¶ … ALDO SHOES' SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY Business Communication Class

MEMORAUDUM

Analysis of the ALDO Shoes' Social Media Strategy

However, as Douglas Bensadoun, VP marketing and creative director has been quoted as saying, "fashion retailing is relentless, it's a beast that needs to constantly be fed" (Surridge, 2012). Research has identified many of the current best practices and innovative strategies that are being used in the industry and compiled the top three social media focal points that are suggest over the coming year. These mediums include:

Facebook

Reddit

Pinterest

MEMORAUDUM

ALDO SHOES' SOCIAL MEDIA PLATTEFORM ANALYSIS

Fashion on Social Media

#1 -- Facebook

#2 -- Reddit

#3 -- Pinterest

References

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - Aldo's Official Social Media Channels (Aldo, N.d.)

Figure 2 - Social Media Traffic Statistics for Top Fashion Brands (Boland, 2015)

Figure 3 - Boland (2015) Research Findings

Figure 4 - Burberry Social Media Ad (Sharma, 2015) 10

Figure 5 - Levis Storytelling Campaign (Sharma, 2015) 10

Figure 6 - Facebook Post of Instagram Campaign (Stampler, 2012) 11

Figure 7 - An Example of Levis use of Reddit (Haswell, 2015) 12

Figure 8 - Aldo on Pinterest (ALDO Shoes, 2016) 13

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

It is no secrete that Aldo is no stranger to the social media sphere and has been launching various online campaigns for nearly a decade. Since the initial blog offering, Aldo has spread its wings, so to speak, in terms of its social media engagement. Aldo's primary website offers links to six different social media channels which includes the blog as well as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest (Aldo, N.d.).

Figure 1 - Aldo's Official Social Media Channels (Aldo, N.d.)

However, as Douglas Bensadoun, VP marketing and creative director has been quoted as saying, "fashion retailing is relentless, it's a beast that needs to constantly be fed" (Surridge, 2012). Research has identified many of the current best practices and innovative strategies that are being used in the industry and compiled the top three social media focal points that are suggest over the coming year.

Although Aldo has a history of social media engagement, the target is constantly moving. This research will cover some of the fashion industry's best practices relative to social media presences before making its final recommendation for the top three social media channels for the upcoming year.

These mediums include:

4. Facebook

5. Reddit

6. Pinterest

Reddit represents the biggest surprise that the research uncovered and was by no means believed to be a contender before the research began. However, do to the growing popularity of the site globally and the innovative ways that the site can be used to draw brand loyalty through direct engagement.

INTRODUCTION

Social media has represented a prime opportunity for the fashion industry ever since it developed. Fashion in general is a social and cultural phenomenon and thus the ambitions of social media and being fashionable social creatures are one in the same. That being said, the sheer number of social media channels that have emerged can be exhausting to most companies and add an unprecedented level of complexity into social media strategy development.

E-commerce has long grated customers the luxury and ease of shopping from their homes. With the increasing popularity of smart phones and related mobile apps, consumers can make a host of purchases even while they are on transit or busy with some other work (Cao, 2014). The cross channel messages, which include social media, are becoming increasingly important to consumers who are creating new expectations. Aldo is actually used as a case study for Salesforce who is a customer relationship manager (CRM) vendor. By being an innovative and technologically savvy company, Aldo has the capacity to keep pace with social media evolutions.

However, that being the case, a target strategy is still required to make the most effective use of social media. Consumers today will completely glance over all but the most compelling social media posts and to be compelling, the message must be on point and make sense to the consumer based on the medium in which it is presented. This research will conduct a survey of some of the best practices and best campaigns that have been launched in the fashion industry to build a foundation for Aldo's strategy development in the social media sphere.

ALDO SHOES' SOCIAL MEDIA PLATTEFORM ANALYSIS

It is no secrete that Aldo is no stranger to the social media sphere and has been launching various online campaigns for nearly a decade. The first major online campaign...

The blog offered articles that were published by style experts, created polls, offered individual advice, as well as offered product information. One of the sites features include an "Ask Allie" blog section that would offer free expert fashion advice for any fashion situation. Aldo also was able to begin processing data about online visitors as well as begin collecting user information emails for email marketing campaigns. The blog has also stood the test of time and is still operating and updating the blog regularly.
Since the initial blog offering, Aldo has spread its wings, so to speak, in terms of its social media engagement. Aldo's primary website offers links to six different social media channels which includes the blog as well as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest (Aldo, N.d.).

Figure 1 - Aldo's Official Social Media Channels (Aldo, N.d.)

In addition to the company's history of social media interactions approaching a decade, the company itself has fairly recently passed its forty-year anniversary as a brand. The experience that the company has gained thus far has led to insights such as over two-thirds of Aldo purchases involve online research seeking third-party endorsements and consumers also tend to browse Aldo's own online offerings before heading to a store; Douglas Bensadoun, VP marketing and creative director has been quoted as saying, "fashion retailing is relentless, it's a beast that needs to constantly be fed" (Surridge, 2012).

E-commerce has grated customers the luxury and ease of shopping from their homes. With the increasing popularity of smart phones and related mobile apps, consumers can make a host of purchases even while they are on transit or busy with some other work (Cao, 2014). The cross channel messages, which include social media, are becoming increasingly important to consumers who are creating new expectations. Aldo is actually used as a case study for Salesforce who is a customer relationship manager (CRM) vendor. Salesforce states:

"The number of communication and sales channels has increased at a high rate, and as a result, consumers are changing the way they make purchase decisions. They are as likely to shop online as they are to shop in-store. When they shop in person, they use their mobile devices to check trend and style information, compare prices, and share photos and opinions on their social networks. Although they shop on multiple channels, they expect highly personalized service on all of them. The customer decision journey has become cross-channel, and demands business integration to support it. Salesforce is helping innovative companies like ALDO lead the way to the future of retail (Salesforce, N.d.)."

Although Aldo has a history of social media engagement, the target is constantly moving. This research will cover some of the fashion industry's best practices relative to social media presences before making its final recommendation for the top three social media channels for the upcoming year.

Fashion on Social Media

One way to develop a social media strategy is to look at how others in the industry are successfully using different channels and to try to identify best practices. Although social media is important for fashion brands, one study found that many of the leading brands had yet to cross the ten percent threshold in which their overall traffic was generated from social media traffic and the top performers are hovering just shy of the ten percent mark (Boland, 2015). In other industries, such as in sports, the rates can be close to twenty percent by contrast. Although the fashion industry may not have as many opportunities to post updated scores from sporting events, the industry needs to craft its own niche.

Figure 2 - Social Media Traffic Statistics for Top Fashion Brands (Boland, 2015)

The research conducted by Boland (2015) also offers many key insights into the ways that others in the industry are using social media. For example, Facebook is typically the leader in virtually every other industry, yet in the fashion industry, surprisingly Reddit is the leading social media channel and some brands have crafted specific strategies tailored for this medium. As Boland (2015) has reported:

"Levi has a tremendous amount of traffic from Reddit, at 71%. Most of the traffic comes from two popular communities there directed at men, Male Fashion Advice and Frugal Male Fashion. Over half of adidas's traffic is also from Reddit, and nearly 24% of that alone is from Frugal Male Fashion. Urban Outfitters, Converse, and American Eagle also receive the majority of their traffic from Reddit's fashion advice communities (Boland, 2015)."

Other luxury brands in the fashion industry have also successfully used Reddit as a platform including brands such as Rolex,…