3 On Your Side: Retailers Using Selfies To Promote Business
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- More and more stores have found a new way to promote their business. 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan tells us how companies are trying to capitalize on the selfie craze.
Like most Millennials Christina Cervenka takes plenty of selfies. She says, "It's a fun way to communicate to friends quickly about what's going on in my world."
And that's exactly the trend businesses are banking on. "People are obsessed of taking pictures," says Juice Generation CEO Eric Helms. It's the reason he installed a selfie wall in one location. Customers can snap a photo and post it on social media. According to Helms, "People want to tell their friends they are doing something healthy for themselves, especially today, if you didn't document it, it didn't happen."
Plenty of other businesses use cameras so customers can promote their products. At Paint Box Nails clients can get a "photo box" picture of their manicured nails, giving paint box the perfect advertisement.
"We're living through the greatest communication shift of our time," says social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk. He believes this selfie strategy is changing the way companies get the word out. According to Vaynerchuk, "It's changed everything because customers have louder voices and can reach more people. The way you market and get to people now happens in a social first environment."
Selfie snappers can benefit too. Many stores reward them with discounts and free stuff. Juice Generation customer Elizabeth Cassia says, "I think we live in a world where people want to share what they do after every move." So businesses are giving them an easy way to do it.
By the way, there are websites where companies ask consumers to take selfies with their products and if they like the photo, they'll pay to use it. Foap and Scoopshot are among those sites. For more information click below.
