Roots Seeing Benefits From Social Networking

Internet Retailer reported recently about how apparel designer Roots Canada is successfully driving traffic to its Roots.com web site via niche social networking sites like ThisNext.com and TotallyLoveIt.com as well as the bigger social media sites like MySpace and Facebook.

The Roots marketing plan includes posting apparel related information on social networking sites. Interestingly, James Connell, director of e-commerce, digital marketing and new media at Roots says that “I recommend products from Roots as well as other retailers.”

I think that this is a very important statement. In order to successfully market your products and services in social settings you need to be authentic. Nothing builds credibility faster than a company referring someone to a competitor because in this case they have a product that is a better solution.

James Connell went on to say:

The power of the social networking sites is that they enable relatively small retailers to play on an equal field with larger retailers in building brands…Big brands can’t generate and dominate trends the way they used to.”

While expecting such sites to have a growing impact on retailing, Connell figures that retailers can deploy similar applications on their own web sites. “I could see that happening on retail sites, where customers would set up their own profiles and tell others what they like,” he says.

Expect to see more smaller and mid-sized brands focusing on social networks and social retailing in the coming months as it offers a way to compete with bigger brands at a fraction of the cost of a regular advertsing campaign.