A blog on issues affecting Australia's newsagents, media and small business generally. More ...

Cards and wrap driving traffic and basket depth growth

We are experiencing terrific year on year growth in card sales. The May numbers on a same-store year-on-year comparison basis are terrific.

Looking across this you have May 2017 in the numbers to the left. next, you have May 2016. Then, you have the variance.

Unit sales and revenue are tracking very well.

Unit sales are up 24% and revenue is up 30%. These results are more than four times the industry average right now.

Looking at the business, which is in a highly competitive space, I see the results as being driven by:

  1. An easily shopped display located from the entrance of the business, offering a good view of the products.
  2. Engaged staff.
  3. Shop floor service.
  4. regular social media promotion.
  5. Instant gratification loyalty.
  6. Longer term shopper loyalty.
  7. Counter offer for impulse purchase of cards.
  8. Store exit offer pitching cards.

Cards are an easy sell in newsagencies if they are done right and maintained daily to be best-practice. My view is the list above reflects what I see as being done right.

Too often newsagents rely on card company reps to manage cards. They are not retailers. They rarely have the skills necessary to drive the success you can have with cards.

The more you engage yourselves in-store the more success you can have.

There is growth here for the taking by engaged newsagents.  This is an opportunity for a self made good new story for all of us, in every situation, regardless of location or population.

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giftwrap

Pitching magazines on social media

I don’t pitch magazines often on social media but when I do I try and do it in a way that is interesting, different to the usual XXX out now type post. Indeed, being interesting, and entertaining, is essential on social media today, especially on Facebook.

That is what I have gone for here with this post yesterday about That’s Life Reader Recipes. I’m having a bit of fun referencing reality TV.

That’s Life Reader Recipes is a simple publication. I like it for that simplicity. It is local and sharing everyday recipes from everyday Aussies. It is a title ideal for us to promote as being available in our businesses.

It is authentic. The recipes are accessible. It has an everyday appeal. I like this title for all those reasons.

I mention it here today as an example of a practical use of social media for pitching the business. While not likely to have people beating down your doors, a post like this has a local feel to it and that is valuable in social media engagement.

I’d suggest pitching a magazine on Facebook once a week. However, choose the title carefully, stray away from mainstream, from what people would expect of you. Look for a local angle, or at least an angle that is relevant to your business and how you would like it pitched.

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magazines

Analysing the CEO change at Bauer Media

Miranda Ward offers an in-depth analysis of the sudden departure of Nick Chan from the CEO role at Bauer Media. I encourage newsagents to read it.

Nick Chan brought with him hope for Bauer from a newsagent perspective, as the company had a leader with Australian magazine experience, a leader with a good track record from his time at the help of Pacific magazines. However, Chan was at the company too short a time for there to be any benefit from his leadership for our channel.

Bauer needs to get its leadership problem sorted out. It needs to reassert itself as an Australian magazine publisher.

While magazines do not contribute traffic and revenue as they used to in our businesses, they are an important product for us – even with rules around supply and display that have not changed in twenty years and that disadvantage us. One only has to look at the Bauer contract with newsagents to see an unfair and out of date model that hurts magazine sales.

We need to move from the old-school approach as it is not relevant today.

I worry that we will see more overseas content from the Bauer network repurposed in Australian Bauer titles and that we will see more overseas titles distributed here. Either of these moves is not good for us as a country, not good for publishing and, I suspect, not good for sales. I hope that my worry is unfounded.

Australians like magazines, they want to buy magazines. More and more today we see destination magazine shoppers leave the newsagency without making a purchase. The product on offer is not satisfying for them.

Publishers need to understand the medium is not in trouble. Okay, so it is to a certain extent in some segments thanks to what we can access on our phones and other mobile devices. However, people are buying print, when they can find the product that suits them.

We need publishers to genuinely innovate, like plenty of newsagents are by transforming their businesses way beyond what has been traditional for the shingle. It is like they are too conservative, too scared to be radical is chasing a new market.

Take older Australians. These folks are magazine fans. The only launch in recent years close to targeting them is Yours, from Bauer. However, Yours is not targeting the age group I’d target. You only have to look at People’s Friend to understand the opportunity I am mentioning.

