Let's Socialize

Social media has come a long way from its roots as a means for college students to stay connected.

It wasn't that long ago when we all had to sneak onto Facebook at the office — keeping the browser window small and ready to hide — as it was against most company policies to access social networks at the office. Indeed, many companies went so far as to block any access to these websites.

Now, spending time on these sites is part of my job. In fact, it's even in my official job description. In other words, now I'm expected to be on Facebook at work, as well as LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, You- Tube, Flikr … the list goes on.

I'm definitely not alone. In fact, I'm sure it's people like me, visiting Facebook for business reasons, who have helped the platform jump past Google this past August in terms of user time spent on the site.

According to new data from ComScore Inc. in August, people spent a total of 41.1 million minutes on Facebook, compared with the 39.8 million minutes people spent on all of Google's sites combined, including YouTube, Gmail, Google news and Google images.

The same thing is happening at retail. There are hundreds of food retailers whose Facebook pages I currently "Like," and I add new ones every day. (For those of you who may not know the terminology, Liking something on Facebook is a way to give positive feedback or to connect with things you're interested in. You can Like content that your friends post or pages that you want to connect with.)

What this means is that somebody who works for each of these retailers is also accessing social networks as part of his or her job. And some have done so in a really big way.

Target's Facebook page is Liked by more people than any other retailer — 1,729,245, in fact, as of Sept. 10. More people Like Target's page than the pages of National Geographic, "America's Next Top Model" and even the movie "Scarface."

Having a direct connection to that many consumers presents a ton of opportunities, especially when you consider that it dwarfs the size of many consumer panels, including Nielsen's Homescan panel, which has about 100,000 members.

What's more, these consumers who are connected to Target's Facebook page actively provide feedback on Target's Wall posts by Liking them or posting comments of their own. Some of Target's posts draw thousands of comments. How many focus groups would it take to get that volume of feedback? And at what cost?

Target also leverages its Facebook audience by using the Facebook Poll feature, which provides tremendous insights into its shoppers. Just look at the response to this poll:

This feedback is perhaps the most important reason that all retailers should have a Facebook page. Consumers who are connected to these pages want to provide feedback. They feel empowered, because they know that their comments — whether positive or negative — will be seen by everyone who Likes the page. If I have an issue with Target, I can address it in front of 1.7 million Target shoppers. If it's an important issue, others will support me with their comments. If I were really excited about a Target product or service, I could share my positive reviews with the Target Facebook Page as well. And it's through these comments — and Target's reactions to them — that each shopper helps to contribute to shaping the retailer's future.

Target's Facebook page also includes other services such as the Merona My Look Maker application, which lets users combine different styles of clothing from a menu to see how they look together as an outfit.

The "College" tab of Target's Facebook page has some handy tools for college kids, such as coupons on school items, college checklists and a sleek app, called Roommates by Target, that allows students to set up a roommate group, so they can plan their shopping, manage bills, and divide chores with others in their dorms. There's even a "Reviews" tab where users can post their reviews about all things Target.

Granted, not all posts on a retailer's Facebook page will be positive. But even negative feedback can be useful for providing information about what its customers don't want. And if the retailer responds quickly to address a negative post, and addresses it in a sincere manner, it can win that customer back.

The key here, folks, is engagement. We can never forget the social part of social media. Not only do we want to encourage dialogue to and from our audience, but also from one audience member to another.

Walking the Walk

Progressive Grocer is no stranger to social media. Our LinkedIn group has just under 1,500 members, many of whom are active in discussions and connecting with each other to share their knowledge. Our Facebook page is Liked by hundreds of people daily, who comment on our daily news stories, post links to interesting articles elsewhere, discuss industry issues and browse retailer photo galleries.

We've even built our own custom social network from the ground up for a segment of the industry for which it's particularly suited: the independent grocer. I've found that this group is highly willing to share information with their peers, as most independents are smaller, community-based operations, and their competitors are limited to a specific region.

The disparate nature of independent grocers is why there are many in-person share groups on a variety of topics for this type of retailer. But these share groups — as well as other networking opportunities — are for the most part in-person events, and as such occur only a couple of times each year.

Social media changes all this, enabling these groups to maintain a dialogue year-round.

Earlier this year, we launched a custom social network developed in partnership with the National Grocers Association (NGA) that is specifically for the independent grocer, a place where they can learn from their most valuable resources — each other.

Called the Independent Grocer Network (www.independentgrocernetwork.com), the online community was created to enable its members to discover and share actionable insights about issues unique to the independent grocer. Members can gather with peers to learn from each other by sharing retail-specific best practices, addressing real-world challenges, and engaging in ongoing discussions with a depth and breadth unavailable anywhere else.