Cheyenne Padgett | Social Media Case Study | 10/5/15

SOCIAL MEDIA CASE STUDY- TARGET

Over the years, target has become a leader in its industry
grossing 21.7 billion dollars last year alone. Target has branded
itself to be a high-quality retail store looking to serve
communities, build relationships, and foster connections and
conversations both inside and outside their doors. The
marketing they produce on various social media platforms aids
them in that prospect, but also opens the door for their
customers to publicly share their opinions about target as a
brand. Competitors within the same industry share the same
similarities of customer involvement; therefore, Target wished to
do a study on the effectiveness of the engagement their social
media spaces proved, comparing each to their competitors.

LISTENING
As the social media scene evolves, large companies have settled into their place on the internet. Target,
one of the most well-known businesses in the United States, participates as leaders in the growing social
media presence across the board; however, because of this fact, Target must monitor the changes
around its brand, competitors, and industry. As Target finds its place, they must evaluate when, where,
and how to engage its community.

BRAND-CENTERED LISTENING
Target has extended its brand across a variety of social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and Google/Bing. It is within each of these platforms that Target interacts with its customers
and customers post their opinions about the Target brand.

FACEBOOK
Targets Facebook page is its main hub for customer service and advertisements, generating a ton of
customer traffic. People from all around the world post comments and questions, but it seems that no
matter the platform, people can be rude. The main page highlights its product recalls tab above any
other custom tag. There are two main Facebook pages, the main one and one specifically dedicated to
fashionTarget Style. Both pages are crowded with customer comments, questions, and concerns
about products and customer service. With a huge influx of questions or concerns, Target does a

relatively good job answering the questions and addressing its customers. No matter the situation,
Target always responds with positivity and class.

TWITTER
Apart from Facebook, Twitter rings in the customers with short, eye-catching posts about deals and
products in stores. Like other social media platforms, customers find time to write rude, angry
comments about customer service, mostly commenting on posts that have nothing to do with their
problems; however, unlike Facebook, Twitter offers a more interactive social media platform where
customers can post pictures, include hashtags, and respond to calls of action from the Twitter page. It is
situations like these that the negative comments decrease and customers begin to post short, positive
responses to Targets tweets. Also, like Facebook, Target does a relatively good job replying to
customers comments and questions and engaging in the community.

INSTAGRAM
Instagram is slightly different than the other social media platforms in the way that the pictures posted
on Instagram also funnel into the Facebook and Twitter posts. That being said, Instagram still has its fair
share of customer feedback, both positive and negative. Also like the other platforms, Target replies to
customer feedback, but not as much as on Facebook or Twitter. Because Instagram deals with only
pictorial ads for Target products, much of the comments are about what is pictured, either responding
negatively or positively.

GOOGLE/BING
When customers search for Target on search engines such as Google or Bing, they are met with several
different options to complete their search. On the first page alone, search engines point the customer to
the main homepage, different social media platforms, the Target corporate office, the iTunes app store,
and local retail locations. Along with these results, news and press releases regarding Target appear
near the top of the search page. Some of the news regarding Target is negative and included unrest
among the customers, but most of it had a positive connotation.

COMPETITIVE LISTENING
Over the years, the social media space has evolved, making companies like Target and Walmart
competitors physically and virtually. By understanding what the competitors are doing right and wrong,
Target can better understand its own strengths and weaknesses.

FACEBOOK
Walmarts Facebook page actually receives more traffic than the Target one. Like Target, Walmart does
not seem to have a separate page for customer service. The overall tone of the Walmart customers

seems to be more positive than that of Target. That being said, Walmart still has negative comments and
questions all over the page, but seem to respond enthusiastically and positively.

TWITTER
Walmarts Twitter presence is not as involved as Targets, meaning that people comment on tweets, but
there isnt as much social media traffic. It seems as though when people leave comments on Walmarts
Twitter, they are mostly positive; however, when there is a post that sparks a lot of conversation,
Walmart does a good job responding to its customers questions or concerns.

