Online retail has definitely come of age:

Posted on Monday, 12 September 2011 by Paul McSweeney

Not a day goes by when we do not hear of the demise of the High St. Indeed, TV footage showing the empty shops goes to show just how much of an impact the Internet has had over the last decade. When we were not so long ago, a nation of greengrocers, we are fast becoming a nation of e-tailers.

A whopping £5.2billion was spent online in the UK during April of this year. This equates to £82 per person, and a year-on-year increase of 19%. Figures the High Street may well never reach again. Indeed, the High St is reporting some of its worst results in years.

One of the key factors in driving e-commerce is comparison shopping. Instantaneously, consumers can find the best price for what they are looking for. People are still shopping, but they are increasingly savvy. They are going online to find the best deal.

With the advent of social commerce channels, and mobile applications, growth in e-commerce is forecast to continue. Indeed, those multi-channel retailers – those with both a high-street and an online presence – have seen the fastest growth in the past year.

It is when recognised brands such as Tesco, House of Fraser, and John Lewis, are focusing on their online presence, that you know online retail is truly coming of age. Indeed, John Lewis’s online sales have risen 24% in the past year.

The development of technology has clearly assisted these retailers in their ability to facilitate successful transactions. Now the challenge for e-retailers both big and small, is to integrate the growing number of sales channels to ensure a clear marketing message and consistent customer experience.

Many foresee mobile commerce soon overtaking desktop internet access and are gearing up with shopping applications for mobile phones. This means consumers will expect to receive relevant messages based on where they are.

So if you are a traditional shop, get serious about the web and its possibilities to ensure long-term success.

Posted in E-Commerce, Facebook, How to: Facebook for Business, M-Commerce, Social Commerce, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Social commerce does work; a recent paper from Adobe says as much!

Posted on Monday, 5 September 2011 by Paul McSweeney

A recent whitepaper published from Adobe underlines the importance of the Facebook Like button. We all know that Facebook is an integral part of many people’s lives, and that it has offered businesses an hitherto unseen opportunity to engage meaningfully with potential customers.

But what are the best practices employed by brands that are generating tangible value from Facebook and the “Like” button? This is easily the most widely adopted social Plugin, and you do not need to be a globally recognised brand to reap the benefits.

Social Plugins more effective than your marketing team!

The average Facebook user has 130 friends. If you can persuade a user to share a story about your business on Facebook, then it’s not only a great cost-effective marketing tool, but the real magic lies in the fact that is a personal referral from a friend to a friend. This is a significantly stronger sell that if a company is “pushing” a generic marketing message out there. Incidentally, there is nothing more old hat than that, and Facebook users give such marketing strategies very short shrift!

By optimising the Facebook Like button, you can generate significantly increased traffic to your website. Levi’s is a great example of this; over 40% of their increased visits came from Facebook after they added the Like button to their website.

Know your customer; then Optimise:

Not only does the Like button transfer the marketing/purchase funnel into a viral loop, but it also enables tracking to a much greater extent than before. By tracking interactions, you can then determine how effective the Like button actually is with regard to engagement and conversion rates. Facebook Insights also enables you to get a better grasp on the demographic profile of those who are engaging with your content.

As with Google Analytics, knowing your customer is the key to optimisation. With the data gleaned from Facebook Insights, you can optimise elements such as the style of the Like button, and where to place it on the page for maximum interaction. The more you target, the more effective the Like button can be for you and your business.

 

 

Posted in Facebook, General, How to: Facebook for Business, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Can the Apple magic continue without the magician?

Posted on Tuesday, 30 August 2011 by Paul McSweeney

Earlier this month, Apple’s value briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil’s, to become the world’s most valuable company. That is incredible in itself, but in the context of Apple’s flirtation with bankruptcy in 1997, when Steve Jobs came back to the company, it is even more of a wonder.

So Steve Jobs has not only helped reshape Apple, but he has redefined major parts of the technology industry. So will his departure mean the end of Apple’s dominance? Other companies have seen their fortunes fade after iconic leaders have departed. Take Bill Gates leaving Microsoft as an example.

Succession planning:

But this should not be the case for Apple. This is not a sudden move. The company has had a while to plan for this, and indeed the new chief operating officer, has stepped in successfully for Mr Jobs in the past. For the periods where Mr Jobs has been absent in the past, Apple has continued to run smoothly. Loyalty of the workforce and a significant pool of talent across Apple’s business divisions, signifies that Apple’s future should continue to be bright.

And after all, Steve Jobs, is not disappearing completely. He is to become Chairman of Apple’s board, so will no doubt have a say in key decisions for the foreseeable future.

More game changers in the pipeline:

Perhaps, most importantly of all, Apple has a great product pipeline. The company will shortly unveil the latest version of the iPhone and is expected to launch a new iPad early next year. And their dominance is not just in products (hardware). The real secret of Apple’s success lies in the integration of these with software and services such as the iTunes store.

