We Play in Traffic

I just read a white paper by Adobe on their Scene7 product about how video is changing online shopping.  It got me to thinking about how retailers could better take advantage of all those retail Facebook fans and Twitter followers that offer love for the brand.

Part of this stems from the success of H2O Plus, the cosmetics and skin care brand.  H2O Plus had a user recently create and post a YouTube video that has received over 20,000 views. The video is very flattering to H2O Plus, and cost them no more than some free product to the user.

20,000 YouTube views for $100 in product.  And little time or effort on the part of the brand. I call that a good return from social media.

So, what if your retail brand solicited videos from your Facebook and Twitter constituents?  User-generated content (UGC).  Even brands like CareerBuilder (using UGC for their upcoming SuperBowl commercials) and JC Penney are doing this.

Here’s how I might get user evangelists in retail social media to work for me:

• Create a contest for submission of videos.

• The prizes could be shopping sprees at your retail store (great for consumers and less out-of-pocket cost for you).

• The contest needs some parameters for the content of the videos:  what do you want people to make videos about?  Their fantasy shopping experience at your store?  How to use products you sell?  A song about your store?  Why they love your retail brand?  Their dream job at your store?

• Give the contest a clever name that attracts attention.  “Taking it to the TJ Maxx.”  “Golden Rules of Midas.”  You’ll do better than me here.

• Make it simple to enter.  A place to post the videos.  Easy-for-consumers-to-use formats.  Simple rules.

• Then post the contest on your Facebook page regularly, on your website, and Tweet about it on Twitter with links back to your Facebook page.

• When the contest is done, you can use the winning videos on YouTube, and link from Facebook and Twitter again so that everyone can view them.  And if the videos are good enough, those fans will pass them along others they know.

Okay, okay, okay.  I know I’ve over simplified this by some magnitude.  But I also know you get the idea.

The white paper (admittedly biased because it comes from Adobe) describes some specific successes.  But even if this doesn’t lift retail sales 36% (claim of camera retailer Ritz), for not a lot of money and a bit of effort your retail brand may get something exciting and valuable out of a social media effort using UGC.