Anthropologie v. Urban Outfitters - A Comparison of Digital Marketing Strategies

Anthropologie v. Urban Outfitters - A Comparison of Digital Marketing Strategies

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  1 BY: PAIGE SMITH
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  2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ExecutiveSummary………………………………………... 3 Twitter Anthropologie………………………………………… 4 Urban Outfitters……………………………………… 5 Facebook…………………………………………………… 6 Instagram……………………………………………………7 YouTube…………………………………………………… 8 Analysis of Followers and Engagement…………………….. 9 Conclusion………………………………………………… 10
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  3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For many 20-30 year old women, Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters provide fashion inspiration for everyday apparel,work attire, and home décor. To connect with their audience, the two companies utilize social media to promote and advertise new products. Throughout this paper, I will analyze each company’s presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and decide a winner for each channel. The winner is chosen based on which company maximizes their marketing opportunities and engage with their audience most effectively. In addition, I will explain why the other company did not win and provide advice for improving their social media presence. It is noteable that some popular social platforms are not analyzed including LinkedIn and SnapChat. These sites have not been included for two reasons: LinkedIn is not the most effective site for advertising to young adults and Anthropologie does not post any content on SnapChat. It is also noteable that I have divided Twitter into two sections, one about Anthropologie’s Twitter presence and the other about Urban Outfitters’. My goal is to highlight the best and worst tweets from each company and analyze them. I found that dividing Twitter into two sections was the most effective manner to present my analysis. Finally, I conclude my paper with overall thoughts and evaluations in Analysis of Followers and Engagement.
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  4 TWITTER—ANTHROPOLOGIE Shown above arethe best and worst tweets Anthropologie has posted within the last two weeks. The top left tweet, which is a retweet from a customer, is an example of one of the company’s best tweets because it directly engages consumers and creates positive advertising for the brand. The top right tweet is also successful because it promotes Anthropologie’s blog without being too forceful. That is exactly what makes the bottom two images of tweets the worst ones posted. Over two days, the company tweeted about being an “Anthro member” four times. Although it is not shown in the picture, the tweet about spring dresses received 57 likes and 9 retweets, while the “Anthro member” promotional tweets only received 4-8 likes and 2-3 retweets. It is clear followers are not as responsive to obvious marketing efforts. Instead of overwhelming followers on Twitter, Anthropologie should advertise the “Anthro” membership periodically and sparingly. Membership discounts are not the only integrative marketing efforts by Anthropologie. The company also shares links to their Instagram account, blog, and other apps including Periscope and The List App. These tweets appear to be most successful when the company adds pictures and respond to customer comments. Anthropologie shows they understand their audience and what they look for on social media by sharing new arrivals and exclusive looks on their blog. However, their pushy marketing efforts can cause the company to seem too focused on sales.
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  5 TWITTER—URBAN OUTFITTERS Similar toAnthropologie, above are some of the best tweets by Urban Outfitters. Although their “worst” tweets are not listed, the absences of certain tweets are noteworthy. As I was scrolling through the company’s profile, I noticed very few retweets from customers. Most of their tweets consist of pictures followed by a caption and a link to their website or blog. This strategy works, especially for a target market of 15-30 year olds. However, it would be beneficial for Urban Outfitters to actively respond to comments in order to maintain relationships on Twitter. While interacting with consumers may seem like their biggest flaw, Urban Outfitters compensates for this as shown in the tweets above. On the left, the company is rewarding their followers by offering 20% off a dress. This makes for an effective call-to-action by providing a link and picture of the dress. On Twitter, I look for exclusive deals from the companies I follow, so this is an effective strategy to drive consumers to the website and purchase the item. Another method Urban Outfitters uses to engage consumers is #UOLive. This hashtag connects followers to concerts within a certain region. The company goes beyond digital outreach by providing free shows or attending concerts near other Urban Outfitters locations. At the event promoted in the upper right tweet, the company was advertising their new makeup brand, Milk, by offering free samples. If I were not following Urban Outfitters on Twitter or other social platforms, I would not know about these exclusive promotions and would be less likely to buy their new makeup. By engaging with customers beyond social media and offering sales to their followers, Urban Outfitters has a successful Twitter presence. WINNER: URBAN OUTFITTERS
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  6 FACEBOOK From a firstglance at each company’s Facebook page, it is clear they are two distinct brands. Anthropologie portrays a sophisticated and mature image, while Urban Outfitters illustrates a youthful and casual image. The two companies also have differing interactions with consumers on Facebook. For Anthropologie, there are many more positive comments and posts than Urban Outfitters. It appears that whenever Urban Outfitters shares a photo of new products, there is almost always a negative comment posted. However, this does not stop the company from remaining active on Facebook. Since most of its target audience (15-30 year olds) is on other social media sites, Urban Outfitters uses Facebook as a channel to promote their Instagram account. Anthropologie does not have the same obstacles as Urban Outfitters because most of their audience (25- 35 year olds) is active on Facebook. For example, Anthropologie promoted a new store reopening and received tons of positive feedback. Many consumers shared photos and comments praising the new store. Anthropologie also utilizes their marketing efforts by providing a link to their Instagram or blog where fans can shop their merchandise. Urban Outfitters does not consistently promote their merchandise or effectively engage their audience. While it is clear Anthropologie has more favorable engagement on Facebook, both companies can improve by being more responsive to consumers in order to maintain a positive relationship. WINNER: ANTHROPOLOGIE
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  7 INSTAGRAM On Instagram, Anthropologieand Urban Outfitters share the most similar content than on any other social platform. They both post pictures of their apparel, home décor, and store locations. In order to drive traffic back to their website/blog, they both provide a link in their bios to shop their merchandise. Since Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie both have double the number of followers than fans on Facebook, Instagram proves to be the most influential social site. Specifically, Urban Outfitters utilizes their reach of 4.6 million followers by creating individual Instagram accounts for each of their locations, including @UOMiami and @UOLosAngeles. By creating these accounts, the company can organize its followers and market directly to a specific region. In addition, they have created accounts for men, beauty, and music so consumers can find content specialized to their needs. Anthropologie has yet to create separate accounts tailored to their merchandise or consumer profiles. A majority of their engagement on Instagram consists of tagging bloggers or directing followers to their blog. While this is an effective strategy to connect with followers, Anthropologie is not utilizing its reach the same way as Urban Outfitters. Instead, it appears that Anthropologie’s focus on Instagram is to encourage followers to shop. Companies should balance their efforts on social media to engage with followers and provide relevant content. Since Urban Outfitters achieves these two goals, their Instagram account is more successful than Anthropologie’s account. WINNER: URBAN OUTFITTERS
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  8 YOUTUBE The differences betweenthe two companies’ YouTube pages are highly noticeable. Anthropologie’s playlists are featured above and Urban Outfitters’ playlists are shown below. It is evident that Urban Outfitters is more active on YouTube than Anthropologie. The content they created is also more relevant. Similar to their hashtag on Twitter, UO Live has its own channel to show which artists are featured and which concerts Urban Outfitters has attended. In addition, the company showcases jewelry designers and artists featured in their stores on the playlist “Dreamers + Doers”. Anthropologie has similar videos uploaded to their “Featured” playlist, which highlights the company’s fashion designers and their inspiration. On this playlist, they have also included tutorials for decorating a home and tips when purchasing shoes. Urban Outfitters also has tutorials on the UO Culture playlist that provides makeup tips from their newest brand, Milk. The biggest difference between Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie on YouTube is the number of videos uploaded. Anthropologie’s focus on YouTube is to give subscribers an inside-look of their brand. Urban Outfitters provides this exclusive content as well, but also includes concert information and music, which allows them to expand their target audience. Although YouTube is not the most active social platform, it is essential to stay relevant on every site. For Anthropologie, their content is relatable and targeted to a specific audience, but they should upload more frequently, preferably once a week, to engage subscribers. Urban Outfitters posts at least once a week, which provides more relevant content than Anthropologie. WINNER: URBAN OUTFITTERS
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  9 ANALYSIS OF FOLLOWERSAND ENGAGEMENT The number of followers, fans, or subscribers does not define a company or its value. However, when comparing the social media presence of two competing brands, it is relevant to recognize which sites have the greatest reach and which do not. Across all social channels, Urban Outfitters has at least double the number of followers than Anthropologie. However, that does not mean that Urban Outfitters has the most positive engagement on social media. From my observations on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, Anthropologie has more positive interactions with consumers than Urban Outfitters. Shown below on the left are comments from customers on Urban Outfitters’ Facebook page compared to Anthropologie’s page on the right. In order for Urban Outfitters to maintain relationships and encourage consumers to visit their website, they should follow Anthropologie’s lead by actively responding to complaints and resolve problems in a way that is satisfying to the consumer. In addition to responding to customer complaints, each company should recognize which sites to focus their marketing efforts on and how to grow each social channel. If their goal is to increase the number of followers, they should use Instagram to promote their YouTube or Twitter accounts, which would be more effective than advertising on Facebook. In order to make the most of their marketing efforts, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie should continue to provide exclusive deals to their followers on each social site. FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM YOUTUBE ANTHROPOLOGIE 1,136,947 554,000 2,000,000 4,237 URBAN OUTFITTERS 2,099,471 1,004,000 4,500,000 26,224
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  10 CONCLUSION For each socialsite, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie have individualized marketing strategies. The two companies recognize that different audiences will be on different sites, but expect similar content. For instance, Urban Outfitters promotes their new makeup brand, Milk, on their Twitter account and provides tutorials on their YouTube channel. By providing similar content across all social platforms, the companies are able to stay relevant and consistent among their audiences. Both companies have strengths and weaknesses across all social media sites. Responding to customer complaints is one of Anthropologie’s greatest strengths. There were very few comments on their Facebook page and Instagram that did not have a reply when there was an issue. However, continuing to create new content that engages their audiences is one of Anthropologie’s greatest weaknesses. For Urban Outfitters, their greatest weakness is responding to complaints and maintaining positive relationships specifically on Facebook. However, the company continues to create relevant content on all sites that encourages consumer interaction and purchase, which is their greatest strength. So, which company has a better presence on social media? When considering which company connects with their audiences in creative ways, Urban Outfitters surpasses Anthropologie due to their individualized Instagram accounts, #UOLive following, and number of YouTube videos. The company’s marketing efforts are tailored to meet the audience’s needs and expectations. For these reasons, Urban Outfitters has the best social media presence when compared to Anthropologie. How can Anthropologie improve? One of the first steps they could take is updating and promoting their YouTube channel. There are missed opportunities on YouTube that could drive consumers back to their website, like including more tutorials. In addition, the company could promote a “Brand of the Month”, which would allow followers to receive special discounts on one brand. If their secondary focus is on home décor, like Urban Outfitters’ is music, they could create an Anthropologie Home Instagram account and YouTube playlist that features décor tips and ideas. Since Urban Outfitters is utilizing all of their social media sites to the extent, they have the best social media presence across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. WINNER: