Executive summaryIncorporating the power of social media into a brand’s marketing program can greatly enhance its audience reach and exposure. With frequently changing social channel preferences and use patterns, it can be challenging to apply the right strategy to the right social channel. To help marketers identify the most effective channels for their social media efforts, Yesmail Interactive analyzed the social media* usage of 50 major brands in five different retail categories – apparel, beauty, big box stores, home goods, and electronics.

Key findings: - Multi-platform use is on the rise: The majority of brands (over

91%) had a presence on two or more social channels.

- Facebook still dominates but growth is slowing down: Facebook was the most popular channel for brands, with an average adoption rate of 98% but a relatively low growth in 2014.

- Brands lagging on Instagram adoption: Despite the rise of Instagram adoption among young adults, it was the least adopted social channel in four of the five retail categories tracked, with adoption rates ranging from 26% to 32%.

- Apparel brands are most socially connected: 86% of brands in this category had a presence in four or more social channels, while an impressive 60% were present on all five.

*Social media channels tracked include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Google+.

Lessons Learned: How retailers utilized social media in 2014,

trends and takeaways for 2015

MethodologyThrough Yesmail Market Intelligence, we identified 5 major retail categories and tracked the social media usage of the top 50 brands in each one. Tracked social channels included Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Google+ and the timeframe was between January 1, 2014 and October 31, 2014. See below for a snapshot of some well-known brands in each category:

Beauty: The Body Shop, L’Occitane, Ulta

Apparel: Converse, Gap, Levi’s

Big box: Target, Macy’s, JCPenney

Electronics: Best Buy, hhgregg, TigerDirect

Home goods: Bed Bath & Beyond, Ikea, Lowe’s

To find out how well these brands were listening to consumers, we compared our findings against a Pew Research Center survey, conducted in 2014 and aiming to identify social media usage trends amongst US adults.

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The Rise of Multi-platform Social Media Use According to the Pew Research survey, multi-platform use among consumers rose significantly over the last year. It jumped from 42% in 2013 to 52% in 2014, when over half of adults with internet access used two or more social media sites. We found that most marketers were adapting to this trend with the majority in all five retail categories having a presence on at least two different social channels.

We dug deeper into the data and determined the most popular mix of social channels.

Apparel brands were the most socially connected with 86% present on four channels or more and 60% present on all five tracked channels. On the other side of the spectrum, only 40% of electronics brands had a presence on four channels or more.

Beauty Apparel Big Box Electronics Home Goods

98% 98%100%

94%

Brands with a presence in two or more social channels

91%

Beauty

Apparel

Big Box

Electronics

4

4

3

5

3

Home Goods

Brands with a presence on two or more social channels

Most popular social channels in order of adoption

Most frequently used numberof social channels by industry

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Key Takeaway: Scale your efforts by cross-promoting

As demonstrated by the graphs on the previous page, marketers already know that being active on multiple social media platforms is rapidly becoming a must. At the same time, being socially active doesn’t have to be complicated or overwhelming – start by taking advantage of your existing marketing campaigns and incorporate a social media element.

For example:

• Include prominent social share icons where the content/offer you want to promote is located (emails, blog, events pages, resource pages, gallery, etc.)

• Incorporate social icons in your email marketing templates, so subscribers can easily share your content. This would also provide a quick way for prospects to stay in touch via social media, in addition to your email program.

• Consider developing digital campaigns exclusively aimed at driving subscribers to your social pages, increasing the number of followers, and generating conversations on social media. Perhaps one of these campaigns can spark a viral effect. Creative sample:

This email from Madewell prominently displays bottom navigation with icons of all social media platforms they’re active on, thus enabling email subscribers to effortlessly follow them on social media.

Creative sample: In this sample, Ikea did a great job of running an exclusive Twitter and Instagram sweepstakes, while also promoting the contest on Facebook to encourage users on that channel to participate by following the brand on Twitter and Instagram.

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Most and least popular social channelsThe Pew research survey found that 71% of adults with internet access were active on Facebook in 2014. Our findings matched the Pew results - in all major retail categories Facebook was the most popular channel, indicating that brands paid attention to their subscribers’ channel preference.

Twitter and YouTube took second and third place, respectively, as part of the top three most adopted channels for brands. Twitter’s popularity is likely due to the platform’s ease of use and the minimal effort required to generate promotional posts.

In addition, the Pew survey called out the rapid adoption of Instagram. According to the research, for the first time, in 2014, roughly half of internet users ages 18-29 (53%) used Instagram, compared with 37% the year before. In addition, half of Instagram users logged into the site daily.

