Book Retailers using Digital Channels; a Closer Look at Barnes & Noble

Continuing our investigation into social media campaigns as a successful digital marketing strategy its worth to look at how other book retailers/competitors have used digital channels. New emerging technology, innovation and creativity have pushed book retailers into a digital frenzy. Borders & Books is a prime example of how volatile the book retailing industry can be if one does not keep up with digital channels and technologies.

One of the most effective ways of marketing for these brick and mortar companies is creating an Omni channel experience. Cross-promotional selling to enhance, support and amplify the consumer experience (Goldberg, E. (2014). In order to find a successful digital strategy for Waterstones, looking at similar retailers success stories is very insightful.

Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Noble is a leading US book retailer very similar to Waterstones in its ideals, products and service. This company understood the need for the implementation of digital strategies as companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple Inc. began to enter the market. The company has used a variation of digital channels to promote its physical stores.

Advertisement Campaigns

“You never know who you’ll meet at Barnes and Noble” the 2015 advertisement campaign that featuring popular artists Tony Benett and Lady Gaga singing Baby Its Cold outside whilst looking for gifts for each other in Barnes & Noble (Lewis, H. (2015). The You Tube video has 511,051 views.

Social Networking

Over the holidays Barnes and Noble used twitter as a source of consumer engagement to give them the experience you get in store on social media. #BNGiftTip allowed customers to tweet questions or advice on what present to get someone. For instance you could tweet ‘What’s a good gift for a Southern food blogger who loves to read?” experts would reply “Southern food cookbooks make a great gift, check out this one by Martina McBride” this is a prime example of how a book retailer uses digital channels to engage and create personalized content (Goldberg, E. (2014).

Search Marketing

B&N use an extensive content marketing approach in order to keep up with its competitors. Its digital presence does not go unseen as it almost always come up as one of the first website when searching for books online in America.

Email Marketing

Barnes & Noble has undoubtedly mastered email marketing, its tailored, personal and easy to unsubscribe from. The company allows you to choose what type of emails you want to receive and how often (Klein, J. (2012). More often than not email marketing can be a tricky form of direct communication because it can become spam to a consumer. B&N made it easy even to unsubscribe.

Mobile Applications

One of the coolest things I have found on my investigation into B&N digital channels is their Google Express app. You can order a product from one of the local stores and it will arrive in a few hours (Goldberg, E. (2014). I can imagine this ways B&N way of keep up with Amazons same day delivery.

Barnes & Noble has been significantly successful when keep up with its competitors and keeping the book retailer buzz alive, for more reasons why their marketing strategy is so efficient checkout this blog post!

The Importance of Digital Channels for Book retailers

Consumers have never been more technology savvy and with the increasing use of applications and websites online researching a product or service before purchasing is a common notion (Ryan, D. & Jones, C. (2009). This is why companies need a digital presence to be recognized by consumers. Digital channels allow companies to reach consumers far more effectively and efficiently. One-way communication channels can be used to guide, promote, build relationships and inform consumers (Taiminen, H.M. & Karjaluoto, H. (2015).

The expectation is that brand awareness will be created through authentic conversations and stories, which create value to the consumer (Taiminen, H.M. & Karjaluoto, H. (2015). Digital presence is not only about being visible to the consumer via search engine but also generating a two-way relationship that does not force sales on the consumer (Taiminen, H.M. & Karjaluoto, H. (2015). One of the most important concepts that a company should remember when incorporating digital channels is that by listening, being transparent, empathic and open with its consumers is that you reap the rewards (Karjaluoto, H., et al. (2015). By doing this you are gaining insight into one of the most valuable resources; customer data.

References

Trachtenberg, J. A. (2011, Feb 23). Barnes & noble’s profit tumbles 25% — book retailer cancels dividend to free up funds for its digital strategies. Wall Street Journal Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/docview/853199844?accountid=9727

Karjaluoto, H., Mustonen, N. & Ulkuniemi, P. (2015), “The role of digital channels in industrial marketing communications”, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 703-710.

Taiminen, H.M. & Karjaluoto, H. (2015), “The usage of digital marketing channels in SMEs”, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 633-651.

Meloni, J. (2011). Barnes & Noble uses deals, content marketing to attract Cyber Monday sales. Available: http://www.brafton.com/news/barnes-noble-uses-deals-content-marketing-to-attract-cyber-monday-sales/. Last accessed 27th Jan 2016.

Klein, J. (2012). Email Marketing Excellence: The Barnes & Noble Unsubscribe. Available: http://www.strongview.com/resources/blog/email-marketing-excellence-the-barnes-noble-unsubscribe. Last accessed 27th Jan 2016.

Lewis, H. (2015). Barnes & Noble Founder Created Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett-Starring Holiday Campaign. Available: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/barnes-noble-founder-created-lady-840073. Last accessed 27th Jan 2016.

Ryan, D. & Jones, C. (2009), Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation, Kogan Page, London.

Goldberg, E. (2014). Barnes & Noble’s Social Media Campaign Drives One-to-One Customer Service – See more at: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Barnes-Nobles-Social-Media-Campaign-Drives-One-to-One-Customer-Service/1011686. Available: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Barnes-Nobles-Social-Media-Campaign-Drives-One-to-One-Customer-Service/1011686. Last accessed 27th Jan 2016.

Waterstones & Social Media

When it comes to implementing a successful digital strategy into a company the channels are immense. Without the use digital channels in digital marketing strategies in order to engage and retain consumers a business will fall behind its competitors and the digital divide (Ryan, D., Jones, C. & Dawsonera (2009). Waterstones knows all too well about the consequences of not keep up with the changing environment and being underpinned by its competitors (Amazon). Chaffey, D. & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012), provide a complex diagram of the extensive channels digital marketing can take.

What’s really taking marketers by storm and pressuring companies to up their digital game? Take a look at what’s happening online in 60 seconds. This post will focus on social media marketing and its elusive web of ever changing and growing attributes.

When you think social media you think networking and along with it Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and Instagram, the variety is endless. These are but one tiny element of social media however incredibly important there is much more to it. Chaffey, D. & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012) outline 10 components within social media:

• Social Networks
• Social Publishing and News
• Social Commenting in Blogs
• Social Niche Communities
• Social Customer Service
• Social Knowledge
• Social Bookmarking
• Social Streaming
• Social Search
• Social Commerce

Lets not make things too confusing and take a page out of The Social Media Bible.

Step 1.) For social media success; Analyze your existing media (Safko, L. & Dawsonera (2010)

• Online Website
• Blog
• Events Page
• Click and Collect
• Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, Instagram and Google +
• Android and IOS Mobile application
• Alta Vista Search Engine (Siemens Primergy 870 Internet Connectivity – BT)
• Epiphany agency runs: SEO, pay-per-click and advertising
• EPUB: digital service that allows book to be read via Hardware platforms
• ‘Read for Free’ Service

Step 2.) The Social Media Trinity (Safko, L. & Dawsonera (2010)

Waterstones is missing out on a huge proportion of the market, millennial’s that are avid users of social media. Not only does it promote customer communication, relationships, products and services but also it gives the company insight into data about the consumer. This is extremely important for leveraging consumer-generated content and engaging with the target audience.

Its most recent digital marketing campaign ‘planners’ or ‘wingers’ was designed to promoted their click and collect system as well as the importance of real books this Christmas. Waterstones needs to use its social media more effectively and who better to learn from then the champions themselves.

Successful Social Media Marketing Campaigns

Facebook: Heinz 5 Beans – (Hawes, A. (2015)

This company used Facebook as a medium to reach out to their consumers through the use of an online personality quiz “Which Bean Are You?” This is a great example of a company with little social networking presence creating a personalized relationship with its consumers, increasing its fan base by 30,000 and creating buzz.

YouTube: Three Mobile #danceponydance – (Hawes, A. (2015)

The famous moon-walking pony to Fleetwood Mac led to 7 million views you would think that alone was enough to create hysteria. The company took the opportunity to further involve consumers through ‘the pony mixer’ allowing the to customize, create and pick the music for their own dancing pony video.

LinkedIn: Fruit of the Loom – (Wasserman, T. (2013)

This tactical social networking campaign used LinkedIn to discover people who had started a new job or changed in the last 30 days. The message disclosed that they were eligible to claim a pair of underwear, because “great-fitting underwear can help you start your workday in a great mood”

For more great social networking campaigns check out this blog posts!

Why Social Networking?

All highly effective digital marketing strategies that use social networking channels to engage with consumers that companies were never able to reach before. Waterstones should endeavor to create more personalized consumer relationships. The average person checks their phone 150 times a day, this is one of the easiest targeting mechanisms for Waterstones to use to bring their product and service into the home of the consumer.

Waterstones does amazing advertisements for their books on their You Tube page but they only have 6, 565 subscribers. The latest was ‘The City of Mirrors’ by Justin Cronin and it has 175 views.

The expectation from the company is that the consumer will take the initiative to purchase the book. Social networking allows companies to understand who are influencers and advocates (who do people listen to these days) how can we acquire these people to promote our products and services via social networking (Browne, E. & British Computer Society (2012). Waterstones needs to broaden its spectrum of advocates and influencers and understand that millennials want to be recommended a book by Zoella (via You Tube) or Demi Lovato (via tweeting).

Implementing digital initiatives would unmask elusive opportunities that don’t have to drift from its core value of wanting consumers to experience the physical book retailer. Using social networks to promote campaigns; events and book signings would broaden its marketing scope but segment its focus into a wider audience (Ryan, D., Jones, C. & Dawsonera (2009).

References

Chaffey, D. & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012), Digital marketing: strategy, implementation and practice, 5th edn, Pearson Education, Harlow.

Browne, E. & British Computer Society (2012), Working the crowd: social media marketing for business, 2nd edn, BCS, London.
Safko, L. & Dawsonera (2010), The social media bible: tactics, tools, and strategies for business success, 2nd edn, Wiley, Hoboken, N.J.

Ryan, D., Jones, C. & Dawsonera (2009), Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation, Kogan Page, London.

Taken Smith, K. (2012), “Longitudinal study of digital marketing strategies targeting Millennials”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 86-92.

Wasserman, T. (2013). 8 Innovative LinkedIn Marketing Campaigns. Available: http://mashable.com/2013/10/14/creative-marketing-linkedin/#X4Mp.Z3fGPqT. Last accessed 24th Jan 2016.

Hawes, A. (2015). 5 of the Most Imaginative You Tube Campaigns. Available: http://oursocialtimes.com/5-of-the-most-imaginative-youtube-campaigns/. Last accessed 25th Jan 2016.

Hawes, A. (2015). 5 Fantastic Facebook Marketing Campaigns. Available: http://oursocialtimes.com/5-fantastic-facebook-campaigns/. Last accessed 25th Jan 2016.

Chaffey, D. (2016). What Happens in One Minute Online. Available: http://blog.davechaffey.com/. Last accessed 27th Jan 2016.

SalesForce. (2014). The 30 Most Brilliant Social Media Campaigns of the Last Half of 2014. Available: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2014/12/the-30-most-brilliant-social-media-campaigns-of-the-last-half-of-2014-152015.html. Last accessed 27th Jan 2016.