Last week we talked with Chris Carter who runs marketing for Austin’s own Bicycle Sport Shop. He shared with us how he is currently using social media as well as ideas for the future. This post highlights one successful program built as a result of customer feedback on Facebook.
Bicycle Sport Shop has been an Austin retailer since the mid ’80′s. They currently have two locations, 10947 Research Blvd and 517 S. Lamar Blvd. They use social media to market their business in a variety of ways. Like many small businesses, they communicate with consumers through their Facebook Fanpage, Twitter profile and blog (prominently displayed on their website). They closely follow what’s being said about them in various places like Yelp, CitySearch, Twitter etc. and respond appropriately. And, like many small businesses, they have limited time and resources to manage and execute the programs.
Chris began using Facebook early on with no real understanding of what he was trying to do or how to get it done. Shortly after he began experimenting, he took a step back and reevaluated how he could use social media in a meaningful and measurable way, and how it could be leveraged with limited resources–and budget–efficiently.
First, he reached out directly to Bicycle Sport Shop Facebook fans and asked them how the stores could better serve their needs. Many of the responses were requesting education on bicycle maintenance. At the time, the shop offered a free basic maintenance course but it was obvious from customer response that they could expand those offerings. They came up with the idea of Bicycle Sport Shop University (BSSU). Chris wrote a blog post highlighting BSSU, and promoted it on Twitter and Facebook. They also decided to offer a more advanced course, Wheel Truing 101, for $45 as part of their BSSU offering. They originally planned to have one advanced class, but due to overwhelming demand, they ended up hosting six. In addition to the obvious revenue generated from the five additional courses, Chris wanted to understand if the courses had an impact on sales and services. He cross referenced the class registrants with the POS database to analyze the number of new customer registrations, repeat customer registrations, and purchases as a result. The analysis showed that the new BSSU classes were a success, so much so that they are planning additional courses to be available soon.
Chris also shared several really great ideas he has in the social media hopper. Without giving away too much detail, here are a few things he’s considering for 2010:
- Leveraging geo-location services like Gowalla
- Building an entertaining video series with in-store assets and services like YouTube
- Linking unique Facebook fan IDs to his POS systems for deeper segmentation of the customer
We are excited to see how Chris evolves the marketing efforts for Bicycle Sport Shop in the months ahead. If you own or manage a business and are interested in learning how others are using social media and getting results, keep an eye on this shop. Chris also owns a marketing consulting business called Drivetrain Media, and can be contacted via e-mail at carter@drivetrainmedia.com or on Twitter, @cartertx.
If you’re in the market for a new bike or need to get your bike tuned up, check these guys out…great products and excellent service!
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