Ed Borden, Pitney Bowes Business Insight
These days it appears that every retailer is leveraging social media services such as Facebook. These sites allow retailers to passively advertise to would be consumers by encouraging their “fans” and “friends” to share personal experiences with the retailer or products. Additionally they can provide status updates on sales and product releases. Just today on my Facebook homepage were links to become a fan of Best Buy and Little Debbie cakes.
In a recent blog on Retail Traffic there was a reference to mall owners that are beginning to use Facebook to generate interest their properties. Probably the best example is the Mall of America Facebook page which has over 47,000 fans. This page features events, photos and individual retailer happenings. Once the consumer has become a friend of the Mall, they receive mall status updates on their “friends” status update page. For example today’s post was: “Mall of America – Hulk Hogan, Christian Siriano, Melissa Gilbert, and Cpt. Chesley Sullenberger are coming to Mall of America this October. Which one do you want to meet? Check out our upcoming events for more info.”
Beyond malls, other retail entities can also consider using this form of social media. Large shopping centers and communities, especially downtown retail district and chambers of commerce should consider this approach for passive free advertising. While I was unable to quickly find a shopping center development, several communities have apparently embraced the idea. They are adding local retailer information (including local store sales), event calendars, new product offerings, contact information, store hours and photo galleries, such as families enjoying free concerts in a park. While this level of passive advertising may not appeal to all demographics, and Facebook may just be a passing fad platform, the idea, benefits, and relative ease of use behind this type of passive advertising can be very value as it is another way maintain “top-of-mind awareness” with your customers, residents and business owners.
Similarly, TGI Friday’s has benefited greatly from its “Woody” campaign. By creating a ‘friend’ rather than a business on Facebook, “Woody” is sitting at just under a million friends and TGI Friday’s has delivered as promised — free burgers for everyone. I would consider this an incredible success of leveraging social media to reach your customer. In a world of DVR’s, where everyone is skipping through commercials, TGI Friday’s found a creative way to generate more foot traffic through their restaurants.
Hello, really enjoyed this blog! Great topic.