Having grown up in retail, I've always been fascinated by stores, shopping centres, customer service…
But there are times when I walk into a store, glance around and immediately walk out. Something just isn't right. Maybe it's a disconnect between the window display and what's for sale inside. Maybe the staff are obnoxious or too into themselves. Whatever it is, it feels like a promise has been broken and a potential customer (me) is lost for good.
I remember when I was a kid checking out malls with my Dad, noticing all the people there and remarking how busy the stores were. My Dad would glance around and shake his head.
While I was counting feet, he was counting something else: how many people were carrying bags, i.e. who had actually bought something.
He wasn't taken in by the traffic, a metric mall management used to entice retailers to sign a lease. As an indie merchant he was looking for a more practical outcome. Proof of sales, the thing his business success depended on.
I think that's a good lesson for social media.
So rather than being impressed by a high volume of online traffic, let's focus on something that matters: figuring out what our online shopping bags might be – and counting those instead.
I'm interested to hear your take.
Timely analogy Martin and considering that so many GTA malls are also subway parking hubs, looks can be deceiving when you see how many cars are in a parking lot versus how many people are in the stores. Despite our industry's reluctant dependance on measuring eyeballs, I've never felt that it was an accurate measure of whether or not people had any takeaways from a brand interaction, never mind the key messages you want them to retain. That said, sometimes a cumulative effect takes place where if I see something on a billboard, hear about it on the radio, see it trending on Twitter, read it in a magazine, etc. I start to perceive it as a force, It gets into my psyche, I'm aware of it and if it fits a need, I'll seek it out. I may not have had a meaningful interaction with any of those individual platforms but all together, something worked. Of course this calls for coordinated messages across all channels and we all know that doesn't happen as often as it should.
Thanks Louise. Good point. There's something to be said for 'surround sound' to make you pay attention and listen. And then hopefully, there will be an outcome.
This anaology really helped clarify the meaning of online engagement and knowing when it has delivered results. Gotta love shopping to clear the air!
For some time now, a lot of experts have been saying it's not about the number of followers, but the value of the content. In this case, not being about the number of feet, I do still feel you need followers or foot traffic to visit your store or read your content. If it's a great product, brand or compelling content, having a large audience or more foot traffic helps increase the results or sales. If you don't have a large audience or have low foot traffic, but your content or product is still amazing, then your sales or engagement may still be compromised.
These experts have thousands of followers on Twitter and even though I don't know their number of subscribers or Facebook friends, could they honestly say that having a large audience has not been a part of the success equation?
Audience + compelling content = sales
Audience – compelling content = loss
Compelling content – audience = loss
Thanks Samantha. You make a great point. And you're right – traffic is important to drive people to get those all important shopping bags.
Could they be perhaps the feedback we receive? I know when it comes to the music I post online, its not how many plays my songs get or how many times my profile is viewed, but when people actually comment on the songs that I feel real validation.
Interesting also to think about who the shopping bags are for: the viewer/reader/listener as your other comment seems to imply, or the writer, producer, poster?
Interesting post and good analogy to be sure. 🙂
Thanks Jacob. I think for blogs/music/creative endeavours, feedback is a big part of it. I also like your philosophical questions. I'll have to ponder those a bit more.
Thanks Jessi. I like what you added with your interpretation.,
This is a great concept. It's true that the amount of online traffic a certain website or media outlet gets isn't what makes it solid. The shopping bags, as you put them, are the bits of information we take away with us that teach us something. They are the things we remember about a blog post from this person or a video from that.
Great analogy. I enjoyed this thoroughly.