This symbiotic relationship between hardware and software is what has transformed the music industry. The iPhone and its Apps have helped to transform another market and create a huge cash pile.

We wish Mr Jobs continued prosperity, but more importantly, good health.

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“Like-gating” on Facebook no longer cuts it:

Posted on Monday, 22 August 2011 by Paul McSweeney

As recently as twelve months ago, companies and brand owners were frantically scrambling for as many Facebook “likes” as they could get. Indeed, the process of “like-gating” -where companies ask for “likes” in order to give access to exclusive content or promotions – evolved pretty soon after.

Some companies; Mercedes-Benz being one, have achieved a phenomenal Facebook presence by adopting this strategy. But for many, they are beginning to realise, that the measurable effects of a multitude of “likes” are actually minimal.

In fact, they are simply a forced public display of an opt-in to a brand’s social news stream. It is not what it was first presumed to be; brand advocacy.

Phase 1: Like. Phase 2: Advocate

Advocacy goes beyond an affinity with a brand and can be extremely effective at influencing other people’s behaviour. 90% of people said they would trust word-of-mouth recommendations from people they know according to the Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey.

So if the wisdom of friends is becoming ever more relevant, how can you use social technologies to stitch together the wisdom of friends and increase the flow of advocacy of your brand?

Between 5-15% only of all pasts that past through people’s newsfeeds on Facebook are ever viewed. So to improve upon this, the “recommend” button was introduced. This is a form of advocacy as people are effectively saying when they use it, that “this is something which I like, and think will also be of specific interest to you”

The Google “+1″ button works along similar lines. Using this has the same effect; it publicly gives something your stamp of approval.  These stronger advocacy tools may well influence current SEO, giving much more weight to search via social interaction. That remains to be seen. But it does indicate that social media is moving into a new phase, where companies will be expected to work much harder to earn engagement and advocacy.

Fans must become genuine advocates. To achieve this, brands must create more meaningful and valuable interactions with people. It is no longer enough to be “liked”.

Posted in Facebook, General, How-To: Social Networking, Social Media, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The riots have brought out the best and the worst in social media

Posted on Thursday, 11 August 2011 by Paul McSweeney

Social media, and in particular, Twitter, have played an important part in the riots across the UK over the past week. Twitter was lauded as a tool for democracy at the beginning of the year, in the context of the Arab uprisings. However, the same cannot be said in this instance.

On a negative note, Twitter served as a mobilising tool to encourage further mindless vandalism. Indeed, it has even faciliated a co-ordinated looting strategy. By posting on Twitter, where these vandals were heading, others rushed to get a slice of the loot. It helped to inflict further criminal damage upon our society, and to foment an already tense stand-off between police and the looters.

It has manifested itself as tool for good and bad citizen journalism. With everyone posting tweets, it has been nigh on impossible for authorities to decipher real intelligence from red herrings. How can an already stretched police force manage this? This is the equivalent of 100,000 prank 999 calls all coming in simultaneously. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of China’s book and not be afraid to turn websites off in they compromise national security. Extreme I know, but we are dealing with peoples’ lives and livelihoods here.

On the flipside, for every false tweet, there have been many that have used it to vent their frustration and anger at these criminals, and to take a stand against it. #riotcleanup has already generated over 100,000 tweets,and is clearly a force for good amidst all this. Social media can now bring networks and communities together for the rebuilding process.

 

 

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How can Facebook work for you?

Posted on Monday, 8 August 2011 by Paul McSweeney

Facebook is online media for millions of people, and therefore needs to be embraced as such. Do not be deterred by the reporting of a slowdown in growth for the second month in a row; or the advent of Google +.

But determining exactly what you can do with Facebook is possibly the hard part. Relentlessly hunting for “likes” is for vanity really and nothing more! It is the equivalent for businesses of individuals competing for the most friends. It has yet to be comprehensively proven to be useful in selling anything. (although we stand to be corrected?!)

What Facebook can be used effectively as is a test bed if you like. You can gauge if something is actually going to work, by actually giving people a taster of a product and then monitoring their reaction. Facebook is the perfect place to set-up the equivalent of the perfect bricks and mortar “pop-up”store. You can quickly see what people think of your new idea and without a great deal of effort or expense.

Facebook is after all where the people are. Furthermore, it is a fast-moving environment where people are looking to access information or items of interest capriciously. They do not expect an immersive or especially refined brand environment.

Posted in Facebook, How to: Facebook for Business, How-To: Social Networking, Social Commerce, Social Media, Thoughts & Opinions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The web …it’s a people business now

Posted on Thursday, 4 August 2011 by Paul McSweeney

With Twitter and other social networking tools, the convergence of our online and offline lives has never been more real. It is becoming second nature to go online to communicate with friends.

