Crowdsourcing: Monetizing Social Media: Lane Bryant Case Study

Today’s blog post comes to us from Gillian Muessig, Founding President of SEOmoz

Social media had been the watchword of the day for months now. As ecommerce site owners, we are exhorted to set up Facebook pages, LinkedIn profiles, Twitter accounts. We’re supposed to get our customers to check in on FourSquare, and give us a thumbs up on Google Plus. Will it never end?

Well, yes. And no. Expect the social media space to continue to burgeon over time. Mobile apps, social platforms, and crowdsourcing platforms will continue to grow and diversify for the near future. After awhile, however, things will not just settle down, the platforms will begin to buy each other up and converge again. So keep breathing. This post will make you feel better about the effort you’ve been (and will be) putting in to your social media efforts.

As an ecommerce site owner, you’ll appreciate this case study from Lane Bryant on Facebook. In case you never visit a shopping mall anywhere in the US, Lane Bryant specializes in women’s plus size clothing.

I know the gentleman who manages Lane Bryant’s Facebook page. He’s middle aged, of Chinese birth, educated in the US, a brilliant technologist, totally unattached (no spouse or lover), and the very definition of ‘geek’. Hmmm. The perfect manager for a women’s plus size clothing community, you should be thinking. Well…. Actually, you’d be surprised.

This marketer, Dennis really knows his craft and is bringing an amazing ROI to his client.

• Most companies put a static image to the home page. Lane Bryant has a rotating offer and links to the deal.
• This post in the center of the page is another deal. It’s OK to provide real value to your followers to keep them around.

• Don’t miss the row of images just below the page name either. Those printable discount coupons are a frequent occurrence on this page.

• And finally, check out the text above the larger coupon on the center of the image. Friendly, welcoming, informal. Not too corporate; just right.

Here’s another nice little image showing nearly ½ a million – yes, ½ million! – followers. How did he do that?

Lane Bryant purchased Facebook ads and targeted women with specific keywords in their interests to build the initial group of followers. Then, Dennis engaged them. One of the most powerful examples of how he builds and continually engages his audience was demonstrated live at a conference. As the administrator, he wrote the following question into the Lane Bryant page:

“What color do you feel like this morning?”

Not, “What color do you like?” or “How do you feel today?” Note the careful turn of the wording. It’s beautiful, encourages response beyond a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. It addresses the moment – morning.

And then the magic began. Within seconds, seven responses came in. Before his presentation was completed 335 minutes later, more than 700 responses had been logged. Within the hour, more than 1,000 responses had been entered.

While many of the responses were mono-terms, some were florid, poetic, and beautiful.

• “Blue”
• “Baby blue”
• “Lavender, like the soft dawn outside my window”
• “Soft pink, like the light streaming onto my desk as I prepare for morning with my twins”

Amazing. That’s the kind of depth of engagement every ecommerce brand is looking for. What can you do with this data? What’s the ROI?

Well, for starters, you can address and reward the responses. Try this:

“If you answered ‘lavender’, you’re in luck. All lavender shirts are on sale through tomorrow. Use the code ‘LAVENDER’ to get your favorite colors today.”

Or look down the road a bit…

If you’re the product manager or buyer at Lane Bryant, you just crowd-sourced next year’s product line. You’ll be buying and manufacturing lavender under garments in time for the holiday season!

In essence, the tactics you want to take away from this post are:

• • Set goals for social media platforms and shoot for success. If you want people to engage, be prepared to pay for a few facebook ads and target people whose profile indicate they are interested in your subject/products.

• Give people a REASON to follow you. Offer deals, special access to events, news, first access to new products

• Engage your followers with open ended questions, not ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions. Encourage them to be creative and ask questions that will give you answers to questions you care about.

• Crowd source the design, color, development, and purchasing of your prouct line. What better way to optimize sales than to ask your customers what they want, how much they are willing to pay for it, and what sizes and colors they want and need?

Social media, whether through Facebook or twitter or other social media platforms will help you increase your sales and optimize your product development and purchasing processes.

And perhaps this is the best news. Whether you or not you are a member of your own target market, you as the merchant can engage your customers in ways that are meaningful for both your business and their interests.

Till Next Month-

Gillian Muessig
Founding President SEOmoz
CEO Coach at WebmasterRadio.fm
@SEOmoz & @SEOmom