Social Media Marketing

In retail, many chase the next big thing—a new style, a new way to reach consumers—triggering a frantic race to adopt. But most trends fade as fast as they appear. The real game-changers are curated habits that prove they can stand the test of time. I’ve championed social commerce as the future of retail for over a decade. In hindsight, that barely scratches the surface. It’s now a deeply ingrained consumer behavior. The imperative isn’t just to adopt it, but to evolve with it—constantly and intentionally. At HSN, social commerce was core to our strategy. We pioneered the blend of shopping and entertainment. That’s the essence: finding the sweet spot where entertainment, connection, and commerce converge. Soon after, platforms like Twitch began enabling users to both game and shop in real time, blending entertainment with commerce. Fanatics has successfully leaned into this model as well, immersing fans in live experiences while showcasing gear in action, often worn by their favorite athletes and community, turning fandom into a powerful trust signal. More recently, TikTok Shop collapsed the purchase funnel into a single scroll. It's no longer discover, then buy. Now, it’s see it, want it, buy it—seamlessly, in-platform. So, as we look ahead, how do I see this "social commerce habit" evolving? Here's what I expect: 🔹 Creator Integration is Non-Negotiable. For Gen Z, in particular, TikTok Shop has become a primary discovery engine. They trust their favorite creators to genuinely try products and offer honest feedback. The more brands lean into authentic partnerships with creators, the more trust they build in this integrated shopping experience. It’s about relationship-driven commerce. 🔹 Embrace a Zero-Click World. Speed and simplicity are paramount. Consumers need to be able to see, buy, and receive as fast as humanly possible. This means minimal clicks, minimal friction, and no moments for reconsideration. It's about instant gratification and removing all barriers between desire and ownership. 🔹 Elevate Live Shopping. This is a powerful return to the personal connection and real-time interaction that defined the best of traditional retail. Shoppable videos and live sessions transform social media into a personalized shopping aisle. Imagine experts demonstrating products, showing how they fit or can be styled, all in real-time, tailored to your interests. It brings humanity back to digital retail. 🔹 Unlock the Power of Virtual Try-Ons. A longstanding hurdle in e-commerce is "try before you buy." AI-enabled virtual try-on features solves that, making online shopping more immersive and convenient. This translates directly into higher conversion rates, deeper engagement, and customers spending more valuable time interacting with your brand digitally. It’s time to stop treating social commerce like a trend. This is commerce, full stop. It’s a fundamental consumer behavior that belongs at the center of every modern retail strategy.

If more of your store sales start on TikTok lately, you might wanna read this. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦. The checkout happens in-store. But the sale happens everywhere else. Here's the reality: This year 60%+, and in 2027, 70% of retail sales will be digitally influenced. I can't emphasize this enough; here's what most brands miss—digital influence isn't just about online sales. It's about shaping every moment before the customer even walks into your store. L'Oréal cracked this code: 100M+ AR try-on sessions driving real conversions. 31 brands orchestrating seamless experiences across 72 countries. No.1 in beauty influencer marketing (29% market share), 20-80% higher conversion rates through enhanced digital experiences. The new customer journey isn't linear—it's layered: - They discover you on social - Research you through reviews and UGC - Try your product virtually through AR - Get retargeted with personalized content - Finally purchase in-store (feeling confident they're making the right choice) Every touchpoint matters, and every interaction influences the final decision. The brands winning today aren't just selling products—they're orchestrating experiences across owned, paid, and earned media that guide customers from curiosity to checkout. Digital discovery is increasingly pay-to-play and shoppers are paying attention. ++ Tactical Recommendations for CPG / FMCG Brands ++ 1. Beyond just having perfect, high SOV product pages, create discovery ecosystems. - Optimize for "zero-moment-of-truth" searches. - Activate shoppable content at scale. - Leverage user-generated content as social proof. Brands that do these see a 35% higher conversion rate from digital touchpoints to in-store purchases. 2. Connect digital engagement directly to retail execution. - Geo-target digital campaigns to drive foot traffic - Create "store-specific" digital content CPG brands using geo-targeted social ads see a 23% higher in-store sales lift in targeted markets. 3. Most important one; stop flying blind—measure digital influence on offline sales. - Implement unique promo codes for each digital touchpoint to track conversion paths. - Use customer surveys at point of purchase. - Partner with retailers on shared data insights Brands with proper attribution see 15-25% improvement in marketing ROI within 12 months. 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 ecommert® 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟰,𝟲𝟬𝟬+ 𝗖𝗣𝗚, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘁® : 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. #CPG #FMCG #AI #ecommerce Procter & Gamble PepsiCo Unilever The Coca-Cola Company Nestlé Mondelēz International Kraft Heinz Ferrero Mars Colgate-Palmolive Henkel Bayer Haleon Kenvue The HEINEKEN Company Carlsberg Group Philips Samsung Electronics Panasonic North America

