Q&A: M&S marketing director Sharry Cramond on how ‘social sits right at the heart of our storytelling’

From Facebook to TikTok, Marks & Spencer’s presence on social media is enabling the retailer to ‘meet customers where they are’. M&S stores have their own social media accounts, enabling authentic engagement with customers, and the retailer is experimenting with live shopping. 

What are M&S’ objectives from social? For instance, is it about brand building, engagement, customer acquisition…?

All of the above. What customers want to know from M&S – from food to fashion to new home and beauty – is what the must-have products are. We communicate with our customers wherever they are, and spending time on social media is a big part of that.

Through social, we can instantly connect with millions of our customers. It’s where we can most quickly jump on trends. It gives us the opportunity to tap into what customers are feeling in the moment, microtrends and popular culture. It also keeps us connected to the zeitgeist, and on the pulse of the real lives of our customers.

We have even set up studios right behind my desk where the team films TikTok and Instagram content every day. We are super-proud to be recognised as really leading the way on social in UK retail.

How does social fit into your wider marketing programme and strategy?

The most powerful form of marketing is word of mouth, and it’s a universal truth that people believe people who are like them. That’s why we asked each of our stores to set up their own local social media accounts – our store socials reach millions each month.   

Our colleagues live in the same communities as our customers; in fact, they know many of their customers by name. So, when customers see local store colleagues on TikTok talking about their new favourite in-store bakery cookie or their new must-have jacket, this is so much more powerful than just advertising. 

Social sits right at the heart of our storytelling and supercharges our big seasonal campaigns. But increasingly, our campaigns are social-first or even social-only initiatives. For example, our new Love That weekly series in fashion stars the hosts of Capital Breakfast and social media style guru Melissa’s Wardrobe, sharing style advice and the latest fashion must-haves.   

In food, seven years ago, I set up the UK’s biggest celebrity ambassador programme where celebrities get sent a selection of M&S new products each month, get to taste them all and then post about their favourite. This has a reach of almost 50 million, and truly makes our new product launches unmissable. Our only stipulation is that there are no stipulations – our celebrity ambassadors choose whatever product they want, as it has to be authentic.    

In fashion, our influencer programme sees over 400 fashion influencers post about their favourite style picks every week. The reach is phenomenal.  Plus, we have 16 colleagues who, along with their day job, are what we call M&S Insiders who each have their own Instagram page. We have insiders representing all areas of our business – from womenswear and menswear to kidswear, beauty and home. Real colleagues who know our products inside out and show them in authentic, everyday ways that our customers truly trust.  

Do different social media networks need different approaches? How has that affected what you do, if so?

One hundred per cent. Facebook is great for the local community reach, and our store’s social media accounts play a massive role here.    

TikTok is great for instantly jumping on trends, plus it’s where our stores can really make something go viral.  One of my favourite moments is when colleagues from our Romford store wrote a song about their favourite M&S Christmas food products and we helped them release it as a single. They promoted it on TikTok, and it went to number one in the iTunes chart. Then TikTok actually did a TV ad featuring the ‘Romford’ crew as ‘it all started on TikTok’. The power of the platform is immense! 

Instagram is a great channel for fashion – a space for inspiring customers with the pieces and looks they’ll love and giving them the confidence to try something new.   

And YouTube really works for storytelling. People really want to know the stories behind M&S products. That’s why millions of people tune in to the ITV documentary Inside M&S at Christmas each year.

How has M&S’ overall experience been so far – what are you noticing about what works best?

How we used social media when I joined M&S eight years ago has completely transformed. Back then, our social accounts were mainly about commenting on what was happening in the world and ’join the conversation’. But that’s not what customers want – they want to know about our new must-have products, and that’s exactly what we do. 

From ambassador programmes to a weekly social media series, to our Insiders and all our stores running their own TikTok accounts, social media is at the heart of the business. 

The key thing is authenticity. That’s why we never specify which product should be an ambassador’s favourite. That’s why we ask stores to get behind a range, not a specific line, as they know what will work for their customers. 

People often ask me, ‘surely head office signs off all the store social media posts before they go out?’ Nope. We trust our colleagues to speak to our customers face to face every day, so, we certainly trust them to communicate to customers over social channels too.   

What do you plan to do in future on social and how does social shopping fit in your overall approach?

Last year, we launched our first dedicated channel for men – M&S Man – modern styling, real-life wardrobes and inspiration that speaks directly to today’s male shopper. It’s a fast-growing page and the perfect platform to introduce M&S menswear to more people.  

More broadly, we’re focused on making it as easy as possible for customers to shop straight from social, so they can go from ‘love that’ to ‘I’m buying that’ in just a few clicks.

We recently launched our TikTok Shop pilot, giving us a fresh way to connect with younger audiences where they already are. And we ran five days of live shopping just before Christmas, which saw a fantastic response. We’re only just getting started so watch this space!

There seems to be a groundswell against social media at present – including among younger people. Will it be important in the long term?

Absolutely, the bar for gaining attention is higher than ever. Customers, especially younger ones, are becoming more selective about where they spend their time. That means when they do choose to consume and engage with a brand’s content, it has to be positive, authentic, relevant and genuinely interesting.  

Brand Buzz is a new metric that we track weekly across the business. Social media helps make sure the nation is always talking about what products they need to rush to M&S for this week. Even on my own personal Instagram account (@sharrycramond), I post my M&S favourites each week.