• by Liz Aviles , April 8, 2016

As a CPG marketer, you get that social activation plays a crucial role in the shopper marketing mix. With almost 60% of Americans already actively using social media, brands and retailers recognize the important role that social platforms like Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram play in shoppers’ digitally enabled path to purchase. Brand and agency teams now consistently work together to maximize the benefits of integrating social in their shopper marketing strategy.

And the benefits are significant. Well executed social activation can be cost effective for both your brand and your partnering retailers—they gain social content and you gain a direct line to engage with their shoppers. Plus, when shoppers are exposed to your brand via retailers’ social media presence you form a continued, looping loyalty between all parties. Seems foolproof, right? 

Well, it can be if you recognize that integrating social media in shopper marketing plans requires an active and ongoing partnership between both brand and retailer teams. Brands that passively participate in social shopper marketing activation with their retailers fail to do their part in the equation to produce maximum results.

Avoid subpar social activation by putting the following priorities in action:

1. Reflect The Retailer

When creating social content for your retail partner, take their brand voice into account. Demonstrate an understanding of what their shoppers expect from the retailer’s brand on each specific social channel you use for engagement. If the content your brand provides does not align with the retailer’s social communications, it could interrupt the shopper’s experience, disappoint and ultimately shift the focus away from the program’s call to action.

2. Ensure Optimal Execution

Work closely with the retail partner to keep the social activation seamless. This means ensuring that your retailer has all assets in place for smooth execution. Partner together to develop an engagement process. Whether it’s asking users to use a hashtag for a chance to win or providing pre-crafted response messages for your retailer along with communication guidelines to follow during the promotion, the experience needs to flow easily for both partners.

3. Apply Seamless Integration Across the Entire Path to Purchase

The shopper should understand when a social post, radio ad or in-store communication is related to and part of a larger, unified program. Messaging should connect between all touch points, tell a story along the way and clearly communicate the main objective at each point.

Smart shopper marketing calls for brands to play an active role in their social activation—go figure! Actively partnering with your retailers ensures that both brand and retailer goals are achieved while enhancing the shopper’s experience.