Deepak Agarwal on How Social Media Has Reshaped the Online Retail Landscape

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*ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / November 6, 2020 /* Social media has redefined marketing strategies for businesses worldwide. Social platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok have enhanced brands' ability to interact with their target audience by creating a direct channel of communication from business to consumer. With 3.5 billion daily active social media users, this social media revolution is forcing brands to rethink the most effective and efficient ways to engage their customers and drive to a sale. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has furthered the importance of social media to the retail world, with approximately 46% of adults in the US reporting spending more time on social media, forcing businesses to transition to a primarily online strategy and hone in on a digital approach.

These trends are also backed by statistics. A recent McKinsey Global Institute study has shown that 85% of consumer and retail companies are the top users of social media for marketing, a stark difference from the 66% of companies in other industries.

Deepak "Dee" Agarwal, CEO of NoMoreRack.com, was aware of the importance of social media since the brand's inception, gaining the brand recognition with a unique social media presence and a direct line of access to potential customers. Deepak Agarwal recalls a sincere and concerted effort to steer away from the more serious and traditional branding of competitors, focusing more on quality and on-trend, timely communications.

The success of Choxi.com is almost certainly attributed to robust social media efforts, as more than a quarter of their $78 million of sales in November 2013 were delivered directly from Facebook.

"Facebook was an essential tool in our early development. We directed our team to build out user-friendly and laser-focused content. Through these concerted efforts, we were able to get in front of our customers and solidify our connection to our audience," said Deepak Agarwal.

There are many ways businesses can approach their customers through social media to stay ahead of the game. The following are Deepak Agarwal's five key takeaways:

*#1 Treat Every Customer Uniquely*

Due to its propensity for sharing and popularity among diverse audiences, social media is an ideal tool to highlight your business by alerting customers to upcoming launches, promotions, and deals. However, none of these announcements will move units if your customer isn't interested. Personalizing content, like built-in messaging and notifications to deliver customer service, can flip the switch to engaging your audience, boosting audience engagement, and important vanity metrics that signal to platform algorithms that you are outputting quality content.

*#2 Develop Brand and Client Relationships*

While many retailers may have previously thought that social media is just for marketing and sales, these days, social media can be used for much more than a marketing campaign; social media channels offer opportunities to build client relationships and show other sides of the business, with more companies using their platforms to voice their stance on social issues and share a more intimate look at their operations and employees. Customers today care about transparency and instant gratification in retail, and brands can leverage social media to build trusting and effective connections.

*#3 Cultivate a Strong Community*

While a McKinsey survey has revealed that price is the top deciding factor for consumers when shopping, it only represents 24% of the customer's decision in choosing an online retailer. Factors like previous experience with the brand and convenience are essential to keep in mind. One suggestion is to pick the right moments and target specific groups of potential customers with relevant and helpful content. Over time, your community will notice these efforts, and your business will be top of mind whenever they need to make a purchase.

*#4 Listen, Learn, and Leverage*

Every company employing a social media strategy must also integrate a social listening strategy. Tracking what's being discussed and shared about your brand is crucial to measuring the success of your products, store locations, and sales promotions. A good place to start is by tracking your mentions across as many networks as possible. Whether the mentions are positive or negative, they provide key signals into what customers are thinking about your brand. Leveraging information in the development of your social media strategy, as well as marketing, will ensure you're getting the highest ROI possible for your paid and social media efforts while promoting top-notch customer service and real-time addressing of client needs.

*#5 Measure Success*

With all the information gathered during a strong and consistent measurement strategy, businesses will be able to take time to reflect and adjust messaging accordingly. Every cycle of content production should take into account what worked and what faltered in previous efforts, and all new marketing efforts should be developed and monitored with a consistent measurement framework of key performance indicators.

"It's important to remember that when trying new calls-to-action and messaging for your brand, every element will produce different results and varying degrees of effectiveness," notes Deepak Agarwal. "If you're noticing that an ad enticing customers to ‘read more' about a product is not instigating clicks to purchase, you need to pivot. That's all part of the process."

With society continuing to adapt to the rapidly changing social media landscape, the future of retail and digital platforms will only continue to become more intertwined. Analyzing your business strategy to develop new and creative approaches to social media will keep your brand relevant in the digital space and help cultivate a dedicated following.

*CONTACT:*
Andrew Mitchell
Email: media@cambridgeglobalmedia.com
Phone: 404-955-7133

*SOURCE: *Deepak Agarwal
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