Retail is tough. It was tough 50 years ago, it was tough 25 years ago, and it was tough yesterday. So let’s stop falling in love with the notion that retail is tough.

Many retailers are currently in boom periods. In fact, I personally know of some retailers that decided to develop an EDM (electronic direct mail) strategy, and with the click of a button now add to the bottom line between $20,000-$100,000 every single time.

Now, this required some strategy, an existing database, and some trial and error, but the results are incredible.

Obviously, results vary based on the size of the business. However, the point is that new technology, marketing opportunities, and changes in the way customers seek out products can be a hidden opportunity for your business.

Social media is one such opportunity and a critical piece of marketing, sales, and brand building infrastructure for all businesses.

Yes, all businesses. I can already hear people saying their customers aren’t on social media, but frankly, they are.  Right now, you don’t have the ability to debate this, you need to simply trust this is the case.

Understandably, you might not know how to access customers online, but trust me when I say that somewhere in the world another business is investing time and money to access them. When they work this out, they will no longer be your customers.

So let’s stop this happening. Let’s create a social media strategy for your business that connects to customers, grows your brand presence, and leads to sales.

Below is the best place to start for each objective:

Connect to customers

Be on all the platforms your customers frequent and have a purpose for your business being there. The first step in connecting with your customer is understanding the role your business plays in their lives. Ask yourself, “Why would my customer want to speak to me every day?”

The answer is not your product. You must play a more prominent role in their lives in order to be relevant daily.  Figuring out what this role is will be your first objective.

Grow your brand presence

The great thing about social media is the ability to grow your brand quickly. In order to do this, you must have interesting content.

The idea is to have people sharing your content and attracting their friends to your social media platforms. So be interesting/funny/exciting/weird/etc. Just be unique.

Unless you can grab attention and make people engage with you, you simply won’t grow.  You must be interesting to your target market.

Sales

To generate sales on social media you must achieve the first two objectives. Unless there is a connection and a brand presence, then there will be no sales.

In the early stages, you might simply look at using your social media to clear stock or to create special offers for your community. This way, trust is being developed and it gives people a significant reason to connect with you.

The underlying goal is to make people who are connected to you via social media feel special. If you can achieve this, you will be well on your way to generating sales.

If you would like further detail, information, or strategies, connect with Social Media Servants on Facebook.  These concepts are starting points, once achieved your business can evolve online and start to create significant impact and sales.

 About the author

Tim Krotiris is Director of leading social media agency Social Media Servants. The business runs the complete social media strategy and implementation for over 50 fashion brands in Australia.

They have been featured in Ragtrader and work closely with the TFIA and LMFF (L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival).

For more information, visit socialmediaservants.com.au