I’ve generated ~40M social impressions in 2024. Here are 5 rules every single one of my videos follow. 1️⃣ Avoid Retention Editing Too many creators look at Mr Beast for inspiration, but fail to realize his audience is mostly children. Viewers want a more raw authentic experience with you. Ditch the sound effects and motion graphics. Just drop the value. 2️⃣ “But Therefore” Rule Any great story has peaks and valleys. Insert contrasting phrases like “but, however, except, therefore, or unfortunately" right after you deliver value to keep the audience continuously engaged.   3️⃣ Hooks that actually hook The hook is arguably the most important part of your video. Be menacle. Be intentional. Your hook should create a curiosity loop that can only be closed if the viewer watches the video all the way through. You’ll need a verbal hook (what you say), visual hook (what you show), and text hook (what the words on the screen say).  4️⃣ Write, write, and rewrite. I used to never write scripts. And that’s f*cking crazy. If you have an idea, start writing. It may not flow or make any sense. But just write. Jerry Seinfeld once said "the best way to write better jokes was to write a lot of jokes, and the only way to write a lot of jokes was to write every day." 5️⃣ There are never enough angles. Too many creators make the mistake of letting a clip breathe too long. Specifically on short form content. If you’re filming yourself doing work at your desk, don’t just film that clip for 10 seconds. Get 5 two second clips from different angles. This adds another element of depth to your video. This is by no means an all encompassing list. Nor do I believe this is the ONLY way to create video content. There are creators like Sam Sulek who just lets his camera rip for 45min straight. No edits. And it works (some how) These are just the 5 rules I currently like to follow. But what else would you add to this list?

“70% of our marketing time is spent on recovering abandoned carts. On WhatsApp.” That was the single biggest takeaway from a customer call yesterday, for me. A French retailer selling bespoke fashion worldwide. Here’s what they told me: "WhatsApp messaging isn’t cheap. Everybody knows that. But we believe in the channel. We know it’s our best shot at being seen. At being heard. At carving a space right where our customers live, next to their friends and family.” So they stopped treating abandoned cart reminders like afterthoughts. Instead, they built campaigns that command attention. And I’ve never seen anything like them. 🔥 Campaign #1: The After-Dark Discount Window Instead of sending a routine cart reminder, they unlock a private discount window at 10 PM. Why? Because late-night browsing isn’t rational, it’s emotional. Customers who opt-in get an exclusive deal during this nocturnal shopping spree. 💰 Campaign #2: Shoppers Name Their Price They don’t shove a price at the customer. They hand over the pricing power. Shoppers reply with a price they’re willing to pay. If it falls within range, it’s approved. This campaign has the highest engagement numbers I’ve EVER seen on WhatsApp. 🎥 Campaign #3: Staff Wearing the Carted Item Forget static product images. They broadcast videos of staff members wearing the item, describing the fit and fabric. It kills doubts. It brings the product to life. It makes buying feel effortless. For every $1 spent on WhatsApp cart recovery, they make $30 back. Why? Because they treat every abandoned cart like a full-fledged marketing campaign. No lazy nudges. No generic messages. Every interaction, memorable. WhatsApp marketing is wildly profitable—if you refuse to take shortcuts

