Christmas is just about 6 months away from this week and for the last 2 days we've been explaining how people are starting to search online for holiday gifts. We have some more holiday preparation action items for you today relating to Facebook and Twitter.
As previously explained, we're grabbing some of the important information from www.google.com/think/insights and giving it to you with key takeaways. Unless otherwise noted, all the data presented here comes directly from Google's reports for retail stores.
We left off yesterday explaining that you should use phrases like Sales, Coupons and Customer Loyalty to create a few strategic landing pages that also include the primary jewelry website phrases of engagement rings stores, vintage inspired rings, jewelry store, etc.
Once you have those landing pages created on your site you should share them to Twitter and Facebook.
Google's reports showed that popular brands have millions of fans on Facebook and Twitter. They specifically reported the following numbers as of March 2010. We expect the percentages are even higher now, but here's their data:
55% of Facebook users had not "Liked" any business pages.
18% of Facebook users had "Liked" 1 or 2 business pages.
11% of Facebook users had "Liked" 3 or 4 businesses.
10% of Facebook users had "Liked" 5 to 9 businesses.
6% of Facebook users had "Liked" 10 or more business pages.
Again, these numbers are more than a year old, and we expect they have fluctuated since. But Google went a step further with their survey and asked users "Why did you friend a brand/business on Facebook?"
We think these reasons haven't changed at all:
25% of Facebook users Like your business page in order to receive discounts and promotions.
18% of Facebook users Like your business page simply to show others they support your brand.
10% of Facebook users Like your page because you make it fun and entertaining.
8% of Facebook users Like your page so they hear your latest news first.
To take advantage of the fact that 25% of users want discounts, many companies provide ways to create "Reveal Pages" that provide discount offers or contests only after the Like button is clicked and the discount is revealed. Here's a video to explain:
http://youtu.be/S22PJGDPats?t=21s
Customers simply want to save money, and if they are interested enough in your jewelry they will gladly become a friend on Facebook. Google also found that 34% more of Facebook users will visit your store's website after clicking the Like button than before clicking. Perhaps the website URL you show on Facebook should be a specific landing page, like www.jewelerystore.com/fb which would specifically welcome Facebook users.
Facebook is a game of popularity, so once they become a fan of your page, you need to stay engaged with them. Give them the discounts, news, and entertainment they crave and they'll be coming back frequently.
There are three final statistics Google published that will close out this discussion of further preparing yourself for the holiday season.
In 2010, Google reported that information shared between friends on Facebook and Twitter accounts for 18% of purchase decisions. However, only 2% of users started their holiday shopping research by posting a question to Twitter, and only 3% used the search feature on Facebook.
As Facebook and Bing share more features, we expect the Facebook search functionality will become more robust and enjoyable instead of the chunkiness they have today.
You can't simply walk in and out of a room and NOT say hello to your customers, so why are you doing that on Facebook and Twitter?
Get social.