According to our findings, however, Instagram lagged in brand adoption. Outside of the apparel category, Instagram was the least adopted social channel among the five industries tracked. By not having a significant presence on Instagram, marketers were missing out on engaging with young adults, and could risk getting out of touch with this segment as it matures and gains more purchasing power.

Interestingly, in the apparel category, social media adoption rates have shown impressive numbers across the board. At 84%, apparel’s Instagram adoption rate was double or triple that of other industries. This impressive social connectivity could be a function of the large number of apparel brands that target a younger audience which typically contains a lot of early adopters and very active social media users.

Adoption rate of the 3 most popular social channels by industry

Beauty

94%

100% 100% 100%

92%90% 90%

74%

78%

98%

82%

90%

96%

86%

71%

Apparel Big Box Electronics Home Goods

Facebook Twitter Youtube

Beauty Apparel Big Box Electronics Home Goods

26%

82%

32% 32%42%

Adoption rate of Instagram by industry

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Key Takeaway: Understand your customers and your target audience

A variety of factors such as age, interests, occupation (e.g., business versus creative), and gender can determine which social media platforms will cater most effectively to each customer segment. Marketers should use a combination of these demographic and psychographic attributes and combine them with our findings to determine which social platforms to invest in. This will also enable brands to develop content and tailor interactions specifically for these social channel users.

Creative sample:Sephora’s use of Instagram matches perfectly with their highly visual and colorful promotional content for their beauty products and cosmetics. In this Instagram post, Sephora’s Coachella-themed content (a music festival known for festival fashion and West Coast style) resonated really well with their primarily female followers looking for the hottest spring looks.

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Average audience size Not surprisingly, Facebook had the highest average follower count. On a more granular level, apparel had the highest number of average Facebook followers (8,191,575) while home goods had the lowest (457,488).

Perhaps counter-intuitively considering the fact that YouTube is typically adopted early on in a brand’s social media strategy*, it had the lowest number of average followers across all industries with the exception of electronics. This could be due to the more involved nature of this social channel – video viewing versus reading quick posts may not be as appealing to the broader base of social media users who are typically looking for quick content consumption.

*In the table on p.2, YouTube was cited as the third most frequently adopted channel for majority of tracked industries

Average number of brand followers by channel

2,825,493 303,986 270,349

262,503 28,264

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Key Takeaway: Take the time to foster interactions

Developing a following on social media can be a daunting task in the beginning but if marketers follow best practices, building and growing an engaged audience can be achieved in the long term. Here are three tips to keep in mind:

1. Empower your customers and followers and encourage them to share their experiences with your brand via their preferred social network (posting pictures enjoying your product, discovering a new way to use your product, gifting your product to a loved one, etc.). You can start small by fostering conversations through questions about your followers’ interests, likes, and dislikes on topics relevant to your products.

2. Regularly monitor your social platforms for activity – trending comments, organic content being shared, praises, and negative feedback. Acknowledge the praises with genuine gratitude and address the negative comments – this will help build trust in your brand.

3. A good rule of thumb is that social media is not the place to merely advertise your products or services. It’s a platform to provide your followers with interesting and meaningful information and encourage two-way interactions.

Creative sample:In this sample Instagram post, Starbucks posted a beautiful collage of its patrons’ own posts showing them enjoying their creative java concoction with a loved one, incorporating the themed hashtag series #Starbucksdate.

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Average follower growth by social channel According to the Pew research survey, some 26% of internet users engaged with Instagram in 2014, up from 17% in late 2013 (the highest growth compared to other social platforms).

Interestingly, our research told a similar story but with a focus on brands, not consumers. Beauty, apparel, and home goods saw the highest follower growth for Instagram while big box and electronics brands registered the second highest. So although marketers in most industries did not have a significant Instagram presence, the ones that chose to incorporate the channel in their social media strategy saw great results.

In the same timeframe, the Goliaths of social media– Facebook and Twitter, saw relatively lower growth. Facebook audience growth was lowest for the beauty and apparel categories while Twitter growth was lowest for big box, electronics and home goods brands.

Trend Alert!Looking closer at the chart on the right, although Facebook and Twitter showed the lowest follower growth across industries, the relatively high Facebook follower growth in the big box and home goods categories is interesting. Both of these industries typically target a comparatively older audience segment than the electronics, apparel, and beauty categories.

While Facebook adoption has generally plateaued, it continues to grow among older consumer segments. Based on the Pew research findings, Facebook adoption among adults aged 50-64 reached 63% in 2014, while adoption among adults 65 and over reached 56%, a 25% increase year-over-year.

