Anthropologie: Social Media Marketing Proposal

Target Audience

The target audience for this campaign would be primarily female. The clothing that Anthropologie sells is women’s clothing, and they target their home décor products towards females as well. The target age range would be young professionals, probably those who are looking to purchase their first home or rent their own apartment. These females may be looking to upgrade their decorating from a college style look to something more professional, and Anthropologie offers a range of products to convey that look.

 Social Media Tools

For this campaign, the main social media platform that will be utilized is Pinterest. Pinterest is rapidly becoming one of the most widely used social media platforms, and the audiences we are targeting are some of the most frequent Pinterest users. This way, Anthropologie could pin a variety of different things, and create boards for their different product styles. They could pin specific products, and finished rooms to show how their products fit into a decorating theme. The same could go for clothes and accessories. Facebook, Twitter, and FourSquare will also be utilized. They can be used to announce sales, store openings, designer collaborations, and much more. Pinterest will be used to get the products noticed, while the other sites will be used to draw people in and give them more specific information. Also, these sites will respond to questions and inquiries from current and potential customers.

 In addition, it would be beneficial to start a blog. It could be an employee blog, and Anthropologie employees can share their stories about the company and its products. They can also respond to readers and generate interest about the products.

 Budget

The budget for this campaign would ideally be as low as possible. According to this article on social media campaign costs, restructuring a Twitter account can run around $2,000/month. Add in Facebook content and a blog, and that can range anywhere between $5,000-$10,000/month. However, because this will be an employee blog, the costs will be less than if we brought in an outside blogger. Finally, social media strategy costs range around $5,000/month. This article from Content Factory puts the cost at $20,000/month. This would be $240,000/year. With bringing in an outside company but utilizing employee skills for some aspects of the campaign, the budget for this campaign will be set at $200,000 for a year.

 Posting Frequency

The frequency of postings will be high, but not so high as to overwhelm potential customers. Ideally, postings will be made to each social media site at least 4 times a week. Pinterest pins may be more frequent as they are smaller and don’t require as much time as a blog post or Facebook status.

 Goals and Objectives

As far as fans and viewers, we want to have the highest ROI possible. We want to see the sales of Anthropologie go up due to this campaign. Hopefully, the Twitter followers, Facebook likes, and Pinterest followers will all increase by 30-40% over the next 12 months. The blog, since it will be new, cannot be measured against previous blog followers. We would like to have as many followers as possible, with comments and feedback on the blog as well.

If there is a negative comment, which there is sure to be, on any of the social media platforms, the first thing to do is to acknowledge it. Respond to the problem, whether it be through a Facebook post, and direct message on Twitter, or a blog comment. If the problem is significant, make an effort to comment the individual directly and address the problem and try to correct it. Along those same lines, acknowledge the positive comments as well. Take the feedback that you are getting and learn from it.

 Tone

The tone that Anthropologie should be using on their social media platforms is one that makes a connection with potential customers. Make your social media platforms a two-way street. Don’t only post information, respond to questions and feedback that you receive. Connect with your target audience and convince them why they should buy your products.

Competition

There are many competitors in the retail industry that will be in direct competition with Anthropologie. Some examples in the home décor industry are major chains such as Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Pier1, Target. However, none of these companies are making enough use of social media, namely Pinterest. If Anthropologie focuses its efforts on building a strong Pinterest following, it will put them above the competition. In addition, due to the economy, less expensive stores are now in competition with Anthropologie because people may not be able to afford certain products. However, if Anthropologie uses social media to convey the long-lasting quality of their products and how they are better than that of the competition, it will benefit them in the long run.