Retailers are being urged to invest in two-way conversations on Facebook – not just sit back and wait for customers to interact with them – if they want to replicate the success of Urban Outfitters and Molton Brown in the latest UK Facebook Commerce Index from ChannelAdvisor.
Urban Outfitters added 490,579 fans in September alone, taking its total to 822,223, representing a 148% increase. Moving from ninth place to fifth in the UK FCI, the fashion retailer invited streetwear bloggers to speak about their style and take part in marketing campaigns, which, combined with its regular “Five free songs on Mondays” blog post helped its fanbase soar.
Molton Brown, which also invested more in a two-way conversation by offering a free fragrance to encourage wall posts, saw a 165% growth in fans.
Fashion retailers continue to dominate the UK FCI, with ASOS (1,062,858) overtaking River Island (1,042,812) to move into third spot behind leaders Topshop (1,635,781) and New Look (1,085,432). ASOS’s success in September stems from its “ASOS Urban Tour” – an online and offline project involving customer interaction. A new entry this month is House of Fraser, which attracted over 25,000 new fans to come into the UK FCI at number 24.
ChannelAdvisor campaign manager Mieke Schuetzek said: “Both Molton Brown and Urban Outfitters invested in a real two-way conversation with their audience , and show the biggest growth in their fanbase.
“Urban Outfitters seem to know the trick, and invited street-wear bloggers and give them an opportunity to speak about their style and participate in their marketing. Plus their regular “5 free songs on Mondays” blog post is a clever way to maintain the Facebook fanbase on a regular basis – who wouldn’t like to download some freebie mp3s on a dull Monday morning?
“Molton Brown also shows that the individual dialogue with customers is their way forward: a free fragrance offer encouraged many fans to post on their Facebook wall and cross-channel PR activities engaged fans to the point of taking part in promotional activities. Freebies are the way forward…”
