Macy’s Dresses Up Online Presence with Blog
Macy’s, one of the country’s largest retailers, has added a blog to its bag of marketing tricks.
Macy’s touts its new mBLOG as “the ultimate insider’s guide” to fashion, beauty, home and lifestyle news and trends. Macy’s experts as well as bloggers from Fashionista.com and FoodRepublic.com are supplying content, including blog posts, how-to videos and expert reviews.
“Macys.com is already a leading resource for fresh fashion, home and beauty products from the world’s top brands,” Martine Reardon, executive vice president of marketing at Macy’s, said in a news release. “We are excited to enrich our customers’ online experience, offering a destination for high-quality content that gives readers direct access to a unique and influential set of voices.”
The new blog will focus each weekday on a certain topic: women’s fashion on Mondays, men’s fashion and gadgets on Tuesdays, home on Wednesdays, accessories on Thursdays and beauty on Fridays. Saturdays and Sundays will be devoted to a potpourri of content. E-commerce will be embedded in the content so readers can click to buy products.
WWD.com reported Macy’s “has enough celebrities in its stable” to provide video footage for mBLOG. Among the familiar faces appearing in Macy’s ads are Sean Combs, Jessica Simpson, Martha Stewart and Donald Trump.
Creating a blog is a logical step in Macy’s social media progression. The 2011 Social Commerce Study, conducted by Shop.org, comScore and Social Shopping Labs, showed that 42 percent of online consumers have “followed” a retailer proactively through a retailer’s blog, Facebook page or Twitter presence.
According to MarketingVox.com, Macy’s must contend with Federal Trade Commission guidelines regarding retail brands tapping popular bloggers to promote their products.
“Retailers have adjusted their relationships with these influencers to meet regulations – and thus developed a wide range of new models. In some cases, the brand makes no bones about the ties,” MarketingVox.com said. “In other cases, the retail brand does not want to give the appearance of a blogger getting paid to influence his or her readers. Macy’s appears to be falling in the second category with its focus on general topics.”
Macy’s operates more than 800 stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, as well as macys.com. This year, Macy’s ranked first on the Digital IQ Index, which measures the “digital footprint” of 64 specialty retail brands, with Victoria’s Secret at No. 2 and Nordstrom at No. 3.
Macy’s (NYSE: M) posted sales of $25 billion in fiscal 2010.
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