We're seeing a massive wave of Amazon endemic brands starting to invest heavily in non-Amazon media to drive growth on their Amazon storefronts. Why is this happening now? The primary reason is that it is clear that Amazon's algorithm is favoring brands and sellers who are bringing new, fresh 3rd party demand onto Amazon for a particular product or category. It's also getting more and more expensive to be purely an Amazon-centered brand, including media and advertising investment, and sellers need to find demand for their products elsewhere. Using Amazon Attribution, there is now a clear way to generate full-funnel awareness while measuring the impact of the investment off of Amazon. Here's how it works: Amazon sellers are deploying a new strategy to help grow awareness of the brand and consideration for their products through a series of paid social and search ads. While their social ads would help introduce the brand to new audiences, the search ads would help the brand engage shoppers actively researching within the brand's target category—meeting them in the moment they are looking to purchase. Using Amazon Attribution measurement, once campaigns launch, sellers are able to view Amazon conversion reporting alongside their paid social and search reporting from within the same console they were using for campaign execution. Here's what SmartyPants Vitamins saw when they executed this approach: - Awareness: At the top of the funnel, the increased awareness due to its paid social campaigns helped drive 125% growth in new-to-brand orders for SmartyPants. - Consideration: Meanwhile, the brand’s paid search strategy helped grow consideration for SmartyPants’ products. Leveraging Quartile’s auto-optimization tool to focus spend toward the ads receiving the highest engagement, the brand was able to achieve a 1.6X ROAS (return on ad spend). - Loyalty: Finally, contributing to the year-over-year sales growth, the Amazon Ads remarketing campaigns lead to a 5% sales increase. Additionally, the campaign focus on reaching shoppers that had previously purchased from the brand helped drive a 268% increase in Subscribe & Saves. I've shared the full case study in case you would like to learn more, and if you are an Amazon seller looking to capitalize on this trend, please get in touch.

Here's how I got my client to listen to her community instead of just her business My client, an owner of a local coffee shop, was puzzled. Despite active social posts, her coffee shop stayed quiet. She was shouting into the digital void. One day, she overheard customers: "I wish there was a quiet place to work with good Wi-Fi and late hours."  Lightbulb moment! She shared with me over the discovery call that she'd forgotten to listen to her community. I changed her approach. 1. Tuned In: Followed local hashtags, joined community groups. 2. Read Between Lines: Noticed discussions about study spaces and late-night coffee needs. 3. Adapted: Extended hours, upgraded Wi-Fi, created quiet zones. 4. Engaged: Joined conversations, shared tips beyond just promotions. 5. Measured: Tracked mentions and sentiments. Result? Her shop became the go-to spot. Revenue doubled, engagement soared – all from posting smarter, not more. Most businesses focus on sales rather than social listening, so here's why social listening matters to all brands: 1. Uncover needs 2. Improve offerings 3. Manage crises 4. Gain competitive edge 5. Build authentic connections For those of you who are missing that vibe in your business, I would like to set a challenge: 1. Observe your niche for a week without self-promotion. 2. Find three surprising audience insights. 3. Plan strategy adjustments based on these. Share your biggest revelation! How will you transform your approach? #SocialListening #DigitalMarketing #BrandStory

I often see people who misinterpret social media as a community building tool. It can be used as such, but very tough to do. (and most people who think they are doing it right are just building another distribution outlet — which is great, but different from building a community) It requires a slightly different approach than the average social strategy. Social Platforms (like X & LinkedIn) • Open networks • Content dependent • Great because people are usually spending lots of their time there • Tough to stand out since you’re competing against the algorithm, other creators, brands, and everyone else in the feed Community Platforms (like Discord, Slack, Circle) • Usually closed networks • Dependent on user engagement • Great for consolidating your core group of members • Very tough to maintain over time since you need people to come back to your specific group (even tougher if engagement is declining) Ok, so how do you use social platforms top build an online community? 1/ Define your community 2/ Share it on your social accounts, in your bio, etc. 3/ Align your content around this community and what they love 4/ When you create your content, keep this specific community in mind 5/ Share updates publicly just like you would within a Discord channel 6/ Allocate a good chunk of time per day to community management 7/ Nurture your most engaged followers by supporting their content 8/ Make introductions directly in the feed wherever possible 9/ Use your platform to elevate others in your community 10/ Introduce group language that people can use How do you know when you’re doing it right? • People will use your account to discover others with similar interests • People will use your language and phrases in their posts • People will use the comments section of your posts like a forum • People will host meetups or connect with one another IRL at events • People will often tag you in content related to your community In closing, Yes, you can use social platforms like X & LinkedIn to build an online community. But it requires much more effort than just posting content about your brand or the problem you solve. You’ve got to constantly keep the community you’re serving top of mind, put in the time to nurture your members, and be consistent over a long period of time.