There are other opportunities, too, that remain ignored.

I am not ignorant of the costs and risks associated with a magazine launch. However, there are terrific successes here in Australia. Frankie is one good example. Publishers need to approach this with a lean startup mentality. It can be done.

Bauer and all magazine publishers in Australia need to look carefully at the Australian marketplace. They should look particularly at what people purchase in newsagencies, as our channel presents more opportunities for a bright future for Australian magazine publishers than supermarkets.

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magazines

Bauer Media switches CEO

Bauer Media announced this morning the appointment of a new CEO:

BAUER MEDIA GROUP APPOINTS PAUL DYKZEUL CEO OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

21 JUNE, 2017

Bauer Media Group have named experienced media executive Paul Dykzeul as chief executive officer of Bauer Media Australia and New Zealand.

Dykzeul is currently CEO of Bauer Media New Zealand and has significant media experience across Australasia, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, the UK and South Africa.

Andreas Schoo, executive board member of Bauer Media Group said: “I’m delighted Paul will be leading Bauer across Australia and New Zealand. Having worked extensively across both markets he understands the challenges and opportunities which exist for multi-platform magazine brands in this evolving environment. For the past nine years, he has built a strong and innovative media business and is ideally placed to bring that thinking to Bauer Media Australia.”

He replaces Nick Chan who has left the company. Schoo added: “I want to thank Nick for the work he has done in helping to position the business for future growth and wish him the best in his future endeavours.”

Dykzeul has been CEO of Bauer Media New Zealand (formerly ACP Magazines) since 2007, returning home after spending 11 years in Sydney. During his time in Australia he held roles as director of international business and publisher for ACP. Prior to that he was managing director of Murdoch Magazines before moving to Pacific Magazines in 2000 where he held the position of director of international licensing and operations, and publisher.

Leading a team of 300 people he has grown Bauer Media’s New Zealand operation which publishes many of the country’s most iconic magazine brands from popular culture through to special interest and premium current affairs. It is also one of the fastest growing digital publishers and is highly awarded across advertising, content and digital.

Speaking on his appointment, Dykzeul said: “Across print, digital and events, Bauer Media has the strongest portfolio of leading magazine brands that connects audiences with our commercial partners at scale. I look forward to returning to Australia and working with the dedicated team to build and expand on those strong foundations.”

He starts in the role immediately and will relocate to Sydney in due course.

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magazines

Good times for games and puzzles retailers

Three weeks ago I got to see the latest toy category performance data for Australia. It makes for interesting reading. I was particularly pleased with the result achieved for games and puzzles as this is a segment we embrace.

More and more newsagents are realising they can compete with then old-school specialty retailers in a range of market segments, including toys where games and puzzles usually reside.

Games and puzzles are a natural fit for our businesses if you think about it. We are the largest retailer of crosswords in Australia. Our everyday customers like games too. So, as I note, games and puzzles are a natural fit for our businesses.

It surprises me that newsagents don’t active embrace the games and puzzles segment. Some do, but not the majority.

There are five or six key suppliers in this space. I know because of my work with newsXpress they are engaged and supportive. The opportunities for attracting new traffic through games and puzzles is terrific.

In one of my store we will do more in the games and puzzles than stationery this year. While the buying work is tougher and has more risk, the reward is far greater.

Through our buying and ranging we we can reset how shoppers see our businesses. The games and puzzles segment is one way we can do this, one way we can through products reach shoppers who might otherwise not visit our businesses. Of course, this only works if we promote the new range outside our businesses.

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Newsagency management

Green light for Tabcorp takeover of Tatts

Things are about to get more interesting for lottery retailers with the ACCC approval of the Tabcorop / tatts ‘merger’. Only time will tell how the takeover plays out for retailers. Given that share price value is the core focus of any public company it is a challenge to see much upside for retailers.

ALNA issues a statement about it today:

Tabcorp and Tatts merger supported by newsagents and lottery retailers

The Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association is pleased with the Australian Competition Tribunal’s approval of the proposed combination of Tabcorp and Tatts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Australia, 20 June 2017: The Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association (ALNA) is pleased with the Australian Competition Tribunal’s approval of the proposed merger of Tabcorp Holdings and Tatts Group.

