NEW YORK | ATLANTA | CHICAGO | DETROIT | SAN FRANCISCO | LONDON | info@360i.com | 888.360.9630
©2011360i LLC. All Rights Reserved
Integrated Solutions. Measurable Results.
360i Point of View Series on
Social Commerce: Facebook Commerce
May 2011
POV Series Overview
This POV is the first in a series from 360i on Social Commerce thatwill provide guidance to marketers on the evolving role of socialmedia throughout the purchase process.Social commerce, where marketers sell through social networks ordeeply integrate social media into the buying process, is already usedby dozens of the largest brands worldwide. It’s still small in terms of revenues but has a bright – albeit cloudy – future.In the context of the purchase funnel, social media tends to work best at generating awareness andinterest, influencing consideration and preferences and then harnessing consumers’ post-purchaseenthusiasm by tapping into their advocacy. As social technologies become more robust, and consumerstap into social media as a routine part of everything they do online and offline, there are newopportunities to translate social currency into hard currency.The Social Commerce POV series from 360i explores these opportunities in detail, and will cover:
‐
How marketers can use Facebook to drive commerce, both within the social network itself and byapplying a social layer to their own sites
‐
Why social integrations within a retailer’s website that inspire sharing pre- or post-purchase – asopposed to encouraging consumers to buy within Facebook – are often the best examples of social commerce
‐
How social shopping can turn virtual product experiences into real consumer interest andtransactions, even when not on social networks
‐
Why sticking to fundamentals such as ratings and reviews can have a major impact on purchasing
‐
Which marketers should care most about group buying, and how to distinguish between what’s afad and what will have an ongoing impact
‐
What the future of social commerce looks likeThis POV and all subsequent POVs will be available on360i’s Digital Connections Blog.
POV I: Facebook Commerce
Table of Contents
Executive Summary: Evaluating Facebook commerce with the Strategic Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p1The two types of Facebook commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p3Sizing up the Facebook commerce market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p4Advantages of Facebook commerce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p5Who can benefit most from Facebook commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p66 steps for creating a successful Facebook commerce program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p7Challenges and considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p8Where Facebook commerce is heading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p9Appendix: How brands are using Facebook commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p10
NEW YORK | ATLANTA | CHICAGO | DETROIT | SAN FRANCISCO | LONDON | info@360i.com | 888.360.9630
©2011360i LLC. All Rights Reserved
Integrated Solutions. Measurable Results.
360i Point of View Series on
Social Commerce: Facebook Commerce
May 2011
Executive Summary: Evaluating Facebook commerce with the Strategic Lens
First publicized in360i’s Social Marketing Playbook, the Strategic Lens presents a way for brands toevaluate social marketing opportunities and technologies. Applying the Lens to Facebook commerceoffers an overview of what to expect. The rest of the POV dives much deeper into the benefits,challenges and examples.
360i’s Strategic Lens
The Strategic Lens presents four questions all marketers must answer thoroughly to set themselves upfor success while minimizing potential mishaps. Here are the questions and how they apply to FacebookCommerce:
1) Does it meet our marketing objectives?
It’s easy to get so excited about setting up shop on Facebook that one overlooks this fundamentalquestion. Define your goals up front, such as: customer acquisition, product sampling, improvingloyalty and retention, raising the average order size, or generating awareness of promotions.Facebook commerce operates on two levels. First, it appeals to your core audience, those who already “like” you or visit your site. If such a program is successful, then your existing customers will spreadthe word about their favorite products and recent purchases to their friends on Facebook, generatingawareness and possible referrals from their friends who may not be your customers already.
2) Does it leverage our arsenal?
Define your marketing arsenal broadly to consider all the ways to build and promote a Facebookcommerce program. Consider your website, Facebook pages, product inventory, IT team, communitymanagers, public relations, other branded social accounts, celebrity endorsers, in-house buyers andproduct experts, upcoming product launches and deals, and traditional media. Products available forlimited times or in limited quantities can be especially well suited to Facebook commerce, sincecustomers will want to tell their friends – once they’ve snapped up the deal themselves.
3) Does it follow the rules of the road?
NEW YORK | ATLANTA | CHICAGO | DETROIT | SAN FRANCISCO | LONDON | info@360i.com | 888.360.9630
©2011360i LLC. All Rights Reserved
Integrated Solutions. Measurable Results.
360i Point of View Series on
Social Commerce: Facebook Commerce
May 2011
How are people really using Facebook? While they’re not primarily going there to shop, they areroutinely influenced by Facebook posts. Facebook operates as a parallel online universe to the broaderweb, where people go to interact with friends, upload photos, play games, and plan events, whileinteracting with brands falls under the broader umbrella of people using the platform to connect withand share what they’re interested in. Understanding why people use Facebook offers clues as to whatwill work and what won’t with Facebook commerce, the details of which are covered in the rest of thisPOV.
4) What’s the value exchange between the brand and consumer?
When consumers use social media in particular, they’re wondering, “What’s in it for me?” There aremany kinds of value brands can provide, and with social commerce in particular, this can include:exclusive deals, early access to a product, rewards for sharing deals with friends, or bonus content thatdoesn’t normally come with a product. Once you find the value proposition and align it with yourobjectives, arsenal, and rules, then you’ve opened the door for consumers to provide value in return:sales, word of mouth referrals, advocacy, buzz, and new customers.The rest of the POV tackles several other questions specific to this subject: How does Facebookcommerce work? How are brands using it? What are the benefits, and what pitfalls you should be awareof? What are the opportunities in the near and longer term? For the answers, read on.
The two types of Facebook commerce
There are two ways that marketers can offer social commerce to their customers through Facebook:1)
Sell directly through Facebook.
Today, this generally happens by creating a branded page onFacebook and offering a store through an application. These stores can sell everything from a single,product to a catalog with millions of SKUs (the latter is not recommended; read on for more on why).Facebook is currently the center of social commerce activity, and it will be the foreseeable future giventhe sheer size with over 600 million users. It dominates social media usage in the US and is the leaderin most markets worldwide. Beyond that, Facebook is a platform that marketers can build upon. Itdeserves the disproportionate interest thanks to its scale and the potential for its platform to providedeep social integration with the purchase process. However, there are numerous challenges to runningsocial commerce on Facebook, and those are discussed below.
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Recommended
More From This User
Notes
Load more