The Power of Personalization: Coca-Cola’s "Share a Coke" Campaign Ever wondered how Coca-Cola turned a decline in sales into a global marketing sensation? They did it with something simple, yet incredibly effective — personalization. The "Share a Coke" campaign was all about making the product feel personal to each customer. Instead of just the usual Coke logo, bottles featured common first names, turning every drink into a personalized experience. Why does this matter? This was a genius move because it encouraged people to buy Cokes for their friends, snap photos, and share them on social media using the hashtag #ShareACoke. It wasn’t just a gimmick; it created an emotional connection with the product, which boosted customer engagement and created a viral social media wave. The Strategy: Coca-Cola didn’t just rely on the bottles themselves. They partnered with celebrities and influencers, spreading the message even further. They allowed fans to create custom digital Coke bottles online, giving them the chance to take ownership of the campaign and feel even more connected. The Results: Australia saw a 7% increase in sales, reversing a 10-year decline. Global sales boosted by 2%. Facebook traffic to Coca-Cola’s page skyrocketed by 870%. Pro Tip: This campaign wasn’t just about putting names on bottles — it was about creating a personal connection with consumers and encouraging sharing and engagement. Coca-Cola didn’t just sell a product, they created a movement. Want to know more about the best marketing campaigns? Subscribe now for more expert insights on how top brands win!

Perfection doesn't impress young audiences anymore. I see this mistake constantly in social media marketing. Brands spend thousands on polished content, thinking it shows professionalism. But they're missing what actually matters. The obsession with flawless aesthetics creates distance. Every over-edited photo, every meticulously crafted caption - it all screams "corporate marketing." Think about it: The most engaging content creators don't have pristine feeds. They show real moments. Real reactions. Real mistakes. We need to unlearn our perfectionist habits in social media marketing. Stop treating every post like a magazine ad. Your strategy needs rough edges. Real-time content. Authentic voice. Because here's the truth: Perfect is predictable. Perfect is boring. Perfect doesn't connect. Want to reach young audiences? Show them your brand's genuine personality, not its Instagram filter. That's how you build trust. That's how you create real engagement. And that's what actually converts.

Over the last quarter we’ve seen a huge uptick in impressions accross our social channels. So, what changed? The biggest change was our approach to social activation. Instead of using social platforms as a means of conversion, we shifted focus to brand awareness. This shift gave us the ability to produce better performing content that drove likes and shares rather than product/sales based content that consistently caused posts to flop. I now approach social media with the tactic of breadth and depth. Breadth are posts design to expand top of funnel brand awareness. These posts are engaging, funny, and or insightful but appeal to a wide audience and drive shares. These shares drive followers and impressions and lead to brand awareness. The secondary posts come with depth. Depth offers your followers a more meaningful experience with your brand or product and strengthens their time in the conversion phase of the customer journey. Posts with depth often have less engagement which we anticipate and recognize against our KPIs. This constant play of breadth and depth now drives new followers and then educated them on our mission and product. As you look across social platforms you will see that posts that boast sales, product heavy information or bottom of funnel specific activation, they almost always flop. This is because social platforms want you to pay for that conversion and the platforms no longer support those posts. This means that conversion comes through paid advertising and other middle to bottom funnel activation while social remains a more top of funnel play. What’s most important here is this tactic works today. Tomorrow something completely different might be the new tactic. In order to win, marketers must be fluid and adaptive to social, althgorithmic and economic changes.