Adam Joy, CEO of ALNA stated, “We believe that a merged business is likely to prove a synergistic and mutually beneficial commercial partner for Australia’s largest retail and home delivery group: the lottery and newsagents industry. A combined business would be better placed to bring fresh and innovative opportunities to the market and reinvigorate lottery products.

“As the national industry body representing Australian lottery and news agents, ALNA considers that the merged entity’s greater scale, resources, commitment to investment, national footprint and enhanced operational strength would help to realise and deliver considerable mutual benefits to our members and their customers.”

ALNA considers that the transaction offers our members, as key stake holders, an opportunity to partner with a merged business that we are confident will have a culture and approach that works better in partnership with news and lottery agents to support the lotteries business.

While the proposed merger brings many benefits to newsagents and lottery retailers, the current uncertainty while a final decision is pending is causing significant implications for new lottery shop fits.

Ben Kearney, ALNA National Manager, Policy and Government Relations said, “A large number of our members are in the process of new lottery shop fits, the largest investment they will undertake in many years. Until a potential merger is finalised, we would like to see shop fits put on hold until a strategy from a merged entity is in place.”

The lottery and newsagents industry, as franchisees of the Tatts Group deliver $1.3 billion in consolidated revenue to state governments through the sale of official lottery products. This money supports good causes such as schools, hospitals, police and many other essential infrastructure activities.

Mr Joy added, “The reinvigoration of lottery products requires a commercial partner that recognises and values the role of news and lottery agents, and is prepared to collaborate and invest in lottery product innovation with retailers. We consider that Tabcorp has demonstrated a track record of achieving growth and sustained product momentum. Achieving omni-channel growth in partnership with bricks-and-mortar distribution partners is beneficial for small business, the lottery operator, as well as the industry’s vital role in our nation’s economy.

There are over 5,000 independent, family-owned newsagents in Australia. The industry employs more than 20,000 people with a turnover of $6 billion and sees approximately 2.3 million people every day across Australia.

For ALNA’s members offering lottery products, these products make up a considerable part (approximately 10-25%) of their direct revenue – and in many cases of lottery-only kiosk significantly more than this. Lottery products also attract considerable foot traffic, which then provides retailers the opportunity to generate further revenue through the sale of other products offered.

Tabcorp has extensive retail experience, digital capability, an experienced management team, a partnership approach and strong financial capacity to make investments to drive the lotteries business forward.

ALNA is one of the organisations that made a submission to the Australian Competition Tribunal in support of Tabcorp’s bid to acquire the Tatts Group, and believes that the proposed merger will support the sustainability and the newsagent and lottery industry as a whole.

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Lotteries

So much for the commitment about magazine reissues

This issue of Digital Photography magazine was sent to newsagents by distributor Gordon and Gotch as if it is a new issue. It is not. This issue was sent out a year ago. What Gotch has done is re-send stock newsagents returned, stock that failed to sell.

This is an appalling abuse of small business newsagents. Shame on Gotch for letting it happen. This is wasting time and money. It should never have happened.

I expect the folks at Gotch will have their excuses, excuses we have heard before. It is tiresome. No wonder newsagents are angry about Gotch and angry about the magazine distribution model.

It is 2017. Gotch should be better than this.

It is things like this that disadvantage our channel, that make us less competitive than other retailers of magazines. But those of us who have been around for years will shrug our shoulders, say this is what we have come to expect and then wonder whether it is time to trim more space from magazines in our business.

Yes, it is that frustrating … because it happens too often. We are disadvantaged and no-one, not the distributor, not publishers, care enough to actually fix the situation. You will all look back one day and wonder why. Well here is one of the many reasons why.

Cracked record. Yes. Why even bother writing about this? And therein lies the problem – we care less about this stuff today because we have worked out how to rely less on magazines. Because of screw ups like this.

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magazine distribution

Interest free LayBy is dangerous

A retailer called me Friday last week to discuss LayBy options. They are finding it tough to compete in the toy space with majors and they are considering offering interest free LayBy run and managed in-house.

Their plan was to offer free LayBy for items over $100.00 and to give customers up to December 24 to pay off the purchase.

