Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

Finding creative ways to interact with your students on Facebook isn't easy. To help, we've compiled a list of quick strategies you can implement that others have found successful.

• Calls to action: If you want interaction, ask for it. Adding a call to action to your Facebook posts such as ‘like this post if you agree!’ or ‘Tell us what you think in the comments section,’ encourages readers to be a part of the discussion.
• Questions: People love to talk on Facebook. Asking questions that are easy to answer and require one-word responses tend to get the most engagement. When you make it about them, they are more likely to jump into the conversation.
• Crowdsource: Give your students a say in their college store. Let them vote on which new items to carry, what product should be on sale next week or even what type of event you should hold next. Companies such as Starbucks and Dell have had success using crowdsourcing as a tool to build engagement, loyalty and business as a whole.
• Offers: Add an incentive to being a fan by providing exclusive discounts. Facebook’s ‘Offers’ feature makes it easy to spread the deal to your fan base and beyond. Facebook ads allow you to track the ad from the time it is clicked through redemption, helping you determine the success of your Facebook marketing.
• Photos: Prove your store is the place to be by snapping pictures at in-store events and uploading them to Facebook. Ask students to tag themselves so the picture, as well as your store’s name, appear in their newsfeed for their friends to see. You can also have students get involved by asking them to post their own snapshots to your page in a photo contest. Use the Spring Break Photo Contest as inspiration.
• Tips: Be the inside authority. Let students know of campus happenings, events and other local updates so they turn to your page for the latest.
• Trivia: Ask questions related to your store, campus, or a specific topic and reward the first to answer correctly with a fun prize. Weber State University created a social media event for their 100^th anniversary, complete with a music video and trivia questions to build engagement through Facebook.
• Caption contest: Ask your fans to caption a specific photo to enter. You can either pick your favorite caption as the winner or make the caption with the most likes the winner. This contest can result waves of comments, often with funny and creative results.

What other strategies do you use to get students talking on social media? Share them with other stores in the comments section below!

Out with the old, and in with the new. That’s the approach Ben Jastorff, manager of Trojan Center Bookstore at Dakota State University, adopted when he recently accepted the position at the store. Jastorff wanted to clear out inventory, some of which had been in the store for nearly two years, to make room for the updated apparel he had ordered.

You never know what will strike a chord with your students, so sometimes the best place to start is with your staff. In fact, that’s what Western Oregon University Bookstore did with their most recent promotion. Web Specialist and Head Cashier Mara Hoaglin was sharing her interests with coworkers one day, and was surprised to learn that her manager was also a big fan of the British TV show, Doctor Who. The store’s gift buyer quickly chimed in with the fact that she had access to Dr. Who merchandise, and the idea snowballed from there.

Thinking of creative ways to get your students interacting on Facebook isn't easy. So, we've compiled a list of quick strategies you can implement that others have found successful. Check it out:

Social media is opening the lines of communication between business and consumer and allowing for a whole new form of interaction. So, it’s no surprise that crowdsourcing, or soliciting feedback from a group of people to solve a problem or develop an idea, is taking off like wildfire in the world of retail.

Creating a social media page is simple enough, but getting your customers to engage with it can be no easy task. That’s why Dixie State University Campus Store continually looks for new ways to cross promote their social platforms and get students excited about interacting with them.

You’ve probably heard a lot about Pinterest over the last few months. Undoubtedly one of the most popular new social networks, the site is a place to organize and share online images and ideas that you find interesting or inspiring.