When Santa Claus comes to town, the rules are simple. You watch out, you don’t cry and you don’t pout.

I put to you that in 2009 the social media marketeers ignored every single one of these rules, pedalling Christmas campaigns that involved risks, made people cry and yes, made them pout. For this reason, I propose last year’s social media marketeers did not want Santa Claus to come to town.

The offending articles

Item One

In 2009 Essex couple Jon and Tracy Morter diced with fire when they attempted to topple Simon Cowell’s UK Christmas Number One monopoly.

The couple used Twitter and Facebook to build a groundswell around shunning X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s single, The Climb, for Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 release, Killing in the Name.

The result? More than one million fans joined the Facebook page and Killing in the Name reached the top of the download chart just in time for Christmas.

Item Two

US blogger Jill Kocher wasn’t worried about bringing tears to ours eyes when she launched a campaign to bring SEO to the charities that needed it most.

Kocher, SEO Manager at Groupon by day and blogger for WebPieRat by night, found local-level charities had little knowledge of SEO and optimisation.

Following her findings, she set out on a mission to provide back links to charities in featured posts in the first instance, followed by arming them with the skills to embed optimised terms into their sites in time for Christmas 2010.

Item Three

Fashionista definitely wanted you to pout. Last year the augmented reality tool was developed for fashion retail sites to help shoppers virtually try on their Christmas party outfits and share the pictures with friends via Facebook.

I think the evidence is clear, social media marketeers do not want Santa Claus to come to town.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Recently, Econsultancy published a piece on ten great e-commerce product pages. Following our research into the social shopping explosion we wanted to find out exactly how ‘social’ some of these retailers are. All of which will be popular destinations for consumers this Christmas.

We’ve judged these ground-breaking online retailers on the following criteria:

• Do they provide on-site reviews (1 pt per method of review)
• Do they have links to off-site social media estates (1 pt per platform)
• Do they actively engage and interact with customers (1 pt per platform engaging on)
• Personalised site recommendations (4 pts)
• Innovative, quirky, value added social media offerings (1 pt per offering)
• Exclusive offers for members? (1 pt)
• Colourful and entertaining campaigns (1 pt per campaign)
• Blogs (1 pt)

We all know Amazon will be a big hit for consumers this Christmas and the customer review ratings and personalised recommendations on the site provide useful tools for purchasing decisions.  In terms of being truly ‘social’ though it’s the fashion retailer that takes  advantage of social media channels to gain fans, really involving and engaging with them.  Asos even allows fans to review items via its own YouTube videos and engage with each other via community pages.  We’ve seen a rise in popularity of collaborative online shopping through sites like Groupon, so is this the next big step for retailers in 2011?

It’s apparent from our research on social commerce, the articles and conversations we pick up on, that it’s an exciting time for retailers. Especially when it comes to social media.  Do you have any recommendations for great sites and product pages that are being smart with social media?  As ever, we’d like to hear your thoughts…

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Because we’re slightly geeky and we like to spot a trend, we’ve been keeping an eye on a few key Christmas search terms over on our Christmas dashboard page.

Amongst other things (like kids’ presents and favourite Christmas puddings), we’ve been monitoring Google searches for “Christmas presents.” For the past few days, “presents for men” has been forging ahead. This suggests that, as we predicted, shopping for men can prove to be a bit of a headache.

An interesting anomaly emerged today.

It appears that men might be struggling even more than women – it’s just that they don’t use the same words.

The table below shows Google searches relating to “Christmas gifts.” A slight turn in phrase and the picture is entirely different.

There’s a lesson there in semantics and making sure that the search terms are right….

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

You may have heard that Google has changed its search algorithm and with that change, instilled the word Abuserank forever into the minds of SEO experts.

According to Google they were spurred into action by the story of Clarabelle Rodriguez and the shocking (and by shocking I mean truly abusive and in some cases illegal) treatment she received at the hands of one online retailer (Decormyeyes.) This retailer had discovered that even the most negative and vociferous online complaints from consumers actually improved his Google SEO ranking. The Google spiders were picking up the negative reviews on high profile consumer feedback sites and so the owner was deliberately abusing customers to farm bad reviews!

Now, according to the Google blog, the coders thought up numerous ways to combat this new and disturbing retailer scam and in the end opted for an “algorithmic solution which detects the merchant from the Times article along with hundreds of other merchants that, in our opinion, provide an extremely poor user experience.” Sounds a bit like a black list to me and not as technical as some in the industry would have you believe.

There are initial industry fears that unscrupulous brands might use this new algorithm to try and seed fake complaints on forums and message boards to try and drop their competitors down the SERPs. However, I think Google are wise to this type of system gaming. Also, hasn’t the risk of fake complaints been around since the beginning of retail.

So in truth, if you* refers to you as a brand then online customer reviews are more important than ever and dealing with customer service issues in a timely manner is vital. If you* refers to you as a consumer, with a lot of Christmas shopping to do in the next few weeks, then this is probably something you’ll welcome. But, if you’re a social media agency, then this is just a reinforcement of what we’ve been saying to clients and prospects for years. Online monitoring of and involvement in consumer conversations is vital for maintaining brand position and competitive edge. Plus, we like a challenge!

p.s Oh and in case you were wondering, all the negative publicity (400 high profile articles in the last two days alone) Decormyeyes has received in the last few days hasn’t done its PageRank much good, standing as it is at 1 out of 10. Looks like the algorithm is working for one retailer at least.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Our social shopping research revealed a high propensity for influencers [and consumers] to want rewards for recommending a brand or reviewing a product/service. There is, unsurprisingly, a high demand for incentives that discount (75%). But the intriguing insight is how this is coupled with a need for recognition too. There is a long tail of demand for more experiential rewards in return for posting comments or giving feedback.

I came across the RSA’s rather compelling video animation that looks into employee motivations. It caught my attention. Why? Because there are parallels when compared to the  motivations of influencers on a given topic in social media.

The animation emphasises how money has a limited impact in motivating or positively reinforcing a message. Don’t get me wrong financial reward can be important, but as the video of the MIT study shows, it only really works for short, straightforward tasks.

When it comes to motivating the more cognitive skills, skills required by influencers and reviewers, then