INSTAGRAM
Walmarts Instagram seems to be slightly more involved than its Twitter. It posts pictures that can also
be found on Twitter and Facebook, but still gets a lot of traffic. Like any other social media platform,
Walmart posts replies to comments and question on Instagram when they can, but also seems to ignore
the questions that do not pertain to the picture that was posted because a lot of customers find it
appropriate to ask about unrelated things in the comment section of an Instagram picture.

GOOGLE/BING
Walmart, one of Targets biggest competitors, has a similar outcome when searched for. Many of the
results lead customers to Walmart's main homepage, its various social media platforms, and local retail
stores. Like Target, the search results also reveal several different news articles and press releases
regarding Walmart. There are mostly negative articles about recent layoffs and lawsuits, but the
customer would have to advance to the third page of results to see any news with a positive
connotation. Overall, the immediate news surrounding Walmart is more negative than Target.

INDUSTRY-WIDE LISTENING
Target as a company has several competitors within the same industry. Other than Walmart, the
industry leaders are Amazon and Sears. By listening to these companies and their interactions with the
customers, Target can take away helpful feedback that will help their social media platforms and the
company in the long run.

FACEBOOK
From across the industry, Facebook seems to be the main platform that Target customers use to leave
negative comments and questions. Because Target does not seem to have a separate customer service
page, most customers use the Target main page to complain about service. Other competing companies
in the industry, Walmart, Amazon, and Sears, also receive negative comments on their pages, mostly
having to do with poor customer service in the stores.

TWITTER
Across the industry, customers are more apt to participate with short blurbs of text in Twitter
conversations. Because the customers are limited to 140 characters per tweet, customers are not as
likely to post negative remarks. It seems that if they have something negative to say about it, they
address the Facebook page directly. Overall, Twitter pages across the industry seem to capture the
customers in a more positive way.

INSTAGRAM
The Target and Amazon Instagram accounts are similar in how much traffic they receive per post;
however, the Sears and Walmart accounts fall short to competing with the others. Across the board,
customers post comments and questions on Instagram that are usually met with responses from the
competitors. The responses are not as negative as those seen on Facebook, but they vary in
connotation.

GOOGLE/BING
All of Targets biggest competitors--Walmart, Amazon, and Sears-- show similar results when searched
for. They all come up with social media platforms, local stores (apart from Amazon), and recent news.
The biggest difference is the connotation of the news. Walmarts news is particularly negative compared
to Amazons. Target can be found somewhere in the middle of positive and negative, but Sears doesnt
appear to have much noteworthy news at all.

MEASURING
After listening to what the competitors of the industry are saying, Target can measure and improve its
own social media space. By looking at Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and analyzing the feedback on
each, Target can improve its own involvement and learn from the mistakes of other companies. There is
a lot of conversation that sprouts from social media; therefore, Target wanted to know the quantity and
quality of the conversation across their various social media platforms.

BRAND-CENTERED MEASURING
Starting with the Target brand itself, Target wanted to know how much traffic their social media
platforms were getting around each post and theme. This information aided the company in knowing
what their customers thought of the brand and how many people were trolling their sites per day.

FACEBOOK
Over the past month, Target has averaged 534 likes, 143 shares, and 73 comments per post. Over a
course of several months, Target has launched several new products relating to Star Wars. These are the

posts that have received the most amount of traffic. Other than those, the posts about food tend get the
highest amounts of likes and shares. Consequently, in every comment section of a post, a customer can
find at least one angry comment about customer service or a bad product experience.

TWITTER
Targets Twitter followers tend to favorite posts more than they retweet them. On average, Target
receives 38 retweets and 99 favorites per post. The most popular posts on Twitter are similar to those
most popular on Facebook, the ones about Star Wars and food seem cause the most traffic.

