October | 2010 | Warren Knight Blog

BlogPosts from October, 2010

How to Sell Products via Your Facebook Page

Social Media Examiner is an amazing resource of information at this article is one that I wanted to share with you by Tim Ware, to really help you understand the power of Social Commerce.

Ever wished you could directly sell your products and services from within Facebook? If so, this post is for you.

I decided to dig in and research the current landscape thoroughly, both to better understand the lay of the land and to save you the research hassle.

It was only a matter of time before Facebook and e-commerce would converge. Until a little over a year ago, only storefronts existed on Facebook, where merchants could display and promote their products and, with “Add to cart” buttons, imply e-commerce functionality.

But when users clicked on “Add to cart, they were whisked away from Facebook to the merchant’s website where the actual shopping-cart experience occurred.

Almost There: Storefronts, but Not Stores

Two prominent examples of storefront-only functionality on Facebook are Threadless and Best Buy, both of which include great integration with Facebook’s social features (sharing, commenting, liking), but don’t support e-commerce transactions within Facebook.

Best Buy’s storefront is powered by BigCommerce’s “SocialShop” application, which allows merchants to display products on their Facebook page and offers the user many options for viewing products and information.

Although it appears so, the user can’t actually buy on the Best Buy Facebook page. Clicking the “Shop Now” button takes you to Best Buy’s e-commerce website, also powered by BigCommerce.

Similarly, on the Threadless page, clicking on “Add to cart” takes you to their website where the actual e-commerce begins.

I should also mention ShopTab, another popular storefront application, which lets Page admins handle everything on Facebook — adding products, either individually or via a data feed import, as well as editing product information. Users can search by price range or keywords, and can also share individual products. The women’s lingerie company HerRoom uses ShopTab:

ShopTab costs $10 – $20 per month, depending on the number of products.

Real Facebook e-Commerce Arrives

On July 8, 2009, the first complete e-commerce experience appeared on Facebook when 1-800-Flowers premiered its Facebook store, powered by Alvenda. For the first time, users could conduct an entire sales transaction without ever leaving the Facebook environment. Although not a fully integrated Facebook experience, the Alvenda approach heralded the arrival of real shopping on Facebook.

It’s been only a little over a year since the 1-800-Flowers Facebook shop appeared and still there aren’t a lot of choices for applications that allow the entire shopping experience to occur on Facebook. But we can certainly expect more and better applications to come online in the coming months and years.

Here are the ones I think are the current best in show. If anyone feels I’ve missed one, feel free to use the comments to let me know.

Alvenda

Alvenda utilizes Adobe Flash to create its functionality for its many customers which include 1-800-Flowers, Delta Airlines and Brooks Brothers. The Flash “widget” is actually located on a non-Facebook server and is pulled into the Facebook “chrome” via a custom Facebook iFrame application.

1-800-Flowers

On the 1-800-Flowers page, when the visitor clicks on the “Shop” tab, a graphic is presented that introduces the visitor to the “Facebook Shoplet” and encourages her to “click right in” to start shopping.

Upon clicking the “Start shopping” button, the visitor is taken to 1-800-Flowers’ Alvenda-powered Facebook application where the e-commerce begins.

The remainder of the e-commerce transaction occurs on this application page.

(The reason for taking the user to the application page and away from the Facebook page is to get the wider application canvas page where the maximum width is 760 pixels, compared to 520 pixels on a page tab.)

Delta Ticket Window

Another groundbreaking Facebook e-commerce event was Alvenda’s development of “Ticket Window,” Delta Airlines’ Facebook-based ticketing system, which premiered in August 2010.

Unlike the 1-800-Flowers Facebook application, the Delta Ticket Window keeps the user on the page’s “Book a Trip” tab. This was the first Facebook-based airline ticketing system, and it’s pretty cool.

Alvenda’s Dependence on Flash

Although we have to give Alvenda and 1-800-Flowers kudos for getting there first, there is one drawback to the Alvenda experience: The entire e-commerce widget — which is contained in the iFrame — is built in Flash. This means that the many millions of users accessing the site via their iPhones, iTouches or iPads won’t be able to use the shopping feature, as Apple does not allow Flash to run on its mobile and tablet devices.

