Nordstrom is Only High-end Department Store with a Superior Social IQ

The just-released Rival Results Index (RRI) for High-end Department Stores ranked 12 leading brands on their social media presence, reach, engagement and content

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Rival IQ

Apr 15, 2015, 09:30 ET

SEATTLE, April 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Nordstrom, a leading fashion specialty retailer, has received the highest Social IQ ranking in the just-released Rival Results Index (RRI) for High-end Department Stores. The RRI is a comprehensive analysis and scoring system of a market on social media. It is designed to provide a competitive and data-driven view across key social media measurements, including presence, reach, engagement and content. The RRI for High-end Department Stores analyzed and scored 12 top brands based on their social media performance over the first quarter of 2015 (January 1 through March 31).

Final scores for the Rival Results Index: High-end Department Stores Q1 2015

Detailed scorecard across all categories for the RRI High-end Department Store Q1 2015

While the department stores are active tweeters, they are achieving a low level of engagement, which is a vital social media metric.

This RRI revealed that while all department stores evaluated are active on social media, nearly all of them are missing best practices and the full viral benefit of social channels. For example, none of the stores connected a social media presence with an ecommerce store, and activity was inconsistent across multiple social channels. The stores also missed cross-promotion with product or partner brands on social media, thereby missing the potential influence and extended reach of those brands.

Participants in the RRI fall into one of five Social IQ rankings: Superior Social IQ, High Average Social IQ, Average Social IQ, Below Average Social IQ and Extremely Low Social IQ. Nordstrom was the only store evaluated in this RRI to receive a Superior Social IQ, achieving the maximum score of 5 in six of the eight categories for a total score of 35 out of 40.

Three of the department stores, Macy's, Harrods and Neiman Marcus received the next highest ranking of a High Average Social IQ. The vast majority of the stores fell into the Average Social IQ ranking, with one, Dillard's, coming in last with a score of 16 for a Below Average Social IQ.

"The department stores evaluated appear to be very focused on audience and activity but missing the full potential of engagement with their fans, which could be improved through better use of social media best practices and consistency," said Margaret Dawson, Rival IQ CMO. "We were surprised by some of the basics not followed by these well-renowned brands who spend millions of dollars on marketing overall."

One of the biggest surprises from this analysis was the low level of engagement on Twitter and Facebook achieved by all of the stores. While most of the stores were active Tweeters on a daily basis and had millions of followers, the highest Engagement Rate achieved was 0.33 by Lord & Taylor. Nearly all other stores had Engagement Rates of less than 0.10, meaning less than one follower out of every 10,000 is retweeting or favoriting a tweet.

A business-to-consumer (B2C) company on Twitter should target an Engagement Rate of at least .50. Engagement Rate is defined as the average number of interactions per thousand followers of posts on an organization's social page during a specific time period, which in this case was Q1 2015.

Part of this low engagement is the result of minimal image use on Twitter. Images have been proven to increase engagement on Twitter as well as on most social networks. The stores also showed a surprisingly low use of hashtags on Facebook and other hashtag-centric channels, such as Instagram.

In spite of this, the stores are achieving the strongest engagement on Instagram, which is typical of fashion-related companies. Harrods outscored all other stores with an Instagram Engagement Rate of over 30, followed by Nordstrom with 17.81. The industry average for B2C companies is approximately 20.

The RRI program, related processes and scoring is managed by Rival IQ, a digital marketing analytics firm based in the United States. All data for the RRI is based on the Rival IQ digital marketing analytics software. Eljester (part of Resultatfabriken group), a Sweden-based digital news media and consulting firm, helped create the scoring system.

The RRI evaluated the department stores on the following categories:

Social Presence
Social Audience
Social Total Engagement
Twitter Mentions Potential Reach
Average Engagement Rate on Twitter
Average Engagement Rate on Facebook
Average Engagement Rate on Instagram
Top Social Content across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google+

To download the complete RRI for High-end Department stores, go to: http://go.rivaliq.com/rri-high-end-department-stores/.

About Rival IQ
Rival IQ is a Software as a Service company based in Seattle that delivers impactful digital marketing analytics with a competitive edge. Rival IQ's mission is to make the increasingly complex and data-driven world of digital marketing easier, faster and more intelligent, so marketers can do their jobs better and make a bigger impact on the business. Rival IQ delivers on-demand analytics and proactive alerts for multiple digital channels, including social media performance across six social networks, SEO keyword rankings, and website content - all delivered in one place. With Rival IQ, marketers can learn in seconds what's working and not with their digital marketing, improve their marketing content and social engagement, show their marketing impact, and beat the competition. For more information, go to www.rivaliq.com and follow @rivaliq.

Contact: [email protected]

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