How to best use social media to reach new customers and launch new products

It's easy to think that great social media can only come from big businesses with big budgets. When actually, often it's the smaller businesses that really get a handle on what makes social great and utilise it to drive sales, sentiment and loyalty.

Take Mary's of Enfield for example. This small ladies and occasionwear business just happens to be a fantastic example of how to best use social media. Mary’s of Enfield is a family owned and run business in Hoddesdon where Trina, Tracey and India help women across the UK get wedding and occasion ready. During lockdown they saw weddings and events cancelled which meant in order to maintain sales, they had to launch new lines and find alternative ways to serve customers.

Read on to find out how to best use social media if you're up against the same challenges.

Maybe* Head of Retail, Donna sits down for a Zoom chat with Hoddesdon  occasionwear business , Mary's of Enfield to understand how they have pivoted during lockdown to offer new products and services

How is the business using social media?

Mary's of Enfield has learned how to best use social media from scratch. It's a family-run business so daughter India leads on the social media front.

Mary's is a part of the Hoddesdon business community and uses social media to engage other local businesses and share others' messages, as well as their own. Mary's sings the praises of Love Hoddesdon, the local BID, which helps all businesses support each other online with plenty of mutual social media tagging and content sharing.

Mary's also listens to customer feedback from social media and uses that to inform their content. The business saw an overwhelmingly positive response when they stopped using model shots and instead showed themselves wearing the product. This approach now forms an integral part of their content strategy.

 

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A post shared by Mother of Bride/Groom outfits (@marysofenfield)

How has the business had to pivot during lockdown?

Mary’s has been through three lockdowns and as a result has pivoted the business - learning and growing with the changing pressures of the  pandemic. They began by offering a more conservatively priced leisurewear range which appealed more to customers who had to stay at home.

Now, the store offers click and collect, local delivery and home-delivery.   Even when the showroom is closed, they are still able to serve their clients and assist them in getting ready for the most special day of their lives, albeit under some very difficult circumstances.

The business usually stocks occasionwear and wedding dresses, but during lockdown they branched out into more ‘conservatively priced’ lines along with leisurewear which attracted a new type of customer. 

Weddings have been smaller and even cancelled in the last year which has been hard for the team to watch, however they have been helping customers via phone, email and social media every day of the pandemic. This approach and commitment has ensured that no matter what their customer’s special day holds, they will look and feel a million dollars with the help of the ladies at Mary’s of Enfield.

The business is ready to come out of the latest lockdown with social distancing guidelines in place, click and collect and delivery services and new stock. But in the meantime Mary's knows how to best use social media to keep serving customers.

Key takeaway

Knowing how to best use social media is hard, especially if current circumstances have changed the demand for your product. Social media provides a communication channel so that you can communicate all the changes you are making to enable you to serve customers. Whether that's new products, different price points, or different delivery methods, social media can help you get your message out there. Listening to your customer comments will help you improve your content and make it work harder for you. So if your customers ask for real people in images and not just models, give it to them. It will pay off in engagement and positive brand sentiment.