Urban Outfitters Twitter + Facebook

In an interview last week, Director of Online Marketing for Urban Outfitters, Teresa Lee, stated that fashion brands and retailers shouldn’t hire outside agencies for social media marketing. Lee feels that brands should and can “figure out” social media “on their own.”

Lee goes on to show how Urban Outfitters has explored and cultivated the social and digital space on its own. They have garnered over 57,000 followers on Twitter and 130,000 fans on Facebook in the past two years.

Lee offers valuable insights on customer engagement in social conversation that also adheres to legal and brand restrictions.

Why Brands Hire Agencies and Consultants

I, like Lee, used to think that brands should “figure” social media out.  I’ve always been adept to adapting to new technologies and never found it all that difficult to learn things. So how hard could it actually be for someone to expand the skill set?

I thought this way until I actually worked in-house for a several brands implementing and scaling their online marketing initiatives. During that time, I learned how important outside resources were.

The first factor that showed me that brands needed outside resources is the actual size (or lack thereof) of the in-house marketing department: three to eight people, which sometimes includes interns.

Can two to three people blog, Tweet, use Facebook, upload videos, manage SEO, digitally merchandise product lines, implement email campaigns, manage PPC, create landing pages and coordinate online marketing with offline events?

The answer is NO. However, many companies think they can.

Retailers such as Urban Outfitters have adapted more quickly than other brands to digital marketing and staffing needs compared to other brands because of their target market. As Lee states in her interview, UO’s market is young and are early adopters of anything social or community oriented (UO started off in social media in 2004 with MySpace). Urban Outfitters HAD to adopt. And it staffed its marketing department accordingly.

In the past three years, I’ve found that brands and retailers, namely those that are making $10-100 million in yearly gross revenue, have little idea how to approach the Internet. Until 2004, most brands and retailers thought of their sites as place holders and B2B marketing tools. They relied on brick and mortar stores to stock their lines and distribute them to consumers. Launching eCommerce didn’t become a priority until 2007, when the economy started to show signs of recession.

Urban Outfitters Blog

Brands Hire Consultants For Direction and Marketing Education

Many brands don’t know how – or where – to start when it comes to the more social aspects of marketing. It’s why and how we started our firm, a little guidance and direction go a long way.

Brands need consultants to help their current in-house staff to do everything from delegating what department handles Facebook and Twitter (it’s NOT the IT/eCommerce department) to teaching staff how to engage with (aka “talk with”) their customers online. This has to be done while also adhering to miles of legal restrictions that go along with protecting their brands.

Brands and retailers often hire consultants to construct social marketing campaigns and plans that they can implement in-house. But after some trial and error, they often discover it’s more cost effective for them to let a agency or consultant handle certain aspects of online marketing and PR.

While social media is something that’s often second nature to a younger generation, it can be “simply beyond” veteran executives.

Social Media Isn’t A Stand Alone Strategy and It Isn’t “Free”

Social media isn’t a stand alone strategy, and it’s not a “free” marketing strategy. Someone in-house or at an agency has to monitor it and develop campaigns. Social media is an integral part of any brand’s marketing plan.

An stellar, kick-ass digital marketing plan includes a balance of search engine optimization, PPC programs, digital merchandising and mobile marketing strategies. The plan then not only drives online sales, but should also increase in-store traffic in retail locations and raise event attendance at in-store events.

A Little Outside Perspective Offers Valuable ROI

While Urban Outfitters has an impressive number of fans and followers and produce some amazing engagement, have they done an analysis of those audiences to better/further engagement and maximize the ROI of their social media efforts?

In the article I wrote for Mashable, Social Media Has Changed Fashion in 2009, I spoke with digital fashion marketing strategist, Crosby Noricks, on how brand Charlotte Russe used Facebook and Twitter to engage fans and drive online sales.

Charlotte Russe creates weekly assignments, contests and challenges for their customer base on a regular basis and equally leverages Facebook and Twitter to ensure their success. They don’t put more effort in one more than than the other.

A brief analysis of Urban Outfitters, Anthroplogie and Free People, all the brands all excel in one medium or the other, but not consistently in both. It seems that each of these brands focuses on the medium that produces the best results.

While it’s correct to focus on the social mediums that yield the best results for a brand, the brands under the Free People label should focus on Twitter and Facebook equally. Afterall, Twitter and Facebook are the two of the three largest social marketing tools that retailers are seeing positive traction from.

A Little Help From Your Friends

As the fashion industry evolves, I hope that the role of digital agencies and PR firms continues to become a symbiotic relationship and holistic partnership with the designers and brands they represent.

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