Retail PR and the power of social media

The power of social media nearly blew us off our Manolo Blahnik’s last week.

Our work saw over 9,000 students descend on a Preston shopping centre – without a formal invitation in sight.

Word of mouth, text, QR codes, Facebook and the shopping centre’s Twitter feed played their part in attracting the attention of these typically hard to reach ‘freshers’ – who have been bombarded with every brand, event and nightclub since they started their university studies last month.

And while they were storming the shopping malls, we were providing real time updates via Facebook, uploading pictures and video content to encourage their friends to head down too. Overnight, Facebook ‘likes’ quadrupled.

Conversations are crucial. But in retail, it’s conversing with your target audience on their level, in their language, without alienating other shoppers that’s the key.

Here at Freshfield, our retail PR team has taken our social media work one step further on a separate client project, teaming up with a media partner to leverage its 32,000 social media following.

Our ‘Win a Rock with Rock FM’ sees our client offer a £2k engagement ring for the best wedding proposal, solely utilising the station’s Facebook and Twitter outlets.

The power of online conversation is also reaping rewards for another one of our clients, a medieval wedding venue where we have revived its social media presence. Enquiries have tripled, website traffic increased and Facebook ‘Likes’ doubled in less than two weeks as brides are encouraged to post pictures and glowing testimonials from their big day – creating a unique online community.

Understanding consumers’ behaviour online is essential. It is the retailers that successfully engage with consumers that will earn brand loyalty in the end. While there may be no such thing as a ‘shopper for life’ anymore, the right social media strategy ensures that a consumer does so much more than just window shopping.