The whole point about social media is for it to be “social,” right? You want to draw in potential customers or clients with whom a standard line of communication may not be available or acceptable. The goal of social media is not as much for making the sale as it is for funneling traffic back to where you can then better engage them and work to build a devoted clientele.
Knowing the potential that this customer interaction model presents, I have to say that I was amazed to see a company as popular and successful as Sephora go against the grain. Many companies that maintain an email based loyalty program will typically send out occasional notices with special sales targeting those loyal customers who follow their email campaign. Much of the time such specials are not available to all comers; only to those who receive the email.
During a recent email campaign, Sephora rolled out a new format. Rather than simply offering the email recipients a promo code for a special Hello Kitty makeup palette, customers had to navigate to the company’s Fanpage and click the Like button to receive the code. This raises the question; if a customer could simply go to the Fanpage and click Like, then what need is there to give the company an email address?
This seems like a very quick way to alienate clients and/or customers with whom a company is already engaged. While they may have felt “special” when offering up their email address, this would quickly fade when sent to what could essentially be termed “middle men.” While getting Likes on Facebook or getting retweeted on Twitter is great, it is the sales that come in which help to measure the success of a social media campaign.
Forcing potential buyers to jump through several hoops, as Sephora did, is simply not a positive way to gain more sales. It will end up costing more in lost revenue in the long run. Remember; social media is all about directing traffic back to you, not the other way around. Using social media properly means utilizing it to build direct dialogues with those you are trying to attract.
Use it to make fans want your emails in their inbox rather than using their inbox to try and grab more fans. Otherwise you could end up alienating those who have already decided that you are worth their inbox space!