Aéropostale pits retweeting against favoriting to drive engagement
In a unique push on Twitter, specialty apparel retailer Aéropostale recently pitted retweeting against favoriting, asking users to engage one way or the other to vote for their favorite outfit.
The brand is keen on leveraging social media, and Twitter in particular, to reach consumers as its main demographic spends a significant amount of time on these platforms. Aéropostale prompted fans to retweet or favorite their preferred outfit, an effort which broadens its audience and coerces users to directly interact with its individual products.
"It is easy for brands to mistake social media as a PR outlet," said Shuli Lowy, marketing director at Ping Mobile. "Social media is, in fact, a place to socialize.
"The most apropos content is therefore social in nature," she said. "Instead of posting pictures of clothes on Twitter, Aeropostale is using pictures of its clothing as a means to socialize with its followers.
"Encouraging people to favorite or retweet a post is particularly valuable to marketers as the average Twitter account has hundreds of followers. Retweeted and favorited posts help a post gain broader visibility amongst people connected with followers as well as more prominent placement in consumers' news feeds. That provides valuable added impressions."
Millennials on mobile
Aéropostale knows its customer and uses social media platforms to engage them in methods that will attract its key demographic, mainly millennials. These consumers are highly active on social media channels such as Twitter and marketers need to develop unique tactics in attracting them amongst the overload of promotional content.
The brand shared an image on its Twitter page featuring two outfits, one on the left of the image and another on the right. Followers were prompted to vote for one or the other by calls-to-action on the platform.
Fans of the left outfit could vote for it as their favored option by retweeting the post. To vote for the clothing option on the right, users favorited the post. The post saw more than 495 favorites and 242 retweets, suggesting the strategy garnered a substantial amount of engagement for Aéropostale.
The brand also recently shared a picture of pumpkins with text reading ?just fall stuff? and saw 103 retweets and 515 favorites. Aéropostale is aware of what its customers are interested in, and plays to those interests, and recently shared a image of a save the date to celebrate its upcoming birthday.
Another post on its Twitter page featured a video of individuals dancing in its stretchy jeans to exhibit the comfortableness of the products and their uses. The video received more than 1,800 favorites and 325 retweets.
Social media frenzy
Aeropostale is among the few brands targeting millennials and getting mobile right by providing lifestyle content and establishing credibility with an audience that appreciates quality (see more).
Although a different demographic, Rite Aid also recently leveraged social media in a similar way and targeted moms this Halloween on social media and through a mobile-optimized site where they were able to find tips, recipe ideas and other content for keeping on top of their busy schedules during the fall season (see more).
"We see many brands encourage followers to retweet or favorite a post," Ms. Lowy said. "However the plea to favorite or retweet is often dull in nature, sounding more like marketers asking fans to do a favor than anything else.
"The format Aeropostale is using is conveys a different in tone; it encourages fans to favorite and retweet a post as a gamified form of expression," she said. "The retailer is leveraging a fun way to get consumer input on their products.
"Aeropostale is not the first to utilize this technique on Twitter. The technique has been used by other retailers and celebrity artists. It has been reused because it?s a great example of how to socialize with consumers in a natural tone while still encouraging meaningful marketing KPI's for brands."
Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer