Archive for November, 2007
Social Retailing News
With the passing on Cyber Monday online retailers are in the home stretch for the holiday season. At this time of year there is always a flurry of news stories and these were a few that caught my eye via Internet Retailer:
Patagonia.com adds social tools to build brand and sales:
Patagonia.com started a blog earlier this year, called The Cleanest Line. The unedited blog is accessible on the site’s home page and provides a forum for discussing the company’s products, outdoor activities and environmental issues. I am not sure what an unedited blog is, but after the success that Roots Canada has had with its blog, it is not surprise that Patagonia has jumped into the field.
Filed under Social Media Optimization, Social Retailing : Comments (7) : Nov 29th, 2007
Subscription Savings On Search Marketing Standard Magazine
Just in time for the holidays, Search Marketing Standard Magazine is offering Social Media Optimization readers. Typically, a yearly subscription to Search Marketing Standard starts at $15.
However, SMO readers qualify for a 67% discount off the regular price – bringing the cost of an annual subscription to just $4.95 (International - $6.60).
To subscribe click here. The coupon code is: HOLIDAY67 and the offer expires Dec. 10th
In addition to the savings, Search Marketing Standard Magazine will also send a $1 donation to Toys for Tots for every subscriber that used the coupon code during registration.
Filed under Social Media Optimization : Comments (1) : Nov 28th, 2007
Possible Glitch in Facebook Plans
Facebook’s social networking domination plans are dependant on them being able to monitarize their attractive user base. But what happens if they cannot get their user base to click on ads or buy products?
Seoblackhat had a post recently where Quadszilla called Facebook: The Worst Traffic on the Net. In the article Quadszilla mentioned Ad click through rates of 3-7 per 10,000 pageviews are not uncommon. The reason for this horrible CTR he theorized was:
Filed under Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization : Comments (4) : Nov 28th, 2007
A Successful Social Marketing Campaign
An interesting article on Clickz showed that Bath & Body increased sales by 10-12% after implementing customer feedbacks and reviews on their site.
Bath & Body Works specializes in fragrant beauty products for bath and body care, facial skincare, hair care and spa items. The company has an active customer base who is enthused about their products. The challenge was to convert this offline enthusiasm into something tangible online. Shannon Glass director of Internet operations put the challenge this way:
Filed under Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization, Social Retailing : Comments (4) : Nov 27th, 2007
Best Social Media Articles
With this long weekend in the U.S. I have had a chance to catch up on my social media reading. Some of the best blog posts I have read are:
The Secret Strategies Behind Many “Viral” Videos: Have you ever watched a video with 100,000 views on YouTube and thought to yourself: “How the hell did that video get so many views?” Chances are pretty good that this didn’t happen naturally, but rather that some company worked hard to make it happen – some company like mine
Filed under Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization : Comments (4) : Nov 23rd, 2007
Selling Social Media
I have written before about how a lot of senior managers do not understand social media. So I was not surprised to read in BtoB Online that small business owners are confused about web 2.0 also.
The survey of 338 business executives at companies with fewer than 500 employees showed that there is still a large education gap when it comes to social media marketing.
For example asked why they do not have a company blog , the top reason cited for nonuse was “don’t see its value” (57%), followed by “don’t understand how to use” and “none of the sites I visit offer this format (both at 22%).
Filed under Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization : Comments (4) : Nov 19th, 2007
Google Versus Facebook
Fortune had a very interesting post on the battle between Google and Facebook for the online advertising market.
Google is primarily in the search ads business, and they are extremely successful at it. Search ads account for some 40% of online advertising, but they work. They drive revenue — Google’s search ads deliver click-through rates just over 5%, according to Nielsen Online, compared with rates of 0.2% for online ads in general.
Filed under Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization : Comments (9) : Nov 16th, 2007
Social Network Drives Sales at BodySpace
While some e-retailers are still figuring out what social networking is, and whether they want to be involved, Bodybuilding.com did not take a wait-and-see approach to social networking. A year ago it created its own social network called BodySpace, and the result has been an increase in brand awareness, traffic and sales.
Filed under Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization, Social Retailing : Comments (1) : Nov 15th, 2007
Amazon Adds Video Customer Product Reviews
With customer reviews being the next big thing in online retailing, I was not surprised to read that Jeff Bozos and Amazon (which pioneered the user-generated customer review) has launched something called video reviews. Now Amazon users can use video to share their opinions and demonstrate the use of products on the site. Customer-generated video reviews are located within the customer reviews section of items in the Amazon.com catalog.
“We are dedicated to offering our customers an information-rich shopping experience so they can know which products are right for them,” says Colin Bodell, vice president, Amazon.com. “The chance to see product demonstrations as submitted by fellow customers is just the latest benefit to shopping on Amazon”.
Filed under Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization, Social Retailing : Comments (1) : Nov 14th, 2007
Are You A Social Researcher?
We have written a lot about how customer reviews have and will increase sales. So I was interested to read in Internet Retailer about a new shopping study from The E-Tailing Group titled “Social Shopping Study 2007” which showed that the growth in online customer reviews has led to a new breed of shopper called the “Social Researcher”. This social researcher is someone who puts significant emphasis on peer feedback in product reviews when making online and offline purchasing decisions.
Filed under Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization, Social Retailing : Comments (0) : Nov 12th, 2007