INSTAGRAM
As mentioned before, the posts from Instagram funnel into those made on Facebook and Twitter;
however, Instagram still does well with comments and likes. On average, Target receives 97 comments
and 9,605 likes per post. Target designs their images well, in a bright eye-catching way, bringing viewers
to their page more often.

GOOGLE/BING
When searching for Target Store in Google, the search engine comes up with 398,000,000 results. It
was searched for in this way to limit the number of results that would appear due to Target and its
other meanings. Consequently, when searching on Bing, 91,500,000 results come up. The latter is
probably true because Bing is a relatively new search engine and does not have access to as many
things as Google has managed to gain access to over the years.

COMPETITIVE MEASURING
Targets main competitor in the retail space, Walmart, has the same social media platforms for engaging
its customers; therefore, Target wanted to know how their virtual community compared. This can be
seen in customer involvement, enthusiasm, interactivity, and attitude.

FACEBOOK
Over the past month, Walmart has averaged 341 likes, 25 shares, and 29 comments per Facebook post.
The posts that averaged the highest amount of traffic were primarily about food or products relating to
the kitchen. Although these posts generated the highest amount of traffic, it was still a lot less than
Targets overall traffic. The comments on these posts werent entirely positive, but they overall seemed
more positive than negative.

TWITTER

Different than Target, Walmarts Twitter follows tended to favorite and retweet tweets at an equal rate.
Over the past month, the average post has received 14 retweets and 19 favorites, numbers lower and
different to that of Targets. Walmart does not tweet as often as Target does, and when they do, it is
usually informing the customers about product recalls.

INSTAGRAM
Like target, Walmarts Instagram feeds into its Facebook and Twitter as well, bringing more visitors from
those platforms straight to Instagram. Even with this, Walmart has lower numbers in likes and comments
per post. On average, one Instagram post from Walmart receives 2,273 likes and 46 comments, a large
number, but still less than its competitors. The images on Walmarts Instagram are eye-catching but not
as designed and friendly-looking as Targets.

GOOGLE/BING
Keeping the past data in mind regarding the number of results that Target posed on Bing and Google,
Walmart yielded significantly less results. When searching for Walmart in Google, the search engine
comes up with 179,000,000 results. Consequently, when searching on Bing, 15,400,000 results come up.
These results were surprising, considering that Walmart has been around longer than Target has.

INDUSTRY-WIDE MEASURING
Not only did Target wish to measure the engagement around its brand and its main competitor, but they
also wished to look at the entire industry. The industry that Target resides in is a mixture of both online
and retail space, presenting interesting challenges and comparisons.

FACEBOOK
Targets Facebook can only be rivaled by that of Amazon and Walmart. Sears falls behind on Facebook as
a social media platform. As number of followers/likes of page goes Target has 22,901,016, Amazon has
26,026,161, Walmart has 32,699,629, and Sears has 3,634,167. Normally, one would think that that
number of followers directly correlates to traffic on the page, but in this case, Walmart is not necessarily
in the lead. On average, Amazon receives 226 comments, 673 shares, and 2211 likes per post, while
Sears receives 37 comments, 38 shares, and 308 likes per post. Compared to the data of both Target
and Walmart, this makes Amazon the industry leader for Facebook. However, no matter the competitor,
each page is chalked full of disgruntled customers leaving angry comments about poor service or
product.

TWITTER
Regarding Target and its competitors, companies typically a lot of feedback on twitter, but not as much
as Facebook or Instagram. Keeping the data of Target and Walmart in mind, Amazon averages 132
retweet and 93 favorites, while Sears averages 2 retweets and 4 favorites. It is evident that customers
tend to favorite posts more than they retweet them, which might simply be out of convenience. Traffic
on Twitter could easily correlate with the amount of followers and interest each post has. The tweets
Sears puts out lack images and visual interest. As followers are concerned, Target has 1.69M, Walmart
has 691K, Amazon has 2.05M, and Sears has only 10.4K. Keeping this data in mind, the amount of traffic
on Sears and Walmarts pages is understandable. The kind of feedback is relatively similar across the
board as well. On Twitter, customers seem to be less rude, probably due to the limited number of
characters per comment.

