“Just the other day, a local woman came into my store 20 minutes after seeing that I had tweeted: ‘All lady cheese graters are now on sale!’ and bought two!” –Molly Cygan, Owner of The Little Apple Boutique
Small owner-operated retail stores face unique challenges in today’s economy. Small business retail in small historic districts fifteen years ago was driven primarily by foot traffic and traditional advertising campaigns. Today, foot traffic alone is not enough to sustain a business. A website is a necessary extension of a retailer’s brick and mortar and very recently, social media has given small boutiques the ability to push their presence to the forefront.
Case in point, The Little Apple, a retail startup that has now called Manayunk (Outskirts of Philadelphia, PA) its home for a whole year, is a small boutique carrying new, vintage and repurposed items. The owner, Molly Cygan, is a young and trendy 30-something who prides herself in knowing her customer inside-out. Facebook and Twitter have been a god-send when it comes to knowing her customers by name, finding out what products they are excited about in her store and email marketing has helped her achieve almost immediate results when it comes to getting customers in the door.
An Art History major from Berkeley University and California to Pennsylvania Transplant, she has taken the semi-urban lifestyle and adapted it to her business by taking the Anthropologie retail model and bringing a humanistic aspect to it. The basis of her business is, her customers know her by name and new customers are always made to feel welcome. The Little Apple’s Facebook page is a reflection of the demographic that visits the brick and mortar. Drawing from a regional female demographic of 25-35 that takes pride in Philadelphia, that are interested in creating a stylish pied-à-terre and are looking for a touch of the past, the social media messaging is relevant, whimsical and never over-sells.
Knowing your influencers and like-minded businesses is an important part of owning a small business. The Little Apple has formed partnerships with similar stores such as Three Potato Four, Revival Smith, The Bryn Mawr Running Company and others to cross-promote each other’s brands. Knowing that a cluster of stores creates a larger draw helps them form even stronger partnerships with the help of Facebook shares, retweets, cross-promoted events, and more. Integrating these partnerships and using Facebook campaigns to promote them has helped The Little Apple see a 30-40% increase in return business as represented using Google analytics to track her e-commerce statistics.
“… I opened my Twitter account it was instantaneous feedback and interest. And the Facebook page has been active and growing—I am meeting a lot of people through it and they are walking through the door here. Social media is my main source of marketing—and it’s been amazing,” said Cygan.
Now even the smallest of businesses have the communication tools to stay in touch with their customers at all times. If you are a small business owner, how has social media bridged the communication gap?
