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Are retailers depending too much on Facebook?

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With the recent tweaks to Facebook's interest list and the social media giant asking brands to pay to reach a wider audience, retailers in Singapore are finding it tough to market their brand on the medium.The changes seem to have impacted the smaller retails outlets more than the established ones. One such local blogshop VauntCloset told Marketing the impact for local shops such as hers is huge as it's not feasible to pay to promote every update.VauntCloset, according to founder Clarice Png, has suffered a decline in the Facebook page views, as many of the Facebook users and potential customers are unaware of the new "interests list" option and hence updates often get omitted.As a result, VauntCloset has had to encourage customers to share the company's updates on their own accord, in a bid to reach a wider audience.This "interest list" allows users to view a filtered version of News Feed and users can create lists to organise their friends and pages the follow. The feature is designed to help people manage following various pages and their subscribtions to public figures.The impact is less severe for larger online brands such as Clozette. Roger Yuen, founder & CEO of Clozette told Marketing it did not see a major decline in reach and that it is maintaining the budget for social media for 2012.VauntCloset is one of the many small retail outlets that are affected by the recent changes but social media marketing experts say marketers who are taken aback by such changes haven't been paying attention to the developments.According to Ernest Kim, planning director, XM Asia Pacific, the recent algorithm updates implemented by Facebook were put in place to deliver a better user experience, a notion which the company has been incredibly consistent in - putting the user experience first.He lauded the move saying: "Companies like Google and Facebook, which are born of digital, understand that the next new competitor is but a click or tap away. So they prioritise the user experience above all."Kim also noted that there is an unhealthy tendency amongst marketers to equate Facebook with social media. "Facebook isn't always going to be the solution to your social engagement needs," he said.What he recommends next is for marketers to focus on delivering content and experiences that customers will love and, as a consequence, pass along to their friends, regardless of the platform.Jenna Boller, regional director, Social@Ogilvy, too, added that social content performs better when brands have "paid, owned and earned media working together" and get customers to have an experience."Build it and they will come - is a myth on social. It takes careful planning, strong social insights and active measurement and optimisation," she saidBoller added that to help maximise investments in social, brands are increasingly stating to invest in Social CRM to build deeper bonds with their customers."By knowing who your fans are, brands can more effectively communicate with their customers, whether on Facebook, another social network, or a completely different communication channel," she added.She also added that any brand who relies on Facebook or social networks as a prime communication channel must maintain a balance between engagement and messaging since "people use social networks to connect with their friends and family, not just to hear from brands."

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