INSTAGRAM
As a social media platform, Instagram seems to be more popular than Twitter for this particular industry.
This is probably because Instagram has made it extremely easy to like posts with a single touch of a
finger. As number of followers goes, Target has 929k, Walmart has 208K, Amazon has 194K, and Sears
has 14.1K. Target has more followers than all of its competitors combined because its posts are artistic,
colorful, funny, ironic, and aesthetically-pleasing--meaning they are just simply fun and engaging to look
at. Keeping the data of Target and Walmart in mind, on average, Amazon receives 56 comments and
2273 likes per post and Sears receives 7 comments and 134 likes per post. As any other social media
platform, customers also use the comment section of Instagram to address their questions, comments,
and concerns regarding customer service and products.

GOOGLE/BING
Between Target and its other competitors, Target is not the lead competitor when it comes to number of
search results on various search engines. When searching for Amazon store, Google yields
420,000,000 results, while Bing yields 129,000,000 results. Similarly, when searching for Sears store,
Google yields 41,500,000 results, while Bing yields 31,300,000 results.

ENGAGING
A companys ability to successfully engage an audience is seen both negatively and positively on social
media. Simply gaining and keeping an audiences attention can be a difficult and immense task. Targets
ability to engage has climbed over the years because they succeed at getting their customers interested
enough in what they are selling so they come back for more. To engage their customers even more,
Target should focus on interacting with their customers in a positive way.

WHY TO ENGAGE
Social media has made it easy to post comments, questions, and concerns on various platforms, also
publicly welcoming other peoples opinions-- good and bad. As mentioned before, customers leave
negative comments in the comment sections of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, leaving a forum for
other customers to share their opinions. Some of these comments can stray others to abandon Target
as a company altogether. Target needs to engage their customers in such a way as to gain their trust
and respect. Doing this will build an interactive relationship between Target and its customers.

WHAT TO SAY
Like its competitors, Target attempts to respond to every question and concern posted on all of their
social media platforms. However, the format that Target writes its answers in can be seen as impersonal
and pretentious. There have been countless times in the comment sections of posts that Target has
answered a question, causing other people to start commenting on the way the answer was posed.
From this, people typically feel overlooked because Targets answers sound so impersonal. Using
phrases like Were sorry or We will get this information to the right source are good to a certain
extent, but the customers need to feel heard. Target needs to not only address the problem, but make
sure it doesnt happen again.

WHERE TO ENGAGE
Target has engaged its users on several different social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+, and Periscope. Target seems to have the most traffic on
Instagram; therefore, they should engage customers where they are and how they are doing it on the
successful social media platforms.

WHO TO ENGAGE
Target should continue to engage customers who have had poor customer service. Most of the negative
feedback on the pages is regarding poor customer service and bad experience with the products. Target
should look to engage the customers who have had a bad experience and pair those people who have
had a good one, making them enthusiastic about the brand in the process.

HOW TO ENGAGE
Target can better engage their customers by providing a separate customer service tab or page on
Facebook, removing most of the negative experiences from the main Facebook page. Target can also
engage their industry by avoiding having an avid opinion about big issues in the media today; this will
refrain from isolating those who disagree.

CONCLUSION

Target and its main industry competitorsWalmart, Amazon, and Searsuse social media as both a
marketing ply and a way to engage their customers on a personal level. Each company has their own
way of branding and responding to their customers, but none of their techniques have proved to be
perfect. There will always be room for negative and positive opinions on social media pages, it is just
within Target and other companies like it, to increase the positive and address the negative. By listening,
measuring, and engaging their customers in a personal, respectful way, Target will address a wider
audience and perhaps win back those customers that have turned away from their brand due to poor
service.