In that sense, it looks like in 2014 big box and home goods brands took notice of where their target audience is, and adjusted their social strategy to match.

Beauty Apparel Big Box Electronics Home Goods

149%155%

274%

64%41% 39%

128%132%

86%

23%

209%

417%

74%

99%

65%

Facebook InstagramTwitter

Average follower growth rate by industry

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Key Takeaway: Take advantage of current events, seasonal holidays, and social trends

We’ve all seen it; social media goes quite well with current events. In order to organically grow their follower base, marketers should consider getting an edge by sharing their brand’s story and incorporating current events or holidays relevant to their products. This strategy helps drive conversations and continued awareness, thus keeping the brand top of mind.

Creative sample:Target is no stranger to social media marketing. As evident in these Facebook posts, they did a great job of tastefully tying in seasonal events with brand messaging. In the Earth Day-themed sample, Target suggests a great way to re-use and recycle, while in the Easter-themed post they combine great visuals and colors to entice followers to check out their Easter cupcake recipes.

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Average month-over-month follower growth by social channelWhen looking at average month-over-month follower growth across all retail categories, Instagram registered the highest growth at 93% while Google+ saw the lowest at 80%. Since percentage of month-over-month growth is usually a strong indicator of the channels brands are actively using to promote content and interact with followers, we can surmise that marketers were not focusing as much on Google+. Instead, they opted for consistent promotional efforts on other platforms, primarily Instagram and Facebook.

Did marketers effectively allocate their social media efforts to reach their most active prospects? According to the Pew Research survey, Facebook and Instagram were indeed the two social platforms with the most active users. Facebook came out on top with 70% of its users logging in on a daily basis, and 45% doing so several times a day. As mentioned before, 49% of Instagram users logged into the platform daily. So it seems that in 2014 marketers got it half right - most brands had a presence on Facebook but lagged significantly on adoption of Instagram. So the outliers who cultivated a following on both Facebook and Instagram, ended up targeting the most active users and their communications were most likely to reach their target audience.

Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Google+

91%87%

93%

80%89%

Percentage of month-over-month audience growth(months that brands added followers for each social channel)

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Creative sample:This Facebook paid campaign sponsored by Panera (promoted to Facebook users that recently visited their website) did a great job of using spring colors and imagery to entice social media users to purchase their gift cards in time for spring season gifting (Mother’s day, Easter, Father’s Day, Graduation Season, etc.).

Creative sample: This promoted tweet from T-Mobile used simple and direct language to appeal to social media users and drive followers, subscribers, and, eventually, conversions. The messaging appeals to the younger audience segment and references the preparation leading up to a summer at the beach.

Key Takeaway: Know your audience’s channel usage frequency

before determining how much time and resources to allocate to content promotion or paid campaigns

Paid campaigns can be a great way to increase exposure for a brand’s social media pages, acquire new followers, and reach a new audience. To improve their reach and engagement, marketers should take the time to learn what type of users utilize specific platforms and how often. Adding social channel usage and frequency to a brand’s ‘best customer’ profile can be very helpful in determining which channels are worth investing in not just in terms of sheer presence, but when it comes to paid ads.

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Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts As social media continues to change the way people consume content and interact with brands, it has become a critical tool for brands not only to promote products or services but also to keep up-to-date with their customers’ evolving expectations and preferences. Social media is a great way to foster a personal relationship between a brand and its followers. When done right, a vibrant and active social media program that’s part of a digital marketing strategy can yield a large return on investment and help build long-term brand credibility.

Once a social media program is in place, determining ROI can prove difficult due to persisting challenges in measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing. Invest in a tool that can provide social campaign engagement metrics, determine the influence of each subscriber, and track revenue generated by a specific consumer as she shares a brand’s post or email campaign.

Click here for more information.

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About Yesmail InteractiveAs the email marketing solutions provider within Yes Lifecycle Marketing, we power intelligent customer interactions. We give you the insights to recognize and understand your customer to deliver contextually relevant digital communications- while respecting their preferences and privacy. We help marketers evolve their customer relationships through intelligent interactions via technology, insights and services in a near real time multi-channel environment. We help you compete in the age of the customer.

For more information, visit www.yesmail.com.

About Yes Lifecycle MarketingYes Lifecycle Marketing is a solution provider that brings together multichannel marketing platforms and data, with creative and strategy services honed on the optimization and delivery of relevant marketing messages. This gives marketers the ability to source best-of-breed technology and creative and strategy services from a single vendor at a cost-effective price point.

For more information, visit www.yeslifecyclemarketing.com.