We live in a world where we can buy things with a swipe, a hashtag, or a tweet...then share with our social networks with the click of a button. Social brands understand the importance of mobility, agility, and responsiveness. Does yours?
4. Your Server
Do you want fries
with that?
Diane Walter
Digital Strategist
@walterama
#soco101
5. Today’s Menu
• What is social commerce?
• Mobile first
• Purchase pretzel
• Ratings & reviews
• Going vertical
• Social currency
• Real-time marketing
#soco101
Mobile first: the mall in your pocket · The purchase pretzel · Ratings and reviews: do or die · The rise of vertical commerce: nichey is dishy · Loyalty: the new social currency · Real-time marketing: the Oreo standard
Social commerce continues to flourish. We live in a world where we can buy things with a swipe, a hashtag, or a tweet...then share with our social networks with the click of a button. Social brands understand the importance of mobility, agility, and responsiveness. Does yours?
ALTIMITER SAYS: Shoppers want to belong. They want to be heard. They want to feel valued. They crave a better buying experience. Power is shifting from the retailer to the shopper. Social commerce is filling the void between clicks and bricks to deliver a personalized experience. More succinctly, social commerce is the use of social network(s) in the context of e-commerce transactions. The term social commerce was introduced by Yahoo! in November 2005 [2] to describe a set of online collaborative shopping tools such as shared pick lists, user ratings and other user-generated content-sharing of online product information and advice.
The era of the full-page ad is over. No single TV spot is going to win the hearts and minds of your consumers. Brands need to foster an ongoing connection with their audience. Long-term dialogue via social media sparks consideration, drives trail, and encourages advocacy. People expect brands to be active on social media – it’s now a cost of entry.
The era of the full-page ad is over. No single TV spot is going to win the hearts and minds of your consumers. Brands need to foster an ongoing connection with their audience. Long-term dialogue via social media sparks consideration, drives trail, and encourages advocacy. People expect brands to be active on social media – it’s now a cost of entry.
Orabrush, the first product to go from no sales online (or offline) to nationwide retail distribution using YouTube as its sole marketing medium. Orabrush makes a $5 tongue scraper that freshens breath. Started with online distribution and an educational TV infomercial that flopped. Orabrush used promoted video on YouTube to drive awareness for its product via humorous, lighthearted videos. They were one of the most-watched YouTube channels (40 m views and 300K FB fans). Spent $28 to run FB ads targeted at WM buyers – now distro in 3,500 WM stores. "Walmart employees have bad breath. Walmart needs to carry Orabrush. It will sell better than anything in your store." The Facebook campaign proved a lot more effective than $20,000 in print ads in retail trade magazines, which only generated calls from other trade magazine sales reps, Mr. Harmon said. Within 48 hours of launching the Facebook ad, Mr. Harmon got an email from the buyer, who said her VP also had seen it and believed it was being directed at Walmart employees nationwide. The buyer, after also seeing a DVD and sales kit on the Orabrush story, placed an order for 735,000 tongue cleaners shipped last month.
Orapup – tongue scraper for dogs
Leverage social memes
Pay with a tweet – social payment system launched as a way to sell a book using social currency – tell people you received a copy of the book. Now you can pay with Tweet or FB post.
50% of Web Sales to Occur Via Social Media by 2015 Talking at consumers is no longer an option Must provide a forum for conversation Authentic participation drives advocacy
Maybe 2012 was the year of mobile after all. US retail mcommerce sales shot up 81% to nearly $25 billion last year, propelled by rapid adoption of tablets and smartphones as shopping devices, according to new estimates from eMarketer. Mobile devices accounted for 11% of total US retail ecommerce sales in 2012, eMarketer estimates, and further growth is expected to push mobile sales to a 15% share of all US retail ecommerce sales this year. Mcommerce sales include all purchases made via smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, excluding sales of travel and event tickets. Read more at http://www.emarketer.com/newsroom/index.php/emarketer-tablets-smartphones-drive-mobile-commerce-record-heights/#Tyq8ktjTj5iPHiLL.99
Responsive design is becoming a mobile cost of entry: offer a consistent experience regardless of device.
The traditional purchase funnel no longer applies – and neither does a “spray and pray” approach to advertising/awareness building.
In the purchase pretzel, social media influences all touchpoints.
Sharing/recos drives sales: 90% of all purhases tied to social influence 90% of consumers trust recos from people they know 67% spend more online after seeing recos Sharing / reco continues to grow: 75% of FB users have Liked a brand 3% of Twitter users have reco’d companies or products When consumers have a social connection to a product, likelihood of purchase increases: Brand fans are 51% more likely to buy Adding sharing features to a product can increase awareness 246% (with Likes) and 98% with send to a friend Ex: Gap groupon - $11million in one day Levis added Like buttons – increased referral traffic 40 times AE Like button – customers bought 57% more on-avg than non-FB referrals
81% of consumers make their purchase decision before they ever get to the store – so the time to differentiate is not at the shelf.
Two-thirds of smartphone owners use their phones to aid shopping. 72% of them are looking up product information (either at home or in the store), and they’re using mobile to read product reviews and compare prices.
People trust people, not brands. Recommendations via social networks are now the most trusted source of product information. Paid ads fall to the bottom of the chart, with only 15% of total consumers trusting the messages brands pay to put out there.
A wonderful illustration of the power of social commerce is named NoseFrida. NoseFrida the Snotsucker is a product of Swedish ingenuity. Essentially, it’s a plastic tube connected to a longish straw-like hose with a jaunty red mouthpiece attached. Mom or dad holds the end of the tube to baby’s nostril to create a seal, then vigorously inhales on the mouthpiece. With a wet, horrifying-yet-oddly-satisfying sucking sound, baby’s nose is miraculously booger-free. It sounds gross, but a flimsy yet serviceable hygienic filter keeps the icky stuff in the tube. NoseFrida Any parent of an infant knows that traditional bulb aspirators just don’t work. (To say they suck would be untrue.) When your kiddo is congested and miserable, you’ll do anything to make them breathe easier. One sleepless night, I rocked my stuffed-up newborn with smartphone in hand, lamenting my plight to my social media mothers-in-arms. A few folks sang NoseFrida’s praises. I’d never heard of it (and was in fact repulsed by the notion), but visited Amazon to learn more. There I found 717 glowing reviews that essentially said the same thing: “It’s kind of gross, but it works amazingly well.” After reading page after page of glowing (and often hilarious) reviews, I was convinced. $15 seemed a small price to pay for sweet relief; salvation was literally a click away. It’s that link that makes social commerce so powerful – the immediacy of the being able to make the purchase the second you’ve been convinced. Two days later, Nosefrida arrived and I became a believer. Yes, it was gross. But yes, it worked. Wonderfully so. I proceeded to evangelize Nosefrida to all of my mom friends, who tried it and told their friends. It’s one of the most repinned items on Pinterest. It’s my go-to present for baby showers. I would never have believed I could get so excited about booger extraction. But here we are. Have you ever seen a TV spot for NoseFrida? Me neither. But it’s the #2 selling baby product on Amazon.com. (The top spot belongs to Vulli’s Sophie the Giraffe teether, another word-of-mouth sensation.) #2 among thousands of products from powerhouse brands that spend millions of dollars on advertising. And that, my friends, is the power of social commerce. What’s the takeaway? In today’s world of social commerce, efficacy trumps TRPs. Reputation is earned, not paid for. Make it easy for people to learn about, buy, and share your product. Listen to what your consumers are saying, and treat your advocates well. And when your product truly does what it promises, it speaks for itself.
ModCloth has social commerce down to an art form. Selling vintage-inspirated clothing online, the brand makes all of their social media assets work to their best advantage. A unique feature allows consumers to shop the Highest Reviewed or Most Loved items, pulling items with the most favorable reviews to the top of the list. ModCloth actively solicits reviews within the website and via triggered follow-up emails post-purchase.
Social sharing is baked into every page of the ModCloth website, allowing consumers to Share items on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. ModCloth pushes the envelope of social commerce by allowing consumers to “Be the Buyer”, voting on which exclusive items should be available for sale on the site. ModCloth has built a slew of loyal advocates through ongoing social engagement – social bookmarking site Pinterest drives more traffic to ModCloth than any other channel, and 99% of the items pinned there were posted by fans – not the brand.
