Last week I was meeting with some potential clients and this question came up; “How can we translate our customer experience online?”. This is an amazing question to be asking if you’re committed to having a brand identity which flows seamlessly in your online marketing and in person.
This particular shop offered what they call a curated experience where they would work with a client to find pieces of product which when put together brought the customers goal to completion. This particular experience is something which is done through expert knowledge of stock, and through having a fun and extroverted staff. This is the experience that sets their store apart from their competition, and part of the reason they are looking to get help with their marketing online. They want to make this experience really pop on their social media brands.
When you have an experience like this which sets your company apart, it’s important to make sure that it shows through in everything you do. While you can’t have staff members checking stock, and talking to every customer on Facebook you can let Facebook (and the content you post there) do the same job as the employee showing stock and having fun in store.
Like everything in small business marketing research is the first step to making your online experience memorable. Last week we talked about identifying the Who and How of your marketing, once you know this you can focus on finding out what they’re interested in seeing. If I were working with a comic book shop I would suggest taking a look at the big summer block buster movies. Star Wars, Black Panther, and the Avengers are all going to be big talking points for your target audience so you can assume that’s the kind of content they’re going to want to see.
Once you know what your client base is interested in seeing think about how those same clients react to that content in the store. Are they asking for origin stories? Do they want the newest comics? Are they interested in merchandise from the movie? Try and recreate those same conversations you have in store about these things online. Post a photo of that first addition Black Panther #1 comic, ask your clients if they know the first villain he faced, or the first appearance of his sister in comics. Starting conversations online that are similar as the ones you have in store are key to recreating your online experience.
These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg for recreating your in-store experience online. If you’re interested in how you can take your company’s brand and personality and translate it into a fun, and engaging online experience give me a call. I’d be happy to discuss social branding packages with you, or even just share some best practice information.