According to media consultancy eSocialMedia, British mothers on Facebook spend about 48 minutes on the site every day: “Cracking how to embrace social media properly for your business means that you could have as much of an impact on the market as FTSE 100 companies in the social media spectrum, without spending as much money.” eSocialMedia presented a series of seminars at the recent BPA Baby and Child Trade Fair at the ExCel in London, giving retailers tips on how to communicate with their customers and potential customers more effectively using online tools. The company helps businesses to leverage sites such as Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube and Twitter to help to achieve their business goals.

Amber Steventon, Managing Director of Azaria PR, says retailers can raise their profile in the community if they have a good idea of who their customer is and what they want: “Once you understand that, you can target specific publications and websites. We've found that more and more parents and mums-to-be read and trust online product reviews from other parents, so we've spent time targeting specific websites to ensure our clients' products are in the hands of the right people, at the right time.”

Ian Mullard, PR for Petite Star agrees: “You have to talk to as many potential customers in your area as you can reach; you have to let them know you're there and you have to give them a reason for coming to your store.”  He adds: “It is generally accepted that you should allocate at least 3% of your gross profit to marketing your business. However, at this point in our economic cycle when most people have a vice like grip on the purse strings you might consider working harder and spending a little more.”

Link up with quality brands online

To assist consumers in making an informed decision about which product to purchase, Britax has launched ‘feature & benefit’ videos for its six new pushchairs and also the large majority of child car seats. These videos will not only help consumers, but act as a great aid in training store staff on the key features and benefits of Britax products so that they in turn can be more supportive to their customers.

As one of the biggest general problems with child car seats is making sure they are fitted correctly, Britax has gone one step further and created ‘How to fit’ videos for the large majority of their child car seats to support and aid customers when installing the seat within their car, plus giving them the opportunity to learn and understand how to fit the car seat as they go through the process of purchasing their seat too. 

These videos are now already live on the individual product pages on www.britax.co.uk and already with certain retailers. If you would like to have these Britax videos linking to your website, contact your local Britax sales representative and they will work with you to get these live.

Using technology to train staff and boost sales

Staff training is extremely costly and time consuming.   Why not give your staff ongoing professional support and confidence to showcase all brands, as well as keeping them up to speed with new products?

IBPG offers touch-screen product demonstrations in store, for which there are many benefits to the retailer and in today’s difficult business climate, these shouldn’t be ignored, says the company.  As well as offering customers a unique shopping experience, the touch-screen can also act as a staff training aid.  Customer questions can be answered at the touch of a button and all kiosks are managed, maintained and updated by IBPG.

Did you know your customers will only tell an average of five people about a positive experience, but 10 people about a negative experience? The IBPG was born out the experiences of customers leaving a store simply because there was nobody available to ask for help and advice. The company’s detailed research has shown that the touch-screen kiosks are very much required in today’s stores – carrying your branding to promote your business further.

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