Viralogy

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The thing I love about social media is its flexibility. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to pidgeon-hole it into one category or another. In many ways, social media is the ultimate interactive customer service platform, competing with e-mail support and call centers. But social media doesn’t have to *just* be an avenue for customer service. It can also be used as a great way to drive revenue and generate sales, if done in the right way.

Unfortunately, there are a plethora of companies that prefer to take the easy route and set up their accounts as feeds to their web presence, instead of creating a unique and individualized experience. Rather than dwell on some of the more depressing case studies, let’s look at one of the companies that best uses social media for cross-promotion. The beauty store Sephora has really done wonders to generate in-store and online conversions using simple social media tools. Any retailer with the motivation could do what they do. They’re a prime example of a company that doesn’t just mail it in, but one that reaches above and beyond to improve a user’s social media experience and exposure to their brand.

Sales Cross Promotion: Sephora

Though I’m not personally a customer, it’s easy to admire the work that Sephora has done on their Facebook Fan Page. Their campaigns are both engaging and memorable, and they make sure to raise the bar for creativity. Their current campaign, SephoraClaus is innovative and drives awareness about the company’s products. Their SephoraClaus.com website is fully integrated with Twitter, and is cross-promoted on their Facebook Fan Page. They clearly have one of the most dedicated (and enthusiastic) staffs for social media out there.

SephoraClaus combines a well-designed and aesthetically pleasing website, adeptly combining its own branding with social media functionality. The promotion asks a user to Tweet a “beauty wish” (of up to $150), and @Sephora offers to grant one wish each day. Over the 20 days that it has been running, over 46,500 wishes have been made. Though the campaign does not directly sell items, it raises awareness and engagement. As a comparison, look at the mentions for SephoraClaus and Macy’s over the past 7 days. Keep in mind that Macy’s is a MUCH larger brand, with over 30 times the annual revenue of Sephora. (NOTE: IE8 users should switch to Compatibility Mode to view the chart below.)

Not bad for a (relatively) small company. But is this the first big marketing campaign they’ve done in social media? Absolutely not. In April, they did a Facebook campaign, asking users to send each other virtual tote bags for Earth Day through their Facebook application. Each user would receive a promotional code reedeemable for one real tote bag in-store. Talk about a great example of cross-promotion.

Currently, Sephora has over 300,000 fans on Facebook, and uses their page wisely to give away coupon codes and promote sales items. Hopefully we will see many, many more social media cross-promotions by Sephora for in-store and online sales. This is a great way to harness the power of the large audience on social media, and to translate it into real conversions.

Jaremy writes a blog on gaming, technology, social media and marketing. He hopes that his wish for a Tarte Crown Jewels Lipgloss Multi-Gift Set comes true. Well, maybe at least for his fiancee