Stepping into the Power of Social Marketing: Lessons from a Shoe Shopping Adventure

Yesterday I took my daughter shopping for new shoes. I keep telling her to stop growing but she refuses to do so. As we looked at the selection of cool light-up shoes and purely athletic shoes she was a bit overwhelmed. I tried to narrow it down to the least expensive of the shoes, showing her and trying to get a read on what she liked.

This got me thinking about the power of social marketing. My daughter was initially overwhelmed by the selection, most people get overwhelmed thinking of social media marketing and don’t know where to start.

Finally, after trying on the “athletic” shoe with purple glistening stripes on each side she looked up a shoe I kept bypassing because it looked so plain. She said, “Savannah has those shoes” and I thought okay, let’s take a look.

When I opened the box the shoe actually came with little charm bling across the toe attached to the grommets and two sets of laces to be laced together (pink & white). She was sold and the price was right.

Kids have been doing this for years, albeit sometimes it can be annoying to be reminded of what their friends had! And it’s not just kids who are influenced by what their friends have or are doing. Social media has made it easier than ever for people to see what others are buying or using and feel compelled to do the same. But with so many channels competing for our attention both on and off the internet, it can be hard to make a decision.

Social media is just one more channel that is presented to people amongst all the other clutter on the internet (search engines, websites, text ads, banner ads, video, etc.) and off the internet (television, radio, billboards, etc.) who can really make a choice with all of this going on?

However, social media offers a unique advantage in that it can create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) by showcasing what everyone else has. If everyone else has it, it must be worth having, right?

Not only is social media more important than ever (hey, Facebook gets more traffic than Google!) it’s also a great supplement to testimonials or customer comments already on your website. It’s a great tool for businesses to supplement their website’s customer comments and testimonials, and to connect with their target audience on a more personal level.

And, speaking of social marketing — it’s time for me to get to work socializing on behalf of my clients. Have a terrific Monday!