Once I explained to them their retailer obligations in relation to LayBy they were having second thoughts. Their plan was to have rules in place ensuring they would be paid un full by December 24 regardless of whether the customer collected the goods. The ACCC website has something to say about this. Here is their text re termination fees:

You can only charge the customer with a lay-by termination fee if they cancel the agreement.

There is no set amount or percentage for a termination fee, but it must not be more than your ‘reasonable costs’ relating to the lay-by agreement (for example, storage and administrative costs that apply to the lay-by agreement). What is ‘reasonable’ will depend on the circumstances and you should be prepared to justify that your costs are reasonable.

If the customer’s lay-by instalments do not cover the termination fee, you are entitled to recover the outstanding amount as a debt. This should be clearly stated in the lay-by agreement along with any other details of termination fees so that your obligation to have a transparent lay-by agreement is fulfilled.

Apart from the termination charge, you are not entitled to damages or any other remedy for the termination of the lay-by agreement.

Shoppers are knowledgable. There is no dodging the rules on LayBy.

I don’t see the value in an interest free LayBy offer. Unless people have skin in a transaction they don’t as connected with or obligated to the purchase as I would like.

Making it easy to get a signature on a piece of paper is not a smart move in my view. The more important focus should be on getting a firm commitment, a full purchase. you do this through product knowledge, customer service and adding value. It is the adding value in the toy space especially that is hard … but it can be done. You have to be a smart retailer to do this.

Major big-business competitors are not smart, that is why they go with interest free and similar deals as that is all they can offer.

I urge small business retailers to not get lured into that mugs game. There is no good news for the business.

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Newsagency management

Business management tip: be consistent with how you handle clearance lines

National retailers in the US are terrific at managing quitting inventory. Most have a structured approach to what they call clearance lines. This photo is from a Staples store I visited last week. I saw similar clearance locations in each of the six Staples stores I visited in two states.

Having space set aside, permanently, for clearance lines, ensuring it is  visually separated from your usual displays, calling it out with a bold colour and placing product for a clearance look – i.e. not too pretty.

I can see this working in all sorts of businesses, from the traditional newsagency through to those with a focus on high-end premium retail. You would set aside the space appropriate two out space situation and your inventory quitting strategy. You would create the clearance offer appropriate to your type of business.

This is a better approach than putting SALE signs up here and there. A fixed clearance location provides customers with certainty. It shows you are serious and consistent in your approach. This encourages confidence.

Here is an example of a different approach, something more refined and professional:

This photo is from a US card and gift shop. I took the photo a few months ago while on a retail tour.

I like both approaches I have shared here. Each has their place. While I am more likely to use the second in my businesses, the first would be okay in the right nook of the business.

The key is to have a clearance location permanently set aside and to signpost th8is professionally.

The goal is to sell through clearance stock faster than you would if you did not take the structured approach I am writing about here.

When it comes to quitting stock, the sooner the better. hence the need for a clear and disciplined outcome-focussed approach.

I hope this is useful to retailers as they contemplate what to do with stock they are exiting from their businesses.

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Management tip

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: make your own videos

A great way to differentiate your business online is with your own content. Take out your phone and film that hot product that is easily demonstrated in a video. It works a treat and can show your business off with unique content. Show, don’t tell as they say.

Here is a short and simple video I used a few weeks ago with terrific success.

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marketing

A newsagency closure

Channel 7 Perth did a story this week on the imminent closure of McGhee’s Newsagency in East Victoria Park, Western Australia. I have spoken with Rod plenty of times, at workshops I have run in Perth.

My view is that newsagency closures are avoidable regardless of location and availability of capital. The most important requirements are desire to stay open and preparedness for change.

I respect the McGhee family and their history. However, the future of this channel needs stories about the future and not the past.

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newsagency of the future

More on the value of licences to retailers

Further to my post yesterday about licences, here is another example of the Wonder Woman licence working a treat at extending the appeal of the business. We have a wonder Woman costume for a dog, in our dog costume section. Customers love it. It’s a traffic generator, so I love it too. Products like this can help us appeal way beyond what people expect from our businesses.

