Marketing

How retailers can reach Twitter users

By
Monday, 9 April 2018

Twitter is the perfect place for retailers to engage in conversation with potential customers.

But from a consumer perspective, Twitter is also a key tool for users looking to research products, follow brands, and seek out promotions.

Our research* shows more than 70% of Twitter users are interested in retail and have bought online or instore in the past week.

This post will take an in-depth look at how this retail audience** uses and interacts with brands on Twitter.

See some of the research in our infographic below.

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Who is Twitter's retail audience

Twitter users who are interested in retail are likely to be regular users of the platform. 

Around 66% log in on a daily basis with the largest proportion active during the 6pm-9pm time. 

The research shows Twitter is crucial for retail brands that are looking to communicate directly with their customer base. 

This is whether you are creating a meaningful dialogues or distributing helpful brand messages like this Video Card from @Sainsburys.

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Retail-focused consumers use Twitter in a wide variety of ways. 24% of the retail group use it to search for deals. 

Separately, 24% use Twitter to stay up-to-date with the latest products, while 22% use it to contact the store. 

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Consumers following brands

Crucially, around 76% of Twitter users already follow brands, with retailers making up around 30% of them. 

Many of these users want more messages from the brands they follow. 

For example, 25% would like to see more offers. At the same time, 46% want to tweet interesting content.

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Into and through the sales funnel

Sales are the most important numbers at the end of the day. Here Twitter can help move your target customer closer to a conversion. 

46% of the retail audience have directly linked to a brand asset via Twitter. While 45% have engaged in further research after viewing something in relation to retail. 

Possibly the most important figure comes last. 50% of them have signaled purchase intent either online, visiting a physical store or a price comparison site. 

Here are some great examples of brands engaging Twitter’s Retail Audience by using a mixture of Polls, Video Website Cards, and competitions. 

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*Source: Kantar TNS 2017 Base Total Monthly Twitter Users 1609 (sponsored by Twitter) 

**Retail audience = Twitter users who bought items from shopping retailers/grocery retailers online or in-store in the past week/month or intend to do in the next one week/month

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