Firstly, it's a transactional site targeted toward paying customers. So what they've done here is take an average product and to quote Seth Godin, they are still being remarkable. However, they’ve achieved this by creating a very funny viral video that cost $4,500 , spinning the fact that it's an average product as a key selling point instead. Their USP is that razor blades don’t need to be overly complicated, so as a result there’s are much cheaper and still do a great job. Bang! Where do I signup? Oh, it’s here at the end of the video. In terms of revenue - it got off to a flying start, enlisting "12,000 customers in just the first two days its e-doors were open."
CPG brands can play, too. Product launches, limited edition, scarcity. 2011: We’re really excited to be working with Heinz on the launch of the first ever limited edition Heinz Tomato Ketchup. As a thank you to its 45,000 UK Facebook fans for being such passionate advocates of the brand, this morning at 9am we made the first 3,000 bottles of the limited edition ketchup with balsamic vinegar available exclusivelythrough a F-commerce app which we’ve developed on the Heinz Tomato Ketchup UK page. Head over to get yours before they’re gone! This is a double Facebook first – the first time a food product has been exclusively launched via Facebook, and the first time branded food products have been sold via Facebook in the UK
2012: As last year, Heinz wanted to reward their biggest brand advocates – their Facebook fanbase – by allowing them to sample the product before it went on sale in stores. Just over a week ago, we introduced the new Limited Edition to Heinz’s Facebook fans and gave them the opportunity to either buy a bottle outright, or to complete a game for the chance to win one. At peak we saw 12,500 ketchup-hungry fans logging on simultaneously to claim one of 100 bottles available for free, with these bottles disappearing within eight minutes. This wasn’t a one-off though, as by the end of the week we’d seen 50,000 fans opt to play the game. As a result of the organic demand from fans, we cancelled the planned paid media support and we saw 10,000 new fans joining the page in a week – with 6,000 of them arriving in a single day.
Hotel brands are intergrating Pinterest into their marketing to give the full flavor of their destinations – local attractions, behind the scenes photos, even packing tips. Pinterest is a great arena for brands to share the behind-the-scenes stories of what makes them tick. And consumers are eating it up. Also just launched analytics to give brands a better handle on their ROI. Kimpton In Touch uses social commerce to reward loyalty. Secret password (marshmallow) = special upgrades. Heavy interaction with TripAdvisor reviews and online checkin comments to create memorable experiences.
The end of the social silo. Successful brands will fully integrate social media internally / strategically vs. treating it as an add-on or one-off. Agencies still working to figure out who should “own” social media. Everyone should.
The Oreo Standard http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/business/media/oreos-daily-twist-campaign-finale-enlists-consumers.html?_r=0
From their Facebook page, users are urged to share their favorite Oreo stories, including pictures and video. Fans can also buy their friends an actual package of Oreos, to be picked up Target, through the “Cookie Grams” tab. What is most notable, though, is the “Oreo Arcade” section.
Introduced in Feb 2012
March 6, 1912. Sharing moments of delight. “Brands today need to act as media companies and invite people to share content,” she said, adding that after this revelation, Oreo’s Facebook community grew from 2 million to 60 million fans.
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/oreo-crowdsources-its-final-daily-twist-ad-live-times-square-144131 Daily Twist: The real-time element added a palpable sense of pressure to the brainstorming sessions. "It's nerve wracking, but it's also so exciting," said Chen. "What I'm most proud of is, you have such a short period of time, and you have the brand team, the agencies, the legal team, the PR team all working together closely. So, it wasn't just the real-time element, it was the integration of the brand team and the agencies."
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/oreo-crowdsources-its-final-daily-twist-ad-live-times-square-144131 Daily Twist: The real-time element added a palpable sense of pressure to the brainstorming sessions. "It's nerve wracking, but it's also so exciting," said Chen. "What I'm most proud of is, you have such a short period of time, and you have the brand team, the agencies, the legal team, the PR team all working together closely. So, it wasn't just the real-time element, it was the integration of the brand team and the agencies."
Getty’s the feed: real-time trends in images Taps into Twitter’s API to pull real-time trending topics, serves up related images from Getty database Monetizing the visual web! http://www.gettyimages.com/editorial/frontdoor/thefeed