With so many apps and services now available to consumers, how can you gain a march upon your rivals. The answer is the same as it has always been. Content. But rather than you producing the content, it is the consumer’s content that you want. Our put another way, their data. Their tweets, their photos, their purchase history, and social relationships. Once you know what they are about, then you can communicate with them in a useful manner. This is how you create value for your customers and build long-term relationships.

To achieve this, the old buzz words still apply. Transparency and trust. Consumers have the control because they are the owners of the data. So the best strategy is to give them more control. By giving control to consumers, we have seen the advent of citizen journalism and brand advocacy. Citizen journalism has helped significantly to bring down governments (Egypt, Tunisia) and brand advocacy is the “sweet-spot” for e-tailers or indeed anyone with a brand. Through working with audiences more effectively, the results have been tremendous.

Those brands who have achieved success have given up some control, in order to gain a voice and social influence. They have basically put people before technology. All brands should follow suit.

Posted in Facebook, General, How-To: Social Networking, M-Commerce, Social Media, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Let your customers buy from you without having to leave Facebook..and your quids in!

Posted on Sunday, 17 July 2011 by Paul McSweeney

Not so long ago, Facebook was a mere social networking tool. Businesses had started to see it as a marketing tool or a customer service portal, but not much more. Nowadays, the more savvy businesses, both large and small, see Facebook as another retailing channel.

Some are so used to e-commerce, that they are reluctant to embrace f-commerce fully. In fact, that out of most major retailers, there are only 10% or so, that are generating decent sales via Facebook.

But interest is starting to grow both from retailers and users alike. Consumers have more trust in Facebook, and are therefore seen as more likely to use it as a buying channel. Moreover, the introduction of Facebook’s only currency; Facebook credits; and the enthusiasm of Facebook to make it more widespread, is making transactions easier too.

Facebook is already seen as a great source for online discounts and deals. Companies are incentivising their followers in a variety of ways to acquire that all important Facebook endorsement; a “like”!

If you as a retailer, can make the prospect of buying on Facebook attractive, then you will do well. It just simplifies a process by eliminating a funnel or link in the chain. Followers see a deal, and they can click on the Facebook shop page of the relevant retailer and buy more easily. And buyers live simplicity a lot. If you can attract conversions without users having to leave Facebook, your sales and return on investment will go up significantly.

 

Posted in E-Commerce, Facebook, General, How to: Facebook for Business, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Facebook users can now video chat

Posted on Monday, 11 July 2011 by Paul McSweeney

Last week, Facebook announced that they had entered into an agreement with Skype, to allow Facebook users to place video calls to friends and family. All users need to do would be to accept the call, and the Skype feature will download in less than 30 seconds.

This is a good thing for both Facebook and Skype, and of course for those on Facebook. Video chat is not only immensely popular, but it is a great deal easier this way than having to leave Facebook and download Skype separately.

The service is so clean and simple, that take-up is bound to be high. Some Facebook features in the past have been far too difficult for users to get their head around, but this is quite the opposite.

Many friends and family members use Facebook as a means of keeping up-to-date in terms of what’s going on in each others’ lives. This new feature will bring real-time video conversation to all the photos and messages. This is a much more enhanced communication tool as a result.

Group video chat in addition to mobile chat have both been promised by Mark Zuckerberg, so watch out for these. As we have discussed before on this blog, Facebook is where the people are, so it is a question of providing the right features to not only keep them there, but ensure that they remain on Facebook for longer each time they visit.

With these latest efforts, Facebook is essentially transforming itself into a telecommunications platform. Perhaps the next feature will need to be a Facebook telephone directory delivered to our door in the old style!

Posted in Facebook, How to: Facebook for Business, How-To: Social Networking, Social Media, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can you lend us a fiver mate? (Facebook credits that is..)

Posted on Thursday, 7 July 2011 by Paul McSweeney

Over the past few years, if you were not a social games fan, the emergence of Facebook’s unique virtual currency, Credits, may well have passed you by.

Not so long ago, it was popular to send virtual gifts to your friends on Facebook. These were available to purchase in the now closed Facebook gift store. To make it easy to pay for things on Facebook, Credits were created.

But the Facebook IPO is on the horizon, and to no doubt add to it’s already huge valuation, Facebook is requiring all game developers to use Facebook Credits. The deadline for this was last week, July 1st.

It may well make it easier for players to transfer Credits between games and other apps on Facebook, the 30% cut Facebook takes from all transactions, is a lovely sideline. Despite protestations from developers, Facebook can simply refer to Apple, who also takes 30% from its media partners.

Credits can also be used to view films, concerts streamed live over Facebook, as well as daily deals. Users can buy Credits over their mobile phones now and has made no secret of its focus on digital goods.

For our money, Facebook is well-positioned to take advantage of opportunities in the media arena. The users are there, so Facebook simply needs to facilitate the sharing of content among users in as efficient and cost-effective manner as possible.

Posted in Facebook, How-To: Social Networking, M-Commerce, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment