Social Commerce Blue Paper by promotional product retailer 4imprint

4imprintcom

Soc ia l Commerce

copy 2012 4imprint Inc All rights reserved

Making sense of socia l commerceI t rsquos a l l about engagementSocial Sarah wakes up to her iPhonereg alarm playing a song she discovered on her

hipster cousinrsquos shared SpotifyTM playlist As she turns off the alarm she plots out

her day send kids off to school commute work commute take kids to swim

lessons Finally her eyes focus enough to check her Facebookreg newsfeed

where she sees that her sister-in-law has shared a link Wouldnrsquot this

bedspread look gorgeous in her newly repainted guest bedroom

When Sarahrsquos done with Facebook she moves on to Grouponreg to see if

there are any local deals that interest her She doesnrsquot find anything for

herself but she shares a deal with her best friend for a new pizza place

in her friendrsquos neighborhood Time to hop out of bed and face the day

During her morning break at work Sarah takes a moment to oogle her brotherrsquos

fiancersquos wedding board on PinterestSM and repins to one of her own boards a

photo of the dress she and her fellow attendants will be wearing

And just before heading off to a meeting she checks her work email finding a

request via Letrsquos Gift It to contribute to a shower gift for a colleague expecting

a baby ldquoWish they had strollers like that when my kids were babiesrdquo she thinks

She flags the email planning to contribute later

At lunchtime she heads out to her favorite sub shop and checks in via her Yelpreg

mobile app Shersquos only one check-in away from a free sandwich

During her afternoon break shersquos back on Facebook posting questions about a

possible purchase of a food processor Do her friends who already own one get a

lot of use out of it Or does it just take up valuable counter space What size and

brand do they recommend What attachments are must-haves

Turning her mind back to work she checks out a Facebook store newly launched

by one of her companyrsquos vendors She notes that a couple of her industry contacts

have already ldquoLikedrdquo one of the vendorrsquos new products She tweets this to her

supervisor who is at a trade show where the vendor will have a booth

After work Sarah chauffeurs her kids to swim lessons Inspired by the fit swim

instructors Sarah skims some mommy blogger reviews about new workout DVDs

and purchases one through her Amazonreg mobile app


At the end of the day Sarah checks her Facebook page again A dozen friends

have responded to her question about food processors One friend gets more use

out of a high-end blender Others describe what they like and donrsquot like about the

models they own And she has a new Facebook message Her college roommate is

soliciting online donations for support in a charity half-marathon Another thing

to think about tomorrow

Finally Sarah sets her iPhone alarm and drifts off to sleep with visions of food

processors whirling in her head

Remember Sarahrsquos plan for her day It didnrsquot include shopping Yet she spent a

significant chunk of her free time as well as some of her workday considering

and making purchases for herself and others Googletrade calls all of these instances

in Sarahrsquos day the Zero Moment of Truth or ZMOT ldquoThat little moment is the

moment thatrsquos changing the marketing rule bookrdquo writes Google managing

director for US sales and service Jim Lecinski ldquoItrsquos a new decision-making

moment that takes place a hundred million times a day on mobile phones

laptops and wired devices of all kinds Itrsquos a moment where marketing happens

where information happens and where consumers make choices that affect the

success and failure of nearly every brand in the worldrdquo1

As Sarah moved through her day the retailers and vendors came to

her through friends and relatives trusted experts and colleagues

They reached her wherever she and her mobile device were at in bed

at her cubicle while waiting at one of her childrenrsquos activities From

the moment her alarm went off in the morning to putting her children

herself and her devices to sleep Sarah engaged in social commerce

ldquoEngagerdquo is the key word She wasnrsquot a passive target of a sales pitch

She didnrsquot physically walk into a store to see what store managers chose

to display Rather she participated in a process that has changed the

way sales are conducted on all levels of commerce In this Blue Papertrade

wersquoll define social commerce and make some sense of the rapidly evolving

phenomenon Why is it important How does social commerce help businesses

How do businesses make the most of social commerce opportunities What are

some successful examples Get ready to engage

What is socia l commerce and how is i t changing the commerce landscapeShopping was a social activity long before social media came along to allow

1 Lecinski Jim Winning the Zero Moment of Truth ZMOT [S1] Vook 2011 9 PDF


consumers to rate review and tweet about every single purchase they make Why

do department stores place three-way mirrors outside of dressing rooms instead

of inside Because store designers hope that a sales clerk a shopperrsquos companion

ormdashin a best case scenariomdasha fellow shopper who is a complete stranger

will gush enough over how great the customer looks in those jeans to tip the

purchase decision On the B2B level how many sales pitches have been conducted

over drinks or a round of golf

So when did golf drinks and semi-public mirrors cede their influence to

user reviews and pick lists 2005 At least thatrsquos when the term ldquosocial

commercerdquo came into use Most definitions place social commerce

within the broader umbrella of e-commerce the buying and selling

of products and services online Social commerce adds the layer of

conversation and interaction among consumers and between businesses

and their customers and offers the opportunity for sales within those

conversations

Social Commerce Today an online journal that covers social commerce trends

and technologies defined ldquosocial commercerdquo in 2009 as ldquoa subset of electronic

commerce that involves using social media online media that supports social

interaction and user contributions to assist in the online buying and selling of

products and servicesrdquo Since publishing that definition the journal has expanded

it to encompass the use of social media in all retail contexts online and in-store 2

The journal also compiled a history of social commerce through the evolution of

its definitions Here are just a few of those

From 2005 Subset of ldquoadvertorial contentrdquo where content is the advertising

hellip generated by a friend (wish lists gift lists pick lists tags

recommendations) hellip to provide consumers with rich social context and relevancy

to the purchases which they are making (Dave Beisel VenrockSM)

From 2006 Creating new and more meaningful ways for retailers to interact with

customers [through] search communication and community (Ken Goldstein

ShopcomTM)

From 2007 A trusted environment where friends family and acquaintances

dynamically contribute content to the referral and sale of goods and services

though positive and negative feedback reviews ratings and testimonials

regarding their experiences past and present In short social commerce is a

2 Marsden Paul ldquoSimple Definition of Social Commerce (with Word Cloud amp Definitive Definition List) Updated Jan 2011rdquo Social Commerce Today Social Commerce Today 17 Nov 2009 Web 25 Apr 2012 httpsocialcommercetodaycomsocial-commerce-definition-word-cloud-definitive-definition-list


trusted environment of which prospective consumers make buying decisions

based on the advice of a network of friends and family not strangers they donrsquot

know or trust (Lee Raito LeeRaitocom)

From 2010 The use of social technologies to connect listen understand and

engage to improve the shopping experience (Lora Cecere Altimeter GroupSM)3

Note that none of the definitions turns on any specific technological

development In fact the term predates some of the most popular tools of social

commerce ie devices such as iPhones and sites such as Groupon and Facebook

stores Rather the definitions emphasize concepts such as relevancy interaction

trusted environments connection and engagement Social commerce works not

because of any single gadget or social network but because of the psychology

of sales We trust our friends more than we trust a stranger who is paid to hawk

a product We are more invested in our choices when we believe wersquove made

informed decisions We like to belong to exclusive groups And we all like to think

of ourselves as experts in one topic or another

New media and small business marketing consultant Jeff Korhan emphasizes that

social commerce is not Facebook LinkedInreg or Twitterregmdashitrsquos people ldquoPeople are

hard-wired to connect and engage with others and anything that works against

that is friction that inhibits your successrdquo he says ldquoFrom a business perspective

what makes social media work is a foundational structure that collectively and

humanly engages the business and its mission with the communities it serves That

structure does not necessarily have to use social media technologies and channels

it only has to recognize that social is dramatically influencing how you should

market and operate your business todayrdquo4

That being said there is no doubt that technology has forever changed

the consumer decision-making process Consider

bull 83 percent of moms say they do online research after seeing TV

commercials for products that interest them5

bull 38 percent of US smartphone owners have used

their device to make a purchase6

bull The average mobile Web user consumes 72 hours of media daily

Computers represent 32 percent of this time and mobile devices 27

percent of this time 7

3 Ibid4 Korhan Jeff ldquoSocial Businessrdquo Jeff Korhan Jeff Korhan Web 25 Apr 2012

httpwwwjeffkorhancomsocial-business5 What Makes Mom Click for CGP GoogleOTX MediaCT Jan 2010 PDF6 ldquoMobile Shopping Goes Mainstreamrdquo ComScore ComScore Inc 5 Dec 2011 Web 25 Apr 2012

httpwwwcomscorecomPress_EventsPress_Releases201112Mobile_Shopping_Goes_Mainstream7 Patel Surag ldquoInMobi Releases First Wave of Mobile Media Consumption Q4 SurveymdashGlobal Resultsrdquo

InMobitrade InMobi 29 Feb 2012 Web 25 Apr 2012 httpwwwinmobicominmobiblog20120229inmobi-


bull 89 percent of consumers use search engines to help them in their

product research decisions leading up to a purchase8

Electronic and social commerce mean better prices more choices and convenience

for consumers Audrey Nadau vice president of business development with

intelligent offer platform network OneBigPlanetSM says that social commerce

provides ldquothe additional punch to the otherwise uneventful task of having

your customers go to your site and click items to a shopping cart it connects

[consumers] to other consumers with the same needs and whose opinions can be

of value to a pending purchase Moreover it makes for more interesting activities

as social commerce taps the vast possibilities presented by social media

platforms giving them access to interactivity and real-time conversationsrdquo9

Presence versus strategyLetrsquos imagine that the fictional consumer profiled at the beginning of this

Blue Paper Social Sarah is an occasional customer of a fictional local

brick-and-mortar kitchen store wersquoll call Gourmet Gizmos Gourmet Gizmos

has an e-commerce ldquopresencerdquo (an online store and a Facebook page) but it

does not have a social commerce ldquostrategyrdquo Sure the store uses Facebook

to announce the occasional salemdashSarah is even a fanmdashbut the business

hasnrsquot done the work to engage its customers Several of Gourmet Gizmosrsquo

employees and many of its customers are experts on the subject of food

processors but the store hasnrsquot provided a platform to connect those

experts with customers looking for information such as Sarah

Before the era of social commerce Sarah might have walked into the store

and asked a clerk a question Now she turns first to her Facebook friends food

bloggers and user reviews and ratings Somewhere in those conversations a

competitor is going to offer Sarah an opportunity to purchase a food processor

and with a click Gourmet Gizmos will have lost Sarahrsquos business Worse Gourmet

Gizmos lost out on a moment to learn about what its customers want what

they like and donrsquot like about one of its more expensive product lines and the

opportunity to be the expert Sarah was looking for

In reality there are few companies in todayrsquos marketplace that arenrsquot involved in

social commerce in one way or anothermdasheven if they arenrsquot trying For any given

releases-first-wave-of-mobile-media-consumption-q4-survey-E28093-global-results8 ldquoAgency News 2012 Digital Influence Index Shows Internet as Leading Influence in Consumer Purchasing

Choicesrdquo Fleishman-HillardSM Fleishman-Hillard 31 Jan 2012 Web 25 Apr 2012 httpfleishmanhillardcom201201312012-digital-influence-index-shows-internet-as-leading-influence-in-consumer-purchasing-choices

9 Nadeau Audrey ldquoConsumer Pulse and the Benefits of Social Commercerdquo OneBigPlanet Blog OneBigPlanet 13 Oct 2011 Web 25 Apr 2012 httpblogonebigplanetcom20111013consumer-pulse-and-the-benefits-of-social-commerce


business customers are likely reviewing its product or service on a user review

and social networking site whether the company has paid for placement on the

site or not Brian Solis principal at Altimeter Group a research-based advisory

firm says that one of the greatest myths of new media is that social networks

facilitate conversations about your organization that would not otherwise take

place if the organization werenrsquot present Still itrsquos natural to fear that by creating

a conversation you might be forced to give up some amount of control over your

brand This he says is a mistake

ldquoWhile we are measured by our actions and words we are also measured by our

inaction and silencerdquo he writes ldquoOnce you understand what people say and donrsquot

say how they connect what they share how they discover and make decisions

and who influences them and who they influence a blueprint for engagement

emerges People will always talk hellip with or without you The questions you have

to answer are what do you want them to say and what do you want them to

dordquo 10

Sarahrsquos status as a Gourmet Gizmos Facebook fan doesnrsquot benefit the store or

Sarah if the store doesnrsquot try to learn from her at least as much as Sarah might

learn from the store Mike Stiles of the B2B Guide to Social Media compares

Facebook fans to comic books in the following analogy ldquoIf you collected comic

books what would you rather have 10000 comics that arenrsquot worth anything

or 100 comics that would fetch a high price at any auction Amateurs collect fans

and give themselves a big pat on the back for the number of fans they have

Sometimes the number of fans is used internally as the key or only measure of

success But a fan who ldquoLikesrdquo your page and then never engages with your

content in any way is not worth a fraction of the fan who reads your posts

ldquoLikesrdquo them shares them comments on them and acts on them Pros judge their

efforts based on engaged fansrdquo11

By engaging customers in conversations education product development and

entertainment businesses help to shape if not entirely control the conversation

around their product or service a conversation that is going to happen anyway

They find out who their real fansmdashtheir VIP customersmdashare how they think and

what they want

Ready set engageIf Gourmet Gizmos is going to stay in business it needs to figure out how to

10 Solis Brian ldquoThe 6 Pillars of Social Commerce Understanding the Psychology of Engagementrdquo Social Media Today Social Media Today LLC 5 Apr 2012 Web 25 Apr 2012 httpsocialmediatodaycombriansolis4845216-pillars-social-commerce-understanding-psychology-engagement

11 Stiles Mike ldquoHow to Prove Yoursquore a Social Media Amateurrdquo The B2B Guide to Social Media The B2B Guide to Social Media 9 Apr 2012 Web 25 Apr 2012 httpwwwb2bsocialmediaguidecom20120409how-to-prove-youre-a-social-media-amateur


engage its customers in social commerce Fortunately there are a number of

approaches it can take some of which will be a better fit for the store than

others Here are just a few

User ratings and reviews These are among the earliest tools of social commerce

and alone have revolutionized the way consumers make decisions And yet some

businesses may still resist the drive to open up their products or services to the

possibility of negative comments and take steps to delete negative ratings and

reviews Is this fear legitimate BazaarvoiceSM a social software and data analytics

company notes that across all of its US clients 80 percent of product ratings are

four or five stars12 Moreover site visitors who interact with both reviews and

customer questions and answers are 105 percent more likely to make a purchase

while visiting a site and they spend 11 percent more than visitors who donrsquot

interact with user-generated content13

And when negative ratings and reviews do happen Instead of whitewashing

reviews and ratings businesses should think of negative reviews as opportunities

bull A user review forum is a free focus group with a companyrsquos best

customers as participants As noted above these conversations will go

on whether or not you participate so you might as well be the host

and have a voice in the conversation

bull Most customers are savvy enough to be suspicious of any product or

service that only has glowing reviews and know that there is always at

least one person in every crowd who wonrsquot ever be satisfied Negative

reviews establish honesty

bull Negative reviews give a business the chance to show how it solves

problems Publically solving a customerrsquos problem has immeasurably

more value than any number of praise-filled but nonspecific 5-star

reviews

Group buys This is the practice of offering a product or service at significantly

reduced prices on the condition that a certain number of buyers make a purchase

(think Groupon and LivingSocialSM) Group buys have the potential to expose a

business to many new customers However going into a group-buy promotion

without a solid plan risks not only losing an opportunity to convert deal-seekers

into permanent customers but also generating negative reviews

12 ldquoThe Natural Ubiquity of the J-curverdquo Bazaarvoice Bazaarvoice Web 25 Apr 2012 httpwwwbazaarvoicecombv-blognatural-ubiquity-j-curve

13 ldquoSocial Commerce Statisticsrdquo Bazaarvoice Bazaarvoice Web 25 Apr 2012 httpwwwbazaarvoicecomsocial-commerce-statistics


bull Do your research What kinds of offers have been successful for

businesses similar to yours According to Local Offer Network the

top categories for group buys include food and drink beauty spa and

massage fitness and nutrition sports and recreation home products

and services clothing and accessories and kids14

bull Compare deal sites and negotiate terms

bull Ensure that you have the inventory and staff to handle an onslaught of

new customers

bull Have a strategy prepared to turn coupon redeemers into repeat

customers Collect email addresses Offer follow-up incentives Track

how many coupon users were already your customers

bull Although many businesses consider group-buy promotions as a

marketing expense run the numbers to be sure you can fulfill the deal

without going broke Be ready to upsell

bull Treat group-buy customers as well as you treat your long-time

customers

A new spin on the group-buy model uses the fast-growing Pinterest site In

ldquoPin It to Unlockrdquo promotions GILTSM allows shoppers to unlock a special deal

on a product by repinning it To take advantage of the promotion customers

must follow GILT Baby amp Kids on Pinterest Steep discounts are ldquounlockedrdquo on

specific products when the product image has been repinned a specific number

of times ldquoObviously retailers are trying to get creative in capturing the viral

effect of Pinterest in a meaningful way beyond just trafficrdquo says Leena Rao of

TechCrunchSM ldquoNow sites like GILT and others want to see how they can use the

traffic and sharing from Pinterest to help conversionsrdquo15

Flash sales Also known as ldquodeal-of-the-dayrdquo flash sales offer a deal on a single

product within a limited time period often with a minimum and maximum of

sales and the steep discount associated with a group buy Although not a new

concept flash sales exploit the ldquoclick before itrsquos overrdquo immediacy of social media

While this approach has traditionally been used to unload excess inventory on

a social commerce level successful flash sales have helped brands to market

themselves and expand their base of customers who will pay full price for their

products For example when fragrance designer Saint Parfumtrade sold $55 candles

on a flash sale site for $25 the company noted visitors to its own website jumped

from a typical 250 visitors a day to 6000 Website sales increased over the next

several months and 20 new retailers expressed interest in carrying the brand

14 Marsden Paul ldquoState of the Group-Buy Nation Healthy (+138 to $266B in 2011)rdquo Social Commerce Today Social Commerce Today 25 Mar 2011 Web 25 Apr 2012 httpsocialcommercetodaycomstate-of-the-group-buy-nation-healthy-138-to-2-66b-in-2011-key-statsreport

15 Rao Leena ldquoFlash Sales Giant GILT To Offer Special Discounts To Pinterest Pinnersrdquo TechCrunch AOL Tech 2 Apr 2012 Web 26 Apr 2012 httptechcrunchcom20120402flash-sales-giant-gilt-to-offer-special-discounts-to-pinterest-pinners


ldquoWe donrsquot profit [from the flash sale] much because of the discountrdquo

Spencer Krenke Saint Parfumrsquos founder and perfumer told The New York

TimesSM ldquoBut more important is that what we gain is long-term loyal

customersrdquo16

Social loyalty Traditional loyalty programs reward customers for how

much they buy Social loyalty programs reward customers for how

much they share

Take this example from US womenrsquos retailer Chicorsquostrade FAS Inc Chicorsquos refers to

the traditional loyalty program for its White House | Black Markettrade brand as The

Black Book The company used data from its customer relationship management

system to identify Black Book members for a Preferred Black Book membership

ldquoPreferredrdquo benefits include a special ldquoinsiderrdquo ratings and reviews badge for

members who review products online A unique loyalty number allows Chicorsquos to

track the purchases and online content contributions of loyalty members When

a customer logs in to write a review they are associated with the number and

are automatically badged as a Black Book Insider After promoting the preferred

membership the brand realized increased sales from its top customers ldquoItrsquos about

making our best customers feel specialrdquo explains Jenn McClain vice president of

e-commerce marketing for Chicorsquos FAS ldquoOur demographic for this brand really

appreciates being recognized as style leaders and giving them a special badge for

reviewing products online is part of our effort to recognize themrdquo17

F-commerce Every social commerce ldquoexpertrdquo has an opinion about the

effectiveness of Facebook commerce or f-commerce While no one denies the

dominance of Facebook in social media marketers and e-commerce gurus remain

unsold on the possibility of converting Facebook engagement to sales within

Facebook itself A February 2012 BloombergcomSM article noted that in the

previous year GamestopSM Corp Gapreg Inc JC PenneySM Co and NordstormSM all

opened and then closed stores on Facebook18 In that article Forresterreg Research

analyst Sucharita Mulpura described f-commerce as ldquotrying to sell stuff to people

while theyrsquore hanging out with their friends at the barrdquo19

What was learned in those early attempts was that simply importing an existing

online store into Facebook isnrsquot enough Eyal Reich founder and COO of StoreYa

16 Cain Miller Claire ldquoBrands Find That Flash Sales Sites Serve a Long-Range Viewrdquo The New York Times The New York Times Company 19 June 2011 Web 26 Apr 2012 httpwwwnytimescom20110620businessmedia20adcohtml_r=1

17 ldquoChicorsquos Achieves over 200 Increase in Conversion with Bazaarvoice Conversationsrdquo Bazaarvoice Bazaarvoice 31 Jan 2012 Web 26 Apr 2012 httpwwwbazaarvoicecomresourcescase-studieschico-s-achieves-over-200-increase-conversion-bazaarvoice-conversations

18 Lutz Ashley ldquoGamestop to JC Penney Shut Facebook Storesrdquo Bloomberg Bloomberg LP 22 Feb 2012 Web 26 Apr 2012 httpwwwbloombergcomnews2012-02-17f-commerce-trips-as-gap-to-penney-shut-facebook-stores-retailhtml

19 Ibid


an f-commerce enabler says that like everything else in social commerce the

key is engagement for examples fan-exclusive deals and personalized shopping

experiences20

ldquoFacebook is not a website itrsquos an ecosystemrdquo Reich says ldquoIn 2004 the main

thing you did online was chatting with your friends Today you have so many

optionsmdashfrom reading articles listening to music playing games and shopping It

is a wonderful place to promote your brand and activity but now itrsquos time to take

it to the next level and see some direct ROI I obviously heard this criticism but I

believe f-commerce will find its respected place in the ecosystem I like using the

analogy of smart phones In the past phones were used only for talking to each

other and now it is the most effective device you own storing and managing all

your datardquo 21

Reich offers the example of a StoreYa client jewelry designer Nava Zahavi

who gained 10000 fans within six months Reich describes how Zahavi

followed all of StoreYarsquos best practicesmdashseveral of which integrate

additional social commerce methods

bull InteractmdashldquoYou must engage and interact with your fansrdquo

Reich says ldquoWe always tell our merchants lsquoshare with your

fans the behind the scenersquo If you design jewelry share with

them the process Upload images of the studio post teasers of new

products and see their reaction get to know them better make these

engagements interesting

bull Product collectionmdashldquoUpload your new product collection to Facebook

firstrdquo

bull VIP ndashldquoTreat your fans as VIPs Provide them with special discounts and

promotions Create Facebook sales that only they can enjoyrdquo

bull Facebook ads and social elementsmdashldquoStoreYarsquos store structure

emphasizes social elements like comments per each of the products

and a cross-platform share box This structure has created whole new

walls for some of this storersquos products with hundreds of comments

and replies attracting the fansrsquo friends to join the conversion and get

exposed to the storerdquo 22

Video v-commerce Video elicits emotion more than any other media When

integrated into other layers of social commerce user-generated video makes

20 ldquoF-commerce Is Well on Its Way to $30 Billion Marketplace Storeya | SMIrdquo Social Media Influence Intelligence News amp Analysis Social Media Influence 28 Feb 2012 Web 26 Apr 2012 httpsocialmediainfluencecom20120228f-commerce-is-well-on-its-way-to-30-billion-marketplace-storeya

21 ldquoThe Secret to Turning Facebook Fans into Shoppers | SMIrdquo Social Media Influence Intelligence News amp Analysis Social Media Influence 29 Feb 2012 Web 26 Apr 2012 httpsocialmediainfluencecom20120229the-secret-to-turning-facebook-fans-into-shoppers

22 Ibid


ldquoexpertsrdquo and ldquocelebritiesrdquo of a companyrsquos best customers at a fraction of the

cost of traditional video Justin Nassiri founder and CEO of the user-generated

video platform VideoGenieSM and Grant Crowell of Video-Commerceorg note

that Web usability specialists report that the average new website visitor spends

