As I have discussed about Urban Outfitters in my previous blog post, I am going to take a look at Zara, another well-known clothing brand, and compare how both of these brands are using social media. The values that Zara, which is one of the largest international fashion companies, defines themselves with are beauty, clarity, functionality, and sustainability. Even though Urban Outfitters and Zara target different segments, it is worthwhile to learn how each of them use social media to promote themselves. Zara actually has lots of followers on their social media platforms even though they do not post very often. So, I am going to talk about the three social media best practices that Urban Outfitters should learn from Zara.
Reply to Customers Frequently
Urban Outfitters does not reply to their customers on their social media platforms, especially on their Facebook page. If they do not reply to their customers online, it is hard to get more followers. However, in comparison, Zara replies to their customers very often within one hour on three of their social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Zara also takes care of their customers’ requests by offering product details and answers questions across all of their social media platforms.
Post Occasionally
Urban Outfitters is very active on their Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in terms of posting. For example, on Twitter, 1 million followers, they do eight posts a day. On Facebook, 2.1 million followers, they usually post four times a day. On Instagram, 9.1 million followers, they post three times every day. Although they post very often, they do not get as many followers as Zara across all three of their platforms. Also, as they post more, they own less followers.
However, on Zara’s social media platforms, they have 1.3 million followers on Twitter, 27.9 million followers on Facebook, and 38 million followers on Instagram. Zara does three posts every day on all three of their social media platforms. They post less, but they get more likes and comments for each of their post. Therefore, Urban Outfitters might want to do the same – focus on the quality of each post not the quantity of the posts.
Engage With Followers
Urban Outfitters does have some customer engagement on their Instagram, for example, providing some gifts and perks to the community. However, Zara has some short videos clips posted on their social media to address their latest collection, so Urban Outfitters can also do short video clips to attract more customers and engage with their online communities.
Most importantly, they should respond to their customers more often on all social media platforms.
Conclusion
As my classmate Fuwei discovered in her social media audit of Zara, and as she wrote in her blog post, “How Zara Manages Their Social Media”, Zara only posts on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday; they usually post three times a day across all three platforms. Even though they only post occasionally, they still win so many followers and get many responses from their customers on social media.
So, this is what Urban Outfitters can learn from Zara to get more followers. Urban Outfitters rarely replies to their customers, especially on Facebook. This is the one of the most important points Urban Outfitters should learn from Zara. What do you think about Urban Outfitters’ and Zara’s social media? Leave me a comment below and tell me which brand you think does a better job on its social media.
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