the value of being social in online retail

• Over 80% of Americans use Social Media Monthly

•  93% of Americans who use social media believe a company should have a presence in social media

• 85% of Americans who use social media believe a company should interact with its consumers via social media

• U.S. social commerce sales will reach $30 billion by 2015, which will represent 12% of total U.S. e-commerce sales

Source: U.S. Commerce Department, The Broad Reach of Social Technologies, Go-Globe.com

Why is Social Media important to online retailers?

Customer Service

Benefits:1.Reduce call and email volume

2.Build FAQ's

3.Make a brand advocate out of a mistake 

4.Increase customer loyalty 

5.Increase customer lifetime value

6.Word of mouth potential

7.Letting your customers talk to each other 

8.Team satisfaction

Source: Cone Business in Social Media Study

Benefits:1.Unbiased content that helps sell prospective customers2."Free" content3.Consistent fresh content means SEO benefit4.Share-able content

Content

User Generated Reviews, Social Updates Produced Blog, Video

Benefits:1.SEO advantage 2.Easy syndication3.Personalization opportunity4.Decreasing production costs5.Engagement method6.Product showcase

and confirm

 How Social Media Impacts SEO: • Inbound links

• Direct Influence

• Real Time Search

• User Generated Content

• Brand Related Searches

• Reputation Management

• Social Search

Source: http://searchengineland.com/what-social-signals-do-google-bing-really-count-55389

SEO

Social Signals Impact Rankings

 Methods:•Repeating promotions•Twitter # chats•Influencer reviews•Guest hosts•Response baiting•Content varying: videos, photos, questions, information

Audience Building

 Benefits:•Brand building•Potential customer base expansion•Quality control survey pool•Testing ground for larger scale promotions

Benefits:

1.Credibility

2.Encourages commitment

3.Adds approachability

4.Builds trust

Humanization

Benefits: 

• Heighten potential for sharing

• Build credibility

• Increase conversions

• Help SEO efforts

Examples: 

• Social bookmarking buttons on your blog 

• Facebook "like" button 

• Google +1

• Facebook "send" button 

• Twitter "follow" button

• Facebook comments box

• Customer Reviews

• Widgets

Store Integration

Methods:• Social sharing as main message• Highlight social contest winners

• Answer FAQs on social sites

• Blog content as email message material

Email Integration

Source: GetResponse Email Marketing

Benefits:•Social accounts are a source for opt-in list-building•Enables email marketers and subscribers to engage in real time•Social icons in email allow easy sharing of message beyond the inbox

Group Shopping Sites

Recommendation Engines

Social Shopping

Source: Social eCart, Wantlet

Categories:

Group Shopping Sites

Encourage groups of people to buy

together at wholesale prices

Shopping communities

Users communicate and aggregate

information about products, prices, and

deals

Recommendation engines

The in-store analogy is asking a fellow

shopper for advice

Shared Shopping Mechanisms

Allow shoppers to form ad-hoc

collaborative shopping groups

Shared Shopping

Shopping communities

Methods:• Facebook "Shop" app

• Pay Per Click Advertising

• Early product releases

• Private product sales

• Exclusive deals  

• "Like-gating”

(Groupon-like incentivizing)

• Apps

Drive Sales