5 to 10 seconds on a website ldquoThe money you invest to draw visitors to your site

through Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Marketing blog posting

or any other tactic isnrsquot well spent unless you are sure you can win over your

visitors within those 10 secondsrdquo Nassiri says ldquoThat means you have to craft a

competitive strategy for quickly establishing the credibility of your site and the

character of your company in an emotionally compelling wayrdquo23 The pair lists

these additional reasons why user-generated video is effective within a social

commerce strategy

1 It builds trust with consumers When someone can actually see and

hear a person who has characteristics and consumer experiences similar

to the viewer they are more likely to believe that testimonial to be

authentic and thus be more responsive and loyal

2 Peers are more influential than brands ldquoIf Yelp taught

us anything it is the power that individuals can have in

persuading their peersrdquo Nassiri says ldquoThat power is

amplified with video testimonials where would-be customers

can actually see and hear the inside scoop from like-minded

individuals Even in our celebrity-obsessed culture the best

spokesperson for a new business might very well be literally

the girl next doorrdquo

3 Lower production costs Unlike a slick ad campaign most

consumer-generated videos are poorly lit grainy and have

that fun next-door-neighbor vibe to them The content not

the resolution is what makes these videos noteworthy

4 It helps build your social media fan base A proven social video

marketing tactic is for brands to place consumer video testimonials

right on their own Facebook page and other social media sites

ldquoTestimonial videos placed on a brandrsquos Facebook page have proven

to generate lots of word-of-mouth buzz through additional views and

commentsrdquo Nassiri says By featuring your own customers and fans as

the ldquostarsrdquo of your videos they are more likely to increase their word-

of-mouth marketing on your behalf and become evangelists for your

brand 24

23 Crowell Grant ldquo5 Reasons Why Consumer Video Testimonials Are Great for E-commercerdquo Video-Commerceorg Video Commerce Consortium 13 Apr 2012 Web 27 Apr 2012 httpvideo-commerceorg2012045-reasons-why-consumer-video-testimonials-are-great-for-e-commerce

24 Ibid


The socia l ly engaged companyLetrsquos wrap up with our consumer Social Sarah and our kitchen store Gourmet

Gizmos Gourmet Gizmos knows that it canrsquot beat online retailers on price so it

has to step up to offer another level of service if itrsquos going to win Sarahrsquos business

The store puts the following plan of engagement into action

bull Adds user ratings and reviews to its online store Someone from the

store always answers questions and responds to negative reviews

A few top reviewersmdashVIP customersmdashquickly establish their own

reputations as experts within the growing Gourmet Gizmo community

Who doesnrsquot want to imagine himself or herself as the next top chef

bull Begins posting recipes-of-the-day food trends and foodie questions

on its Facebook page Through tweets and posts employees take

customers along with them to housewares shows giving fans and

followers a sneak peak at new products

bull Invites a few of its best customers to share the story behind an

heirloom family recipe on video shot in the store The store posts

the videos on its website and Facebook page and runs them in-store

Customers who participate earn discounts

bull Experiments with an online flash sale of a line of dinnerware that was

about to go out of production In the past this merchandise

would have simply been put out on a sale table with the

flash sale the store offered a deep discount with the goal of

promoting itself to new customers

bull Begins to investigate the possibilities for a group-buy promotion

timed for pre-Thanksgiving when potential customers will be

planning big family meals and finalizing their Christmas lists

Through these steps Gourmet Gizmos begins integrating a social commerce

strategy into its overall business practices Sarah starts to turn to the store first

whenever shersquos looking for a gourmet opinion and the store puts itself in a

strong position to compete for Sarahrsquos Zero Moment of Truth

Small business consultant Jeff Korhan says that smart businesses today realize that

social is not just a layer to add to their marketing but an essential component

that has to be baked into every aspect of the business ldquoIf you think about it the

social version of anything is more engaging and will out-perform those that are

non-social Isnrsquot this how business has always worked If two companies and their

offerings are perceived as identical the more socially engaging company is sure

to win the businessrdquo25

25 Korhan Jeff ldquoSocial Businessrdquo Jeff Korhan Jeff Korhan Web 25 Apr 2012 httpwwwjeffkorhancomsocial-business


4imprint serves more than 100000 businesses with innovative promotional items throughout the United States

