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6 September 2015 | beautystorebusiness.com Beauty Culture gettyimages.com Hashtagging Your Way To Social-Media Relevance By Jay York, senior digital marketing strategist, EMSI Public Relations When your brand is on social-media sites, such as Twitter or Instagram, the goal should be for it to become part of the conversation. Using a hashtag allows more people to find its contributions to conversations. For example, let's say 1,000 people follow your brand on Twitter. Not counting retweets, only 1,000 people will see its posts if you don't use a hashtag. Add the hashtag, and the post has the potential of being seen by, and retweeted by, any number of people. A common hashtag, such as #love, can position your post to be seen by potentially millions of people. But be warned. While there are great benefits to hashtags, there also are pitfalls. Hashtags don't come with exclusivity. Anyone can use them; so a hashtag can become a weapon that works both for you and against you. Critics of your brand, or just the usual assortment of Internet trolls, may attempt to hijack your hashtag, putting you or your business in a bad light. Keep in mind these suggestions for getting the most out of your efforts: Use proprietary hashtags. One of the advantages to a proprietary hashtag, such as Orange Is the New Black 's hashtag #OITNB, is that it is linked directly to your brand. These hashtags typically are not used as widely as a more generic hashtag, but the goal is to brand yourself through the hashtag with the hope it could go viral. Don't overdo it. A post littered with too many hashtags can be difficult to read. Twitter itself suggests using no more than two hashtags per Tweet. Certainly, three should be the very maximum on Twitter. A different etiquette exists on Instagram, though, and most Instagram followers will tolerate excess hashtags. Meanwhile, although hashtags can be used on Facebook, there's little reason to include even one. That's not the way people use that social-media site. Think geographically. If you are a local company that depends mainly on local clientele, a hashtag that links to your location works well. Hashtags such as #Seattle or #Bangor drop you into numerous conversations about your hometown. A hashtag may not look like much, but it's really a powerful tool that is a double-edged sword. If used correctly, it can greatly bolster your marketing reach. Used incorrectly, it can have adverse effects or unintended consequences. With social media, your hashtag is your brand, so use it wisely. ■ Do you have culturally relevant information that our readers ought to know? Send it to senior editor Manyesha Batist at mbatist@creativeage.com. Majority of Shoppers Don't Wait For Improved Customer Service It may seem counterintuitive, but retailers should welcome the irate shopper who vents her frustration in an animated scene on the sales floor. That's because it's the mistreated customer who walks out the door in a silent huff who places the most revenue at risk, according to a collaborative study of dysfunctional retail touchpoints conducted by customer-solutions provider LoyaltyOne and Verde Group, a customer- experience research consultancy, with professor of marketing and psychology Dr. Deborah Small at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The March 2015 survey shows that approximately half of 2,500 U.S. consumers polled reported experiencing a problem on their last shopping trip. Of those customers: • 81% decided not to contact the retailer about the issue • 32% (among silent shoppers) said they were unlikely to recommend the retailer to friends and family By comparison, the study shows that shoppers who did notify retailers of their poor experience and had their problem completely resolved were 84% less likely than silent shoppers to be at risk of decreasing their spend. Verde's proprietary Revenue@RiskTM analysis uses experience impact modeling to identify the specific customer experiences most damaging to customer loyalty behaviors and prioritize them according to impact on revenue and market share. Below is the ranking per category: • Mass merchandisers are putting 25% of potential revenue at risk • Apparel, 16% • Department stores, 15% • Drugstores, 12% • Grocers, 11% The survey also revealed that big spenders within a category disproportionately experience certain problems: Mass Retail "Check-Out" Risk: Shoppers frustrated by check-out wait times reported spending 23% more than the average mass retail customer ($545 vs. $446 per quarter) Department Stores "Not-My-Department" Staff Attitude: Shoppers troubled by an associate's not-my-department attitude reported spending twice as much as the average department store customer ($543 vs. $261 a quarter) Apparel Retailers "Ship Date": Particularly in their online channel, customers who cited their inability to obtain a specific date or time to receive an online order reported spending 66% more in the category ($416 vs. $250 a quarter)