By Zheng
In my last post, I discussed how Zara is not following best practices on Twitter and Facebook. However, UO their competitor is getting it right on social media management. As my classmate Suzhen during her social media audit, Urban Outfitters is really active in posting content on its main social media platforms. Here are three ways that Urban Outfitters is doing social media right that Zara isn’t:
1. Fun Content
Urban Outfitters is good at creating fun content to interact with its followers. On their Instagram, they posted a photo and asked people to tag their friends, so they would choose one winner to win a graphic t-shirt. This is an effective strategy to use to boost engagement. In the article “12 Steps To Boost Instagram Engagement in 2020”, Maria Ganta mentions “if you include some fun moments into your strategy, get ready to see some real returns in your comments, shares, and likes!” In this post, Urban Outfitters encourages followers to share this post with their friends, so that the post can be seen by more people. In addition, followers would have a chance to win a free T-shirt. Who does not like free gifts? Why not have a try? Urban Outfitters has good strategies to manage their social media and has good engagement with its followers.
2. Actively Posting
As Suzhen mentions in her post, Urban Outfitters is actively posting on its main social media platform: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. On Facebook, they usually post four posts every day from 10 AM to 4 PM every two hours. On Twitter, they post eight times a day. On Instagram, they also post an average of 3 posts every day. Meanwhile, Zara usually posts three times a day from 7 AM to 1 PM, and usually three times a week on all three main social media platforms. Comparing to Urban Outfitters, Zara is not as actively posting on its main social media platform. According to “How Often Should You Post on Social Media?”, Meltwater mentions that “Once a day seems to be the general consensus. Some studies even suggest that your following can grow by up to 56% by posting every day! Zara should keep its brand active on social media platforms, especially on Instagram cause followers will notice that the brand is alive on social media.
3. Effective Post Length
Urban Outfitters is good at applying effective languages on their comments. For example, on Facebook, one post about a cute lip balm gets the most engagement among their other posts with 639 comments, 566 likes, and 30 shares. According to the article, “The Ultimate Social Media Best Practices 2019 [Infographic] Social Marketing,” With Facebook posts under 40 characters receive up to 86% higher engagement. Urban Outfitters uses minimum words to describe the products which can keep higher engagement because followers would be tired of reading a long post on social media and it will cause them to lose interest.
Close it up
With these three strategies, Urban Outfitters wins over Zara on social media management. Zara should apply these best practices strategies to its social media platform and do a better job of managing their social media.
What do you think of social media best practice’s competition between Zara and Urban Outfitters? Let me hear your ideas! Please leave a comment below.
Social Media life 