More and More, online retailers are being very dominant in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They have profile pages and so does a lot of their employees. They utilize these pages to stay connected to their customers and to advertise new and exciting deals or sales, launches, and what ever else they may have going on. One example that I am quite familiar with is asos.com. They actually post pictures of merchandise and the prices on their facebook profile to attract new customers. Even on the company's actual site, customers are able to share items they may like to purchase or have purchased with friends on facebook, twitter, myspace, bebo, and etc.
- This article talks a little more of the company's social networking strategies.
http://socialmediamashup.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/asos-and-social-media/
- This page shows asos homepage that displays their facebook and twitter link
http://www.asos.com
- This page shows their facebook profile
http://www.facebook.com/ASOSOfficial
- The big question is, all this social media and social networking, has it really helped increase their revenue or bottom line?
I am a stingy shopper. When I find a great retailer with good merchandise and good prices, I tend to keep it to myself due to the fact that I don't want a friend or associate to have the same things I have. Some customers like to be exclusive in their purchases, so does social sharing really work?
This is a hard question to answer because only about 1 in 5 marketers actually measure their return of investment on these social media sites.
- Check out this article for reference
http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/08/05/measuring-value-facebook-follower
Measuring the value of a Facebook follower
You now have companies developing tools to help track the RIO of social media advertising. An example of this tool is called Ominiture’s SiteCatalyst tool aims to help marketers understand how consumers are using a marketer’s Facebook page. This tool measures how users are interacting with ads, apps, and fan pages, and then shows which features are being used the most and generating the most revenue. It also shows the retailer how much of there site traffic and sales comes from Facebook compared with other channels such as e-mail, paid search and mobile advertising.
- Advertising through social media is still fairly new, so it is hard to judge the consistency of the results as of yet. What do you think? Should social media be used as a way to gain revenue?
I feel whether it brings new revenue or not, social media is good for retailers or companies in general to utilize just to stay connected with their loyal customers and with the trends of the majority. Also, companies should not just limit themselves to just twitter and facebook, but broaden their horizons to all the social networks the web has to offer as a way to stay connected to their loyal consumers or new possible customers.
