With Facebooks’ recent move away from business advertising and their latest data leaking debacle, businesses are being forced to consider their options for social media advertising. We turn to Twitter and find out why this platform, which is traditionally a source for breaking news, also offers retailers a wealth of opportunities.

The Twitterati love Shopping

Twitter is a great platform to engage directly with your customers and provide one:one customer service. The response is faster than traditional contact methods. But Twitter can also be valuable in various other ways, including for shopping. Twitter’s latest research shows that more than 70% of Twitter users are interested in retail, and have bought online or instore in the past week.

Twitter’s latest stats

Twitter’s latest report looks at the specifics of how shoppers use Twitter, and includes some interesting findings:

• 66% of Twitter users log in on a daily basis, with the largest proportion active between 6pm and 9pm
• 24% of those using Twitter for retail-related activities on Twitter do so to search for deals
• Around 76% of Twitter users already follow brands, with retailers making up around 30% of them
• Separately, 24% use Twitter to stay up-to-date with the latest products, while 22% use it to contact the store.

The research shows Twitter is crucial for retail brands that are looking to communicate directly with their customer base. It’s also interesting to note that most of the activity on Twitter is outside of regular working hours. Perhaps this is when users are more relaxed and have more time to shop for deals.

Through the Sales Funnel

As we all know bottom line sales are the most important numbers at the end of the day. Twitter claims that they can help move your target customer closer to a conversion. And this is why:

• 46% of the retail audience have directly linked to a brand asset via Twitter.
• While 45% have engaged in further research after viewing something in relation to retail.
• And most importantly 50% of them have signaled purchase intent either online, visiting a physical store or a price comparison site.

Here are some great examples of brands engaging Twitter’s Retail Audience by using a mixture of Polls, Video Website Cards, and competitions.

Twitter’s gathered their key findings into this new infographic, highlighting the opportunities for retail businesses:

If you’re looking for inventive ways to reach and engage with your customer base and ultimately lead them to conversion, chat to the Girl Geeks at Creative Imagineering. This is our game. Email us.