marketingmixx.com/marketing-basics/swot-analysis-marketing-basics/177-target-
corporation-swot-analysis.html
● Target on Social Media – 5 Lessons from One of The World's Most Successful Retail Brands.
(2012, August 29). Retrieved October 29, 2015, from
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/target-social-media-5-lessons-one-worlds-most-
successful-retail-brands
● 5 ways Target uses social to drive brand loyalty. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2015, from
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/35459.asp#multiview
● How Target Markets to 138 Million Followers | Simply Measured. (n.d.). Retrieved October
29, 2015, from http://simplymeasured.com/blog/target-on-social-media-how-the-retail-giant-
markets-to-a-social-audience-of-138-million/#i.18osaja97bfmer
● The Disadvantages of Using Facebook for Business Needs. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29,
2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-using-facebook-business-needs-
38685.html
● The dangers of Pinterest. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2015, from
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/32411.asp#multiview