Successful Social Media Campaigns to Consider Running in 2015

It`s an exciting time for businesses that leverage social media to market. With all the tools available to connect with your audience, and campaigns that have proven to be successful, you can`t deny that social media will be one of the top outlets you use in 2015 to build relationships with your customers, increase brand awareness, find new customers and increase traffic (foot and/or web) and sales. Or, at least I hope it`s going to be! To help guide you on what types of things you can be doing with your social media in 2015 to be successful, let`s focus on common objectives and how to achieve them using specific social media strategies, tools and campaigns.   Objective: Build a relationship with your online audience How-to achieve: Video Marketing Video marketing will continue to grow as an effective platform for online marketers, and is a tool jewelers should plan on leveraging in 2015. Facebook has made recent changes and announcements, putting a larger focus and importance on videos; posted both by personal profiles and business pages. Facebook is trying to compete with YouTube and they want you to stay on Facebook.com versus going anywhere else to watch those funny viral videos, touching stories or messages from brands. And with video being the best way to get to know a brand, the owner or the staff, there`s a great chance that video will be one of the highly engaged with content types on Facebook and other platforms, and help retailers build relationships. Consider using video to tell your story, show how custom pieces are made, interview staff on their top picks for Valentine`s Day, Mother`s Day, Graduation, birthday gift suggestions, etc., or get personal with customers and ask THEM to share THEIR stories about how they popped the question, or a meaningful time in their life with a loved one. If you`re a Social Edge member and need to know how to get started with video marketing in your store, log in and watch the Video Marketing for Retailers training course and make sure you watch the `28 Video Ideas for Retailers` to help brainstorm ideas that will work for your store.   Objective: Get customers to interact with you online How-to Achieve: Meaningful questions and contests. Even though some things have changed when it comes to what works when marketing online, one thing remains consistent: engaging your audience online works, as long as you`re making it about them versus about you. Make sure the posts or campaign you`re running relates to you perfect customer, and ask them to respond or get involved By asking meaningful questions, that relates to them and that they find interesting or are excited to share, you can see an increase in interaction on social sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. One of the best ways to increase online interaction is through contests or giveaways, as it can be fun for your audience and people like to compete and win! Here`s an example from Christopher`s Fine Jewelry in Pawleys Island, South Carolina who asked local customers and Facebook fans to submit a picture with their significant other, and the photo with the most votes would win diamond stud earrings and a men`s Bulova watch. The campaign received 115 entries meaning 115 people took the time to find a picture, upload it with a caption and ask their friends to vote for them, which creates viral exposure not only for this contest, but also for the store! Christopher`s Fine Jewelry used Offerpop to run this campaign. Contest can also be a great way to build your email list, by asking participants to give their email address to enter to win. Use a tool like woobox.com to set something like this up on your Facebook and/or Pinterest page.   Objective: Create foot traffic (without paying or advertising) How-to Achieve: Contests and Events One way to increase foot traffic for free is by running a contest like previously mentioned, but in order to participate the person must come into the store to enter to win by filling out an entry form, or maybe taking a picture with their significant other or family member and then posting it to a social media outlet using a store branded hashtag. People love taking selfies, use that trend for an in-store contest to drive people into the store having fun with potential props to enter to win a product, gift certificate or local gift basket featuring items from other local businesses too. This is a fun way to connect with your audience, generate exposure to their social media audience and increase foot traffic. Hosting in-store events like trunk shows, ladies night out, educational classes or networking events are a popular way for retailers to increase foot traffic, too. Use social media to promote these events before AND during the event, making sure each post includes local hashtags (ex: #{yourcity}) and a store branded hashtag (ex: #storename - #jillsjewelers).   Objective: Create foot traffic How-to Achieve: Facebook Ads The best ads for increasing foot traffic and connecting with the local audience are: Facebook Offers, Local Awareness Ads and Event Ads. At Crystal Media, we`ve seen the most success with Facebook Offers. For a high-end pajama store in Alberta Canada, we created an ad campaign spending $500 and offered two Facebook Offers which were: $20 off $100 purchase or more and receive a free gift with a $100 purchase or more (could not be combined). Out of about 450 claims, 35 people came into the store and redeemed the offer before it expired, spending a total of just under $7,000. The redemption conversion rate was only 8%, however Facebook Offer ads are also great for creating viral exposure. Everyone who claimed the offer (over 450 people) all received an email and Facebook Notification about the offer, which featured the retailer`s name, Facebook page and store address. Learn more about Facebook Ads within Social Edge by going through the ‘Click Your Way to Customers` Facebook Ad Training Course. Click here to learn more about Social Edge or click here to see a sample training video inside this course.   Objective: Sell using social media How-to Achieve: Social Commerce Fox and Fawn, a consignment clothing retailer out of Brooklyn NY, created an Instagram program that not only accounts for an average of 25% of their total sales (as high as 40% on bad-weather days), but has allowed them to sell to a national audience without creating an eCommerce website. To show you how it works, here`s a post from Fox and Fawn`s Instagram Account: If you run a campaign like this, clearly state if you`re willing to ship (and how far) or if the person must pick up in-store. You`ll want to send out marketing communications on other platforms like email, Facebook and in-store signage to help promote the campaign and get people to register their card with you. To learn how to leverage social media and see results, consider joining Social Edge and go through the ‘Rocking a Social Media Plan Without Giving Up Your Social Life` training course first, to get set up for success in 2015. Click here to see what`s inside this course. RDI Diamonds is paying for 50% of your membership, learn more and join at crystalmedia.co/rdidiamonds Crystal Vilkaitis is the resident social media expert at RDI Diamonds, owner of Crystal Media and founder of Social Edge. To learn more visit http://crystalmedia.co