As more of these Apple products are sold, and they are selling like hotcakes, this will increasingly be a drawback to using Alvenda. However, in order to compensate for this, I’m certain many merchants (Alvenda’s customers tend to be larger enterprises) plan to develop applications for these devices (1-800-Flowers already has).

Alvenda is a commercial product and they don’t provide costs on their website, so it’s probably not cheap.

Flash-Free and Totally Integrated Facebook e-Commerce Applications

Fortunately for many small businesses, there are a couple of Facebook applications available that are free, fully integrated into the Facebook experience, and don’t rely on Flash.

Overall, I consider these applications the better option for smaller merchants who still wish to sell their products and services on Facebook, fully integrate with Facebook’s social features and not have to rely on developing special applications to reach the millions of people using Apple devices.

Using Payvment for a Shopping Experience

In terms of real integration with Facebook, as well as cost (it’s free) and technology (it’s not a Flash application), Payvment is the one to beat. It is considered the leading shopping platform inside Facebook.

Payvment utilizes PayPal’s “Adaptive Payments” API to provide what I think is the most fully integrated Facebook shopping experience to date. Payvment’s feature set is pretty amazing, including full integration with Facebook and a seamless Facebook experience, product search, Facebook-wide shopping cart system (their “Open Cart Network” technology) that enables customers to complete their purchase from any storefront on Facebook, ability to customize with HTML, and TRUSTe privacy.

This is pretty amazing — Payvment transforms Facebook into a gigantic department store where users can keep their purchases with them across thousands of Payvment-powered storefronts on Facebook and do the checkout at any point.

Payvment also features support for FedEx and UPS automatic shipping calculations, as well as the ability for retailers to provide instant discounts and coupons to users who “Like” their page.

Also, and importantly, once you have simply added the Payvment application to your page, you can add and manage your products right within the application.

I checked out a few Facebook pages that are using Payvment, including Adult Swim UK, Grayce by Molly Sims (Jewelry) and Orglamix Cosmetics.

When you add the Payvment application to your Page, it adds a tab titled “Shop Now.”

As you can see, the payment interface definitely has the Facebook look and feel, and the entire experience feels and is very Facebook-centric.

Payvment is just coming up on its one-year anniversary (it launched in October 2009), and I’d say it has the edge at this point, particularly with merchants with budgets smaller than companies like 1-800-Flowers or Delta Airlines!

BeeShopy Is Another Shopping Option

In researching this article, I thought the runner-up to Payvment was BeeShopy, which distinguishes itself from Payvment by pointing out that it will automatically import product listings on your existing store (if it’s built on Shopify!) and display them on Facebook. Although only Shopify and Magento stores are currently supported, BeeShopy promises that BigCommerce, OS Commerce and other e-commerce platforms are “on the way.”

Top K2 and My Vanity Shoes are good examples of how BeeShopy looks and functions.

As I mentioned at the top, please share any applications that you think also deserve mention in this new space.

What do you think? Have you used Facebook to sell your products? If so, leave your thoughts and comments in the box below.

Social Media | Calculate The Value of Your Facebook/Twitter Page

Just over a week ago, Eventbrite’s Tamara Mendelsohn published some interesting data, Social Commerce: A First Look at the Numbers, revealing the sales value of social media shares for the event ticketing site.

The Eventbrite data is interesting and has generated some useful discussion, but taking the data – along with the average sales value of an Eventbrite ticket ($60), it’s possible to use it to generate a ballpark valuation of your social media presence.

In a nutshell, to obtain a very rough estimate of the sales value of your social media presence, take the number of social media shares generated (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter) and multiply those by the following coefficients (derived from Eventbrite’s data). Then simply multiply the result by the average value of a sale (AOV).

