"This Isn't Just Any Xmas" This Should Be A TikTok Xmas?

Without a doubt eCommerce still has it's own fixed cost base, but the ability to be more agile than traditional retail creates a model that has a more variable cost base ergo, an online retailer could/should be more responsive to the vagaries of a changing market.

Its common knowledge that the difference between an average retailer and a great one is how internally aligned everyone is, how they constantly stay close to the customer, with the aim to provide a win, win level of service and great product at a price that's sustainable.

These days I spend an awful lot of my time working with companies to help them better understand why consumers choose one brand over another, in particular where the proposition(s) seems similar. I actively promote an outcomes and actionable based approach to everything I do.

To do this requires a commitment to 'listen' to what everyday shoppers are saying, engage in those discussions and place 'Social Media' firmly at the board room table with a view to better understand agility around the operating model.?

Today all retailers have a greater ability than any time in history to engage with, listen to, and learn from the consumers who favour (or not) the brand and company.

In June 2019 I received a number of 'confidential' messages via social media from a number of extremely concerned employees from that well known British Retailer 'Marks and Spencer', this following an article I had written on LinkedIn -?you can find it here.

As we now know their has been several key changes in the leadership team since then and we've seen an amazing transformation in the food department which has been led by Stuart Machin (now CEO) and many great strides forward with acquired ladies fashion brand Jaeger led by Fiona Lambert with group transformation initiatives led by Kate Corbin and of course the delightful marketing lead by Sharry Cramond.

Being in any kind of business is always a tricky thing, and traditional retail is of course encumbered with many upfront fixed cost, especially before a new store is opened and a penny even goes into the tills.

Historically the only key variable cost they can dial up/down is the management and staff needed to run them, so when times get tough retailers tend to dial down the one thing that actually creates their key point of difference, the front line people who represent their brand, more on this later in the article.

Stating the blindingly obvious an unhealthy combination of ongoing supply chains who are also being hit with rising cost and delivery logistics worries, when combined with increased domestic and business energy bill increases in the run up to the festive season this will 'yet again' drive even further enforced changes in consumer behaviour and of course make fiscal business decisions even more challenging..

In my experience being proactive in being able to respond and adjust the operating model to some of those changes tends to sort out the winners and losers, or as I say the 'passive from the active'.

There are some great benchmark towns around the UK doing some awesome stuff creating immersive experiences which encourages genuine dwell time and advocacy. They do this through empowering their teams, working with local people and businesses to deliver something the community feels happy to support and sometimes be a part of.

Let's face it even the great?Marks & Spencer?innovated it's food category by taking a leaf out of the local 'market farm' model.? And today those 'local' communities are more than willing to share those experiences on social media.

This ranges from food festivals, to artisan markets covering all kinds of goods and creativity that support local entrepreneurs who in turn support the local economy, which after all is how all towns and cities grew over the centuries.??

Do you rely on your website and SEO to drive online and offline sales?

It's a rhetorical question of course yet once built and regularly tweaked your website is all about the internalised funnel mindset thereafter.

In?Internet culture, the 1% rule is a?rule of thumb?pertaining to participation in an?internet community, stating that only 1% of the users of a website actively create new content.

The 1% rule states that the number of people who create content on the Internet represents approximately 1% of the people who view that content. For example, for every person who posts on a forum, generally about 99 other people view that forum but do not post.

For example we all read quite a lot of content/blogs on a website that isn't on social platforms, we read it and think?'I have a view on that'?but because it isn't on a social platform we can't contribute, that is unless we create our own story about it and share it with others on social platforms.?

If this sounds familiar this is a huge gap in your strategy to build and engage with your community.

A 'Social Media Strategy' is designed to connect us with like minded people and draw potential prospects closer to us. It isn't just something that's done by the guy with the beard or the girl with tattoos in marketing.

This requires a strategic enterprise initiative along with the relevant training by professionals. Yes it's used to connect with family and friends, but the growth and activity around LinkedIn suggest more of a collaborative mindset is in play, a habit we see more and more on places like TikTok and Instagram, where the best profiles actively encourage and generate engagement along with building a loyal community of 'storytelling' brand advocates.?

What we still see and can evidence on social media is tactics without a cohesive strategy.

Have you noticed how long you spend in the TikTok rabbit hole?.

