museums&MORE Winter 2014

Finding Your Networking Niche

Do you notice anything different? That’s right. Museums & More has a new look that we hope you love. After reading through this issue, send me an email or leave a comment on our Facebook page and let us know what you think.

Speaking of Facebook, don’t forget Museums & More has a Facebook page where we post relevant links to help our readers succeed—and even entertain you a bit. Unfortunately, the response is often silence. I don’t say this to shame you into liking” everything that we post, but rather because I’m sure that many of you have felt the same way. When trying to market your business, it’s hard to know what works best for what audience.

Are shoppers more interested in Facebook or Twitter? Print ads and coupons or special events? Email or maybe a phone call? Given your limited resources — including time and staff — it’s important to figure out what gives you the most return on your investment.

According to new research from SocialTwist, a company that specializes in giving consumers incentives to share deals online, email beats social networks Facebook and Twitter combined as the top medium for sharing online coupons and other offers.

AdAge Digital reported that the firm found 55.4 percent of brand advocates used email to share information vs. only 2.6 percent using Twitter and 41.8 percent using Facebook.

But email proved to be the most effective channel for reaching consumers who
“engage and convert,” as SocialTwist puts it, which is to say those who click on offers and redeem them. Across its campaigns, 50.8 percent of new consumers were reached via email vs. 26.8 percent via Twitter and 22 percent via Facebook. However, when an offer is retweeted, it tends to get a lot more exposure than a forwarded email.

SocialTwist Chief Marketing Officer Vijay Sundaram believes it’s because “email is still a personal, one-to-one medium” and that people might not want the whole world to know some things they’re interested in and are somewhat more likely to use social networks to share offers about less-personal products.

I also think it’s harder to ignore an email than it is a random update, as it’s addressed specifically to one person and does embody that personal, one-to-one feel that one gets when shopping in an actual store.

So what have you found works for your store? What method of communication do you prefer yourself? Let me know at [email protected] or on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MuseumsAndMore.

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