Avon Sports Apparel and comparing its performance in the social media platforms as compared to Dicks Sporting Goods
The present times of doing business require the use of social media platforms for effective marketing and provision of all the relevant information to the customers. The social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. A company that maintains a good relationship with the customers on social media platforms is likely to sell more than a competitor who does not concentrate on social media (Ashley, 2015). Avon Sports Apparel and Dicks Sporting Goods are major sellers of sports facilities, and they focus on selling high-quality products to sportspeople and other clients who might want to engage in sports for fun. The impact that each of the companies has in the market is directly affected by the frequency of posting done on social media platforms. The number of followers also influences the magnitude of influence on the market because customers share experiences of the products bought from a particular store (Ashley, 2015). Focusing on Avon Sports Apparel and comparing its performance in the social media platforms as compared to Dicks Sporting Goods is a good foundation for evaluating their performance in sales and customer experience.
Dicks Sporting Goods uses several social media platforms to reach its customers, and the strategy has worked effectively for both the young and older audience. The main channels of reaching the customers include Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Youtube. There are other social media platforms that a company such as Dicks Sporting Goods uses, including Instagram and Google, to share pictures and details of new products in their stores. Dicks Sporting Goods has a cordial relationship with its clients who maintain an active engagement on social media as they comment on products and like the new posts made by the company’s social media team (Siddiqui, 2016). The conversations are real and designed to respond to the customers on a personal level. Besides, Dicks Sporting Goods have developed a website for organizing meetings with the customers and interacting face-to-face with the staff members. Such interactions boost customers’ loyalty because they feel respected and valued.
The frequency of posting for Dicks Sporting Goods is a minimum of five new posts on at least every mainstream social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The business has a follower base of 11.9K on Twitter, and they have made tweets up to about 52.3K. Avon Sports Apparel has a lower follower base of about 236. The responses from the customers do not reflect the vast numbers, but essentially, the messages are distributed to a significantly large number of customers (Ashley, 2015). Dicks Sporting Goods posts regularly on the Facebook account, and the likes and shares have been tremendous. For instance, a video of a coach showing some tennis tricks on Ellen DeGeneres’ show received over seven hundred thousand views within a short period. The likes range between four to five thousand for each post, and the sharing between customers range between 200 and 500 for most posts.
The interaction between the customers and the team that handles social media at Dicks Sporting Goods is personal and designed to influence the customers towards buying. The messages are not directly made in the form of call-to-action. Instead, they talk to the customer (Siddiqui, 2016). For example, a post may have a question that triggers individual interests in sports and outdoor activities. The other meaningful interaction in Youtube and Google involves providing the relevant information that can be used by customers when choosing the products.
It can be seen that Dicks Sporting Goods have a more influential presence on all social media platforms. The number of sales could also be proportional to the intensity of engagement with customers. Therefore Avon Sports Apparel should consider developing strategies to compete favorably with Dicks Sports Goods.
References
Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.
Siddiqui, S., & Singh, T. (2016). Social media its impact on positive and negative aspects. International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research, 5(2), 71-75.