• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, February 29, 2012

Unveiling a new Facebook look as one of the first retail brands to switch to the new Facebook Page format, Macy’s says it is rethinking and expanding several digital and mobile initiatives. It’s all part of the larger plan: Further wooing the 25-to-54-year-old women who form its core customer base, as well as snaring some of the those free-spending Gen Y fashionistas.

Jennifer Kasper, Macy’s group vice president of digital media and multicultural marketing, stepped out of the fMC conference to fill Marketing Daily in on the store’s plans:

Q: What are you hoping the new Page format accomplishes?

A: It’s a new look and feel, using the timeline format. And since Macy’s is such an inherent storytelling brand, it really suits us, and we think will spark more conversations with our fans. We’ve also been a part of a beta test on offers, and now Facebook has a new way to push offers out to customers. We have so many great sales and promotions, and this extends them beyond our 4.5 million fans, to their friends as well.

Q: Will you be doing more advertising on Facebook?

A:  Yes. The other big things Facebook was talking about is a whole bunch of more effective ads units communicating to fans and potential fans, whether it has to do with sales and offers, particular brands, product categories, or entertainment events.  We think these new ad units are a great opportunity of getting the right messaging in front of the right people, and we expect to start testing as soon as they are available to us. We’ve been testing in the Facebook’s sponsored stories since last year, and saw terrific response. We think these new ad units will be a version of that, on steroids.

Q: How are you sizing up other, non-Facebook social opportunities?
A: We are building out a total social ecosystem to compliment what we’re doing on Facebook. And so we are testing ways of communicating on Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr. Very few of our customers are using just one social channel. So the rule of thumb for us is really thinking through how the customer is using the channel and then using it appropriately. For example, women are using Pinterest for things that inspire them and Twitter for newsfeeds, so it’s a way for us to share our point of view and authority.

Q: What about mobile?

A: We’re spending more of our time and resources in mobile platforms, whether its location based, mobile search, or mobile display. It’s not just that 50% of the U.S. is expected to have a smartphone soon. It’s that we did a recent survey, and 40% of the responses we got were through mobile. That was a reality check for us! Mobile is a preferred way of reaching them.

Q: Macy’s was a pioneer with QR codes, featuring them in stores, in prints ads, and even in TV spots. How is that going?

A: We started that campaign in the spring of last year, and we are finding that when we can deliver content that is really useful, customers aren’t just watching it, they are sharing it. So for us, it’s about creating that rich content. Of course, it didn’t hurt that we added an “enter to win” component, but the response has been good. We will be staying with it in campaigns this spring.

Q: Are you doing more mobile coupons?

A: We are looking at more channels for mobile coupons, Besides Facebook, we are working with Shopkick and Foursquare, and looking to build out our own SMS list.