How can I increase the number of people following us on Facebook and, more importantly, use the channel to drive in-store footfall and purchases?
The key to increasing the number of ‘Likes’ on Facebook is to offer fans something of perceived value and clearly promote the benefits of ‘liking’ at every touch-point including in-store, on customer communications and through your advertising.
Facebook’s promotional guidelines prohibit businesses from rewarding fans for liking a page. But, says Marcus Sandwith, managing director at marketing agency Haygarth, “capturing the contact details of those that do and using them to open up an additional channel of communication allows retailers to reward fans”.
Incentives don’t need to be tangible rewards; exclusive, entertaining or useful content can be a reward in itself. “Protecting this valuable content behind a ‘Like to unlock’-style page, for instance, is a simple way to do this, but it’s crucial that you deliver immediately on the reward,” adds Sandwith.
To drive footfall and sales, retailers need to sell the in-store experience. Promoting special events, announcing arrivals and offering fans exclusive in-store offers are great ways to entice fans from online to in-store.
Sandwith advises complementing this with “geo-targeting to reach fans in the immediate vicinity and short-format social channels such as Twitter to push promotional updates”.
Geo-locational tools such as FourSquare and Facebook Deals instantly reward fans who cross the threshold. Encouraging check-ins in this way aids word of mouth and can inspire non-fans to engage with the retailer.
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