It's most definitely an all you can eat platform where once your in you can lose an hour or more at least. Whilst there are several ways to 'share' the content you enjoy, the reality is you are there to consume it and what you consume the addictive algo looks to feeds you more.

I guess the message here is that Tiktok isn't just a social platform like the ones we have gotten used to. We don't use it for social reasons we use it for content consumption and brands that are prepared to invest in the creation of not so quite 'brand police' stories can gain access to an as yet uncovered audience along with inspiring existing ones.

Key to success on this platform is most definitely to steer clear of the bland brand police corporate and overtly product promotion stuff we see in every other social channel.

I took a look at the TikTok accounts for both Marks & Spencer (25K followers) and John Lewis (8.5k followers) TikTok accounts.

I have to say the M&S Romford Store (93k followers) is without a doubt leading the way with some wonderful engaging stuff. If you want to better understand why they have almost 3 times the number of followers than the corporate channel go take a look and be inspired.

Which goes to show that local and highly relatable video content (not corporate) is an extremely powerful strategy whist the John Lewis account has simply transferred the product promotion mindset into what is effectively an entertainment channel.

Here's an idea. How about not waiting until the festive season kicks in?

Without a doubt we all love a slice of nostalgia and this theme could help retailers build out a community ahead of whatever they have in store for the festive season this year?

Imagine all those wonderful Xmas adverts of days gone by from the likes of 'John Lewis' 'M&S' Argos and many others being on TikTok as an audience builder. How about collaborating with smaller local businesses to create their TikTok version of the big store festive adverts.

Why? simply because In addition to the different religious festivities Diwali for one and Ten more can be found here. All of these form part of many of our shared cultures at this coming time of year because it's about community and family.

Just imagine as retail big and small is juggling with the biggest variable on the p&l which is the energy bills for themselves and consumers, is this an opportunity for big business to work with small business and enjoy mutual benefits?

How about inviting that local artisan into your store with space paid for from a % of turnover.?

How about bringing that Xmas market experience instore not just in the cold wet car park?

How about 'live streaming' it to the local community?

In it's latest series of updates Google seem to have gone back to it's, and the early webs roots. The most recent changes are suggesting that we now go back to a focus on a "people first" content mindset.?

According to Google, this is to

"better ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, rather than content made primarily for search engine traffic."

Answering yes to some or all of the questions is a warning sign that you should reevaluate how you're creating content across your site:

• Is the content primarily to attract people from search engines, rather than made for humans?
• Are you producing lots of content on different topics in hopes that some of it might perform well in search results?
• Are you using extensive automation to produce content on many topics?
• Are you mainly summarizing what others have to say without adding much value?
• Are you writing about things simply because they seem trending and not because you'd write about them otherwise for your existing audience?
• Does your content leave readers feeling like they need to search again to get better information from other sources?
• Are you writing to a particular word count because you've heard or read that Google has a preferred word count? (No, we don't).
• Did you decide to enter some niche topic area without any real expertise, but instead mainly because you thought you'd get search traffic?
• Does your content promise to answer a question that actually has no answer, such as suggesting there's a release date for a product, movie, or TV show when one isn't confirmed?

Being social both offline and online is first and foremost about being social, I don't know about you but I certainly wouldn't dream of going into a social occasion, even a business one and immediately start pitching to people, if I did I would expect to be turfed out by all and sundry.

Social is about sharing similar, or opposing views, its about creating and joining in conversations, its about engaging with those around you, so if you want your 1% dial to move forwards, be more social, join in those conversations, start a few of your own, and do a lot less selling.

With social media dominating and stimulating conversations it seems that all that corporate stuff that no one other than you read and was written for you by the SEO agency should at last start to force you to write stuff for real people.

Maybe, just maybe, this is the time to cease procrastinating and really take a strategic look at the art of employee engagement and upskilling the entire business to create and share relatable socially minded people focused content??

So senior leadership teams at both M&S and John Lewis (or others) if you got this far how about setting up an initial call to discuss strategic cohesion for further growth and business transformation ideation.

My colleagues and myself at Investor Brands are very much open for a 30 minute virtual call with you and your team.

After that we suggest a ‘paid for’ afternoon 'outcomes' based workshop with all your stakeholders in order both sides can better understand what the outcomes for growth and transformation will include.

From this session both parties can better assess the ongoing mutual involvement and cost.