Helping companies track and build their online growth strategy and achieve business goals. At Milano Home, Flavio Mazzanti explained how a correct strategy is a necessary but not sufficient element  to intercept the demand that circulates online.

"78% of consumers who made in-store purchases during the holiday season first relied on online research." This data emerges from the Digital Report 2024, and the evidence that there has long been a change in market monitoring logic is supported by the increase in advertising investments on social channels, which in 2019 surpassed those destined for print media.

"People browse platforms and observe, search for products and companies that can increase their utility and satisfaction but first and foremost seek inspiration. It is up to the retailer to intercept that demand circulating online, but first, it is necessary for those offering the product to be aware of the profile of the customer they intend to target. The starting point is to have a clear idea of who we want to reach, always remembering that the brand is central and must be well recognizable."

Flavio Mazzanti, marketing strategist and chief executive officer of Studio Samo Digital – a research and analysis studio of digital world trends and tools, web agency, and leading training center for Digital Marketing in Italy – delved into a highly topical issue at Milano Home, listing the application methods, advantages, and opportunities offered by social media for the retail world.

"From managing social channels to creating a complete Inbound Marketing project" was the theme analyzed by Mazzanti, who highlighted how "one of the main roles of search engines is to be the primary source for discovering new brands, products, or services (as expressed by 40.8% of the sample)."

Mazzanti's analysis touched on various points of the relationship that is established between platforms and commerce protagonists. A comprehensive research that explored different aspects of our relationship with the internet, social media, e-commerce, and much more.

"Let's start with a fact that debunks a fairly entrenched common belief: online information is not a prerogative of teenagers. The most substantial target consists of people aged between 55-59 years."

What are social media for? Also to bring people into stores

"Every tool involves costs and creates effects, and we need to understand which one to use. Social media have various functions: to entertain, to inform,  to maintain social contacts ,  to expand the network of contacts, but they are also a useful lever to bring people into stores."

The e-commerce sector has carved out an important space. The turnover of online purchases in Italy alone in 2023 generated a revenue of 80.55 billion euros, but the presence of brands on platforms arouses curiosity and fuels expectations that lead a significant portion of users to purchase in physical stores.

"The inspiration effect is triggered, also fueled by the possibility of having had the chance to compare products, and so, after spending a few hours on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (a 'visual discovery' platform interesting for those operating in the home design field), the idea turns into a purchase act."

Platforms aim to entertain the user to network, the retailer must be skilled at leveraging people's presence to do marketing

"How to talk to people to get an effective return? This is one of the key points. Doing social media is different from having social media. Those who have a store must have the keys to enter the potential buyer's mind. The goal of platforms is to entertain the user as long as possible within them to network, the retailer must be skilled at leveraging people's presence to do marketing. Therefore, it is necessary to understand what people ask for and seek, the consumer's needs, the customers' requirements, and those who might soon enter the circle of buyers by establishing the necessary actions to arouse their interest."

Social media create communities, and to enter these user groups profitably, it is necessary to use the language they hold dear. We must be skilled at leveraging these channels to do social media marketing.

"From vertical communication, we move to horizontal communication, developing direct interaction without intermediaries. It is no longer the brand imposing its products/services on the consumer, but the opposite happens. The potential of social media for companies is vast: they offer the possibility to create online communities, build brand awareness, bring the brand closer to customers, discover new innovative products/services, stimulate latent demand, and do personal branding. To seize this series of opportunities, one must know how to manage social media."

The first step, therefore, "is to know social media, their characteristics, peculiarities, and the ecosystem in which they are inserted. To this, we must add the fundamental elements to create a social media strategy (who we are, mission and vision, business model, target audience, direct and indirect competitors, strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, objectives)."

Defining the elements of a social media strategy involves a careful evaluation of the project: each program has its peculiarities, making it impossible to have a one-size-fits-all strategy. Then we move on to the editorial plan and content creation, which are the means to achieve our goals for each channel.

"People seek information about products and brands in a category and then evaluate all the options available to them. This reflects two different mental schemes that take shape in the 'messy middle' of the purchase funnel: exploration, an expansive activity, and evaluation, a reductive activity.

Whatever a person is doing on a wide variety of online sources such as search engines, social media, aggregators, and review websites, can be classified into one of these two twin mentalities, repeating the cycle as many times as necessary to reach a final purchase decision.

After clarifying and setting these points, we move on to planning: selecting the channels to be monitored, defining the objective of each channel, finding an answer to why and how social channels can be useful for this project, proposing a budget for sponsorships.

Inbound Marketing helps meet the right people at the right time by offering content relevant to their requests

"Inbound Marketing is a methodology that involves producing and distributing content of interest to potential customers to attract them to a brand and create a mutually profitable and lasting relationship. By understanding certain moments – those aimed at entertainment, learning, information, and purchase – brands have the opportunity to propose relevant content for the right people at the right time, thus connecting with consumers more meaningfully."

Through careful management of processes ranging from attraction (content and messages specifically constructed to meet the requests and needs of the target we are referring to) to conversion (customer loyalty achieved by asking for detailed information such as personal data, demographics, and monitoring how they search for content), a trust relationship is established with a user outside our reference group, transforming them into a customer.

Specific content, effective information, attention to be paid at every stage of communication are the pillars of a strategy that will lead the customer to become a vehicle for spreading and promoting our proposals and solutions.

"In conclusion," said Mazzanti, "it is essential to monitor the evolution of digital marketing, and to do this, I must have the profiles of my customers. There is the B2B, B2C, but also D2C (direct to consumer, direct sales to the consumer) world, a buyer-centric marketing that aims to maintain control over the entire process."