Social Media Lessons Learned from H&M

H&M, the well-known European fashion retailer, has become a master of social media with an incredible 3,826,114 fans on Facebook and 56,053 followers on Twitter. As Sara Hansson points out in her post on Mindjumpers, there are four basic pieces of advice that can be learned from H&M's social media success:

Amuse Your Customers:
When visiting H&M's Facebook site, visitors are presented with a number of links and applications for their viewing entertainment, including the "Style Guide" and "H&M TV." The site is easy to navigate and provides visitors with multiple tools for inspiration and amusement. Additionally, H&M keeps their customers and fans informed by updating them on the latest trends, news and updates in fashion, distinguishing them as more than just a clothing retailer.

Any business wants visitors to view and visit their Facebook page more than once. In order to develop a loyal customer fan base, it is important to ask yourself: what value do you bring to the customers and for what reason do they visit the page?

Involve Your Customers:
H&M does an excellent job at involving their fans not only through contests and events, but also by importing blog posts and and customers' outfits that mention H&M into their "Social Media Room." By showcasing the fashion choices and opinions of their millions of fans, H&M is doing a great job at showing how creative and unique their customers are. By allowing consumers around the world to see what real women look like in their clothes, they are bringing transparency to the H&M brand while still showing appreciation for their fans.

For any business, it is important to make the customer feel involved and valued. This helps create a loyal customer fan base which is a great tool for word-of-mouth marketing and recommendations.

Help Your Customers:
H&M uses social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter as another means of customer service. Representatives answer questions, solve issues and help out when needed. Social media sites are an incredibly speedy and efficient way to answer customers' questions and respond to customer feedback.

Make it Easy for Your Customers:
Make your social media site more accessible by making it easy to navigate through clearly labeled pages and links. Additionally, once you have gained their attention through Facebook and Twitter, make sure you provide them with a link to your website so that you are able to take advantage of new site visitors.

I think that these are four incredibly valuable pieces of advice for all brands and businesses to follow when trying to attract and engage customers. By listening to your customers, involving them with the brand and being respectful and attentive to questions and feedback, you are sending a clear message to your fans that they are an integral part of the brand's success and more than just customers.

What businesses and brands are you a 'fan' of? What practices have they done to gain your loyalty and interest?

Let us know!