The more we do this, the more we appeal outside what people expect of our businesses, the more we strengthen the appeal and value of ur businesses. This activity is vital in trading away from the newsagency shingle.

Kind of related to this, years ago we jumped deep into plush. Another person in the newsagency channel mocked this move. Now I notice they have quietly hopped into this. This financial year, the low price point everyday plush will be worth more than $80,000 in one of my businesses and high end plush, well a terrific value too.

My point is that what may look unusual or not a good fit can be if you work it and position it well with shoppers.

We are retailers after all. Retailers sell what their customers want.

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Gifts

Easy up-sell with newspapers

This placement of two different magazine titles with daily newspapers in the newsagency has been working well for us. It took a few seconds to setup and cost us nothing to create.

In fact, the Tour De France program placement with the Herald Sun newspaper will work far better than if we had done a power end display. It is working, a treat!

Note to magazine publishers who ask for power end displays – they are not worth the space and labour cost. What you want is a tactical placement, like this one. It is perfect for leveraging the destination newspaper customer.

Oh, and if newspaper publisher folk don’t like it – suck it up, you are not paying for the space.

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newsagency marketing

Licences help drive sales in retail

Having the right licenced product at the right time is valuable in this market where licences are stronger than ever thanks to movie and TV franchises that are popular with demographics of value to us.

Take Wonder Woman. The new movie is a worldwide hit, so much so that nostalgia product, based on the original branding, is working a treat.

Being in front of these trends by watching licensing news from overseas and connecting with the right suppliers in Australia helps retailers to maximise the opportunity.

It is hard work, staying on top of these things. But valuable work when it works and you have a good range of what proves to be a hit franchise.

Licences are especially useful at attracting new traffic to the shop, traffic that would not otherwise consider shopping with you. The key to leveraging this new traffic to maximum value is to have items that appeal to the shoppers beyond the traffic generation license itself.

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Newsagency management

Meet your online competitor, in a garage near you … or a continent away

Last week in Chicago I got to look at a range of online fulfilment solutions. The most interesting were the fully automated facilities aimed at small operations.

Whereas in the past it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to establish an automated warehouse for even 500 items, today that can be done for under ten thousand dollars.

The photo shows a small part of one such facility I saw up and running. It picks goods, feeds them to a packing line where they are packed, sealed and labelled ready for collection. Hands free.

These facilities run with a considerably lower labour cost that our small businesses that fulfil for online sales. It is a way tech engaged online competitors are able to sell at lower costs, they have lower overheads.

While there is plenty of discussion abut websites we can see, there is little written about the back end, the fulfilment side of things, where tremendous advances have been made in delivering access to solutions with considerably lower cost that has been the case.

I spent two and a  half days diving deep into this side of online retail, looking at many different fulfilment options from the tech-centric to low-tech and highly personal. It was fascinating and illuminating given the moves Amazon is just months away from making in Australia.

The start-up costs for a pure online retail play have never been lower. This low barrier to entry and the flexibility of a start-up compared to a legacy business like then traditional newsagency presents challenges we need to confront. That starts with awareness. hence this post.

2017 is not even half over yet and it has already delivered more innovation around online and fulfilment than the last two or three years combined, innovation that is cost effective for small businesses and start-up businesses.

Now, if you think this is not relevant to you, I say it is as even today there are online businesses taking revenue from you, delivering to people who are local to you.

I have evidence of businesses, for example, in Western Australia, taking revenue from local high street businesses in suburban Sydney. People purchasing online worry less about local and more about the brands they purchase.

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Competition

No, Tatts is not promoting your business online

Here are recent tweets from Tatts via their TheLott Twitter handle, promoting online purchases. No mention of retail. Your branding commitment adds value to their online marketing, for online purchases. This is your competition:

Oh, and here is one that popped up in the Twitter feed on my phone this morning:

The Use App button is what they want you to press, that is their call to action.

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Competition

A gift for retailer friends

I saw this mug in a shop last week. They also had a badge, shot glass and several other items with the same message. This would be a gift for anyone you know who works in retail. It made me laugh as I thought I knew what it said, and then I read that last word.

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Gifts

Trade show closures reflect challenges for wholesalers

2017 is proving to be a tough year for trade shows in retail categories related to newsagency businesses. There have been several trade show closures this year. While the organisers have pitched various reasons, it is falling numbers through the doors that reduce supplier engagement and that is what, ultimately, leads to the close of trade shows.

From where I sit, as a retailer and as a supplier to retailers, trade shows are less efficient today for reaching retailers who can and want to engage.

Take the gift fairs. Whereas in the past the aisles would be packed with retailers spending big, this year, and last, the aisles are less crowded and then purchasing is more cautious.

Competition does this, it is to be expected.

Smart suppliers are not relying on the trade shows for a big boost in sales. Instead they themselves have an omni-channel approach to reaching their customers – online, social media and more. This is exactly what smart retailers are doing to reach their customers. It is not different to trade shows.

The best wholesalers / suppliers are those with stunning websites that make buying easy, enable you to al most touch their products and that reflect the lower cost of doing business via a website than doing business at a trade show or through one on one rep visits.

We have very few suppliers to retail newsagency businesses with stunning websites. Whereas there are more overseas suppliers with stunning websites and they are positioned to get more business as a result.

A stunning website from a supplier in my opinion is one that teaches me about products, makes what I do in retail with the products easier, supports my local store marketing and introduces me to new products that expand the reach of my business … a website that dopes all of this 24/7, without spending time being social and in a way that excites me.

I think there is a place for trade shows. However, that place is different to what it was in years gone by.

In the tech side of my business, the trade shows I am getting the most out of right now are those new to me, where I am likely to learn plenty to expand my horizons and interests.

It is important for suppliers and retailers to understand the changed role of trade shows, to have a common purpose where possible, so the expensive events work for both sides.

6 likes
Newsagency management

Gold Coast website / POS software workshop added

I have added a Gold Coast session to the regional workshops I am running to help retailers equip their retail business to confront the changes in retail, transact online and compete with big businesses, including Amazon.

The sessions will include information about when people shop, what they are buying online and the winner and loser states when it comes to shipping from and to.

I will show how small business retailers can be successful with this – through Australian and US examples.

Through live search you will see what it looks like to be the top result in a Google search and the steps taken to get there.

Here are the dates for the workshops. Click on the city name to book your place:

  1. Coffs Harbour. June 19. 10am. Novotel.
  2. Tamworth. June 20. 10am. Leagues Club.
  3. Newcastle. June 21. 10am. Mercure.
  4. Dubbo. June 22. 10am. Quest.
  5. Wagga Wagga. June 23. 10am. International Hotel.
  6. Cairns. June 26. 2pm. Novotel.
  7. Townsville. June 27. 10am. Mercure.
  8. Mackay. June 28. 10am. Mackay Grande Suites.
  9. Rockhampton. June 29. 10am. Quest.
  10. Gold Coast. July 5. 2pm. Sofitel

I will share insights on how small business retailers around the world are using website connected POS software to win online sales.

I will explain how to get to the top of Google search results and demonstrate with live examples what this means.

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Newsagency management

An excellent social media / customer / magazine engagement story

I love this story from newsXpress Mount Morgan and their sharing of a photo sent to them by a customer who created a beautiful piece from a pattern published in Better Homes and Gardens.

I love the story because the customer sent the photo to newsXpress Mount Morgan via Facebook and because newsXpress Mount Morgan shared it on Facebook with their customers. This is excellent use of social media.

This engagement is one example of excellent use of social media, showing a wonderful business / customer relationship, built around a stalwart brand in the business, Better Homes and Gardens. It demonstrates a close and appreciated customer relationship, on show for all to see.

Big businesses cannot manage such local and personal relationships.

How this story unfolded and was managed is an excellent example in the value of the free platform that is Facebook for small businesses. Kudos too the folks at newsXpress Mount Morgan for handling this without being sales in their approach.

I get that some n newsagents are not interested in Facebook, that they think they are too old or not tech capable enough to use it. The thing is, Facebook is like the fax or mobile phone when they first came out.

Facebook is a basic business tool. In my view, if you are in business you must be on Facebook.

These are not times to be timid about being public. If you are in retail your business needs customers. Facebook and similar are where those customers are, where they talk and, yes, where they buy.

11 likes
Management tip
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