Canada United Kingdom and Ireland Its product offerings include giveaways business gifts personalized gifts

embroidered apparel promotional pens travel mugs tote bags water bottles Post-it Notes custom calendars

and many other promotional items For additional information log on to www4imprintcom


Making sense of socia l commerceI t rsquos a l l about engagementSocial Sarah wakes up to her iPhonereg alarm playing a song she discovered on her

hipster cousinrsquos shared SpotifyTM playlist As she turns off the alarm she plots out

her day send kids off to school commute work commute take kids to swim

lessons Finally her eyes focus enough to check her Facebookreg newsfeed

where she sees that her sister-in-law has shared a link Wouldnrsquot this

bedspread look gorgeous in her newly repainted guest bedroom

When Sarahrsquos done with Facebook she moves on to Grouponreg to see if

there are any local deals that interest her She doesnrsquot find anything for

herself but she shares a deal with her best friend for a new pizza place

in her friendrsquos neighborhood Time to hop out of bed and face the day

During her morning break at work Sarah takes a moment to oogle her brotherrsquos

fiancersquos wedding board on PinterestSM and repins to one of her own boards a

photo of the dress she and her fellow attendants will be wearing

And just before heading off to a meeting she checks her work email finding a

request via Letrsquos Gift It to contribute to a shower gift for a colleague expecting

a baby ldquoWish they had strollers like that when my kids were babiesrdquo she thinks

She flags the email planning to contribute later

At lunchtime she heads out to her favorite sub shop and checks in via her Yelpreg

mobile app Shersquos only one check-in away from a free sandwich

During her afternoon break shersquos back on Facebook posting questions about a

possible purchase of a food processor Do her friends who already own one get a

lot of use out of it Or does it just take up valuable counter space What size and

brand do they recommend What attachments are must-haves

Turning her mind back to work she checks out a Facebook store newly launched

by one of her companyrsquos vendors She notes that a couple of her industry contacts

have already ldquoLikedrdquo one of the vendorrsquos new products She tweets this to her

supervisor who is at a trade show where the vendor will have a booth

After work Sarah chauffeurs her kids to swim lessons Inspired by the fit swim

instructors Sarah skims some mommy blogger reviews about new workout DVDs

and purchases one through her Amazonreg mobile app



















































conversations















ShopcomTM)






























































































dordquo 10

















what they want































reviews

















new customers








customers



























customersrdquo16



much they share





























19 Ibid




experiences20









your datardquo 21












firstrdquo













22 Ibid













commerce strategy

























brand 24


24 Ibid






























































































conversations















ShopcomTM)






























































































dordquo 10

















what they want































reviews

















new customers








customers



























customersrdquo16



much they share





























19 Ibid




experiences20









your datardquo 21












firstrdquo













22 Ibid













commerce strategy

























brand 24


24 Ibid




































































































































dordquo 10

















what they want































reviews

















new customers








customers



























customersrdquo16



much they share





























19 Ibid




experiences20









your datardquo 21












firstrdquo













22 Ibid













commerce strategy

























brand 24


24 Ibid







































































reviews

















new customers








customers



























customersrdquo16



much they share





























19 Ibid




experiences20









your datardquo 21












firstrdquo













22 Ibid













commerce strategy

























brand 24


24 Ibid




















































new customers








customers



























customersrdquo16



much they share





























19 Ibid




experiences20









your datardquo 21












firstrdquo













22 Ibid













commerce strategy

























brand 24


24 Ibid
















































customersrdquo16



much they share





























19 Ibid




experiences20









your datardquo 21












firstrdquo













22 Ibid













commerce strategy

























brand 24


24 Ibid















































experiences20









your datardquo 21












firstrdquo













22 Ibid













commerce strategy

























brand 24


24 Ibid
























































commerce strategy

























brand 24


24 Ibid












































Social Commerce Blue Paper by promotional product retailer 4imprint

Documents

Transcript of Social Commerce Blue Paper by promotional product retailer 4imprint