Social Media Sales Coefficient
- Facebook =0.042 (for Eventbrite each Facebook share generates $2.52 )
- Twitter = 0.007 (for Eventbrite each Twitter share generates $0.43)
- LinkedIn = 0.015 (for Eventbrite each LinkedIn share generates $0.90)
- Email (Share) = 0.039 (for Eventbrite each email share generates $2.34)

For instance, applying this very rough and ready logic to top brands on Facebook, and using Google shopping search returns as a proxy for average order value – we get an indication of how much these brands’ Facebook pages are worth

Starbucks = $2.69M (if est av. order = $4 * 16,041,033 * 0.042)
Skittles = $430,491 (if est av.order = $0.89 * 11,516,630 * 0.042)
Victoria’s Secret = $6.40M (if est av. order value = $25 * 6,099,033 * 0.42)
Converse All Star = $9.30M (if est av. order value = $30 * 7,380,742 * 0.42)

Of course, these valuations should be taken with a pinch huge mountain of salt; drawing any conclusions from the data from one particular company in a particular situation in a particular market with a particular (very good) social commerce strategy and applying it to completely unrelated companies in other markets ignores a mountain of variables that drive social media valuations. At the very best, this rule of thumb calculation only provides a very initial indicative and caveat-laden ballpark response to the question ’how much is our social media presence [potentially] worth?’

For those, too cautious (or too wise) to use these preliminary social media sales coefficients for a proto-valuation of a social media presence – there are nevertheless a number of useful insights and data points of interest in the Eventbrite data

A Facebook share is worth 6x a Twitter share (5.86x to be precise)
A Facebook share is worth3x a LinkedIn share (2.8x to be precise)
A Facebook share is worth an email share (1.08x to be precise)

So Facebook rules in the world of social media optimization (SMO), for Eventbrite at least, and indeed Tamara notes that Facebook is the #1 referring site for traffic to the company’s site, surpassing Google. On average each Facebook share drives 11 visits back to Eventbrite.com.

Other data of interest;

On Eventbrite
- A Facebook share generates $2.52 in sales
- A Twitter share generates $0.43 in sales
- A LinkedIn share generates $0.90 in sales
- An email share generates $2.34 in sales

Facebook is the #1 referring site for traffic to the company’s site, surpassing Google
On average each Facebook share drives 11 visits back to Eventbrite.com
Averaging across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Email one share drives over 7 visits back to Eventbrite.com
Sharing is independent of event size – the share rate remains consistent
Classes/workshops and networking events have the most share activity, followed by fundraisers, conferences, and music events

Warren Knight thanks Paul Marsden

Is your Company’s Social Media Strategy in the wrong hands?

When discussing Social Media Marketing, the companies that specialise in marketing will most probably think that they are the best to deal with social media… They couldn’t be more wrong.

The difficulty that most marketing companies face is that they do not have the right skills or knowledge to successfully handle the increasingly popular world of Social Media.

Social Media has been categorised as just the simple websites known as Twitter or Facebook however; there is more to the Social Media world than our favourite networking sites. As well as having to deal with the online side of Social Media, there are many other aspects that you need to take into consideration;

Search Marketing – The online search marketing team are responsible for making sure that the product or service is accessible on any search engine by only typing in one word which is relevant to the product.

Email Marketing – The key factor to remember in Email Marketing is to make sure that the e-mail is not overpowering or irritating so that the reader does not hit that delete button before the whole email has been read!!

Public Relations (PR) – The PR side of Social Media are known to have the ‘glamorous’ influence on the social media world. Their main purpose is to secure that attractive interview and provide important connections.

Marketing (Offline) – This is the advertisement side of everyday life before the internet was invented e.g. TV, Radio. The importance of Offline Marketing is to portray a prominent message with value that cannot be ignored.

Customer Service – The Customer Service team must be appealing to consumers and be able to engage with the community. Their job is to give the correct advice and to make sure the customers are pleased with the service provided.

IT – The Information Technology side of Social Media must be dealt with by people who are skilled in this type of profession. The key to success in the IT department is to build a website that contains the vital information.

Relying on the marketing department to handle Social Media the same way as they do with any other Marketing Strategies will only show that making a facebook group or ‘re-tweeting’ will only connect with the population that depend on the fashionable Social Networking sites. What about the people who listen to the radio or spend hours in front of the television? Do they even know what Social Media Marketing is?

The purpose of this article is to highlight the idea that Marketing Company’s should be employing skilled individuals to give a more impartial view on how Social Media should be strategised. There is more to Social Media than the networking we do on an everyday basic. We can only hope that Marketing Companies see their downfall and fix this issue before it’s too late.

Is this the future? 83% of consumers shop online at least once a week

Many of you know Dr Paul Marsden …Well if you didn’t you do now, as I regularly share information within my community, from him to do with the latest news, comment and analysis on trends and technologies in social commerce.

Compete a US shopper intelligence study provides a wealth of, well, shopper intelligence every quarter and here are some very interesting facts for you to enjoy and watch closely over the next 12 months as the figures grow.

Data from last year’s 2009 Shopper Intelligence study Q3 created something of a stir – suggesting that people rarely used social networks to connect with retailers or as a shopping tool – 63% never visited retailer Facebook pages (70% never connected via Twitter). When people did visit Facebook pages, it was overwhelmingly to keep up to date on sales and promotions.

Fast forward a year – and the picture has changed; the latest (q2 2010) Shopper Intelligence study shows – in addition to the headline finding that 83% of US consumers shop online at least once a week – that the proportion of checking out Facebook fan pages or Twitter feeds of retailers has almost doubled since Q3 2009 – up to 31%.

Nevertheless, Compete’s Q3 09 recommendation – holds strong – the secret to a successful Facebook page is simple:

“Give them a highly compelling reason to visit: provide shoppers with discount information”

If branding is the art of increasing your ability to take margin, then few brand marketers will be happy to hear this. The alternative Facebook strategy of course is to harness the platform to deliver user experiences that add value to the brand. In the context of social commerce – we think event shopping (VIP access, limited editions, live shopping) holds promise. Warren Knight thanks Paul Marsden

37,600 internet users in 54 countries

How are individuals around the world feeling about your brand in this revolutionary social space? Dr Paul Marsden shares with us his personal extracts, from the world’s biggest and longest running annual social media tracker survey – Wave - published by ad agency Universal McCann is just out, 37,600 internet users in 54 countries.

The 2010 Wave 5 survey report is embedded below – and can be downloaded for free here. The survey does not address social commerce specifically – but our top takeout is that Facebook Groups (newly revamped) + Facebook e-commerce = Big Opportunity for brands, agencies and solution providers. Brands themselves – as opposed to people – may not be able to create groups yet and add them to their pages, but with groups in the Open Graph API, we think groups will be a big part of future brand activity on Facebook).

Why? The survey points to the rise and rise of social networking as a truly global phenomenon – with people ranking social networking sites as the best tool for nearly all social activities (see graph below). The proportion of people connecting to brands via social networks has jumped 20% in the last year – whilst people visiting brand websites has dropped by 10% over the last two years. Factor in that just under 50% of Net users have joined a brand community – then the opportunity for managing and monetizing these communities in Facebook is significant.

But back to the stats – here are the numbers we found interesting (base: active Net users (16-54 – representative) – global:

61.4% of active Net users manage a profile on at least one social network
On average people connect with 52 people on social networks
Over 30% of people connect to the Net via a mobile device
Over the last two years, the proportion of Net users visiting brand sites has dropped 10% (down to 74%)
Over the last year, the proportion of Net users connecting with a brand in social networks has increased 20% (to 30%)
Social networks are ranked as the #1 social media tool for all social activities apart from sharing knowledge and seeking other peoples opinions
Just under 50% of people have joined an online brand community
After joining a brand community;
- 72% of people feel more positively about the brand
- 71% are more likely to buy the brand
- 68% feel more loyal to the brand
- 63% recommend others to join

How should brands develop and deliver a social media experience? UM proposed a four-point plan [that we're not sure we completely buy into - it suggests social is a distinct channel - we prefer a strategy-first approach - building a social layer onto your marketing / e-commerce strategy)]

Understand the social landscape of the category
Identify where the consumer fits in this landscape
Identify the social needs of the consumer in the category
Map them to social media platforms that can best deliver them

Click here to watch the full report: Social Media Wave 5 – OCT2010 (Universal McCann)

Warren Knight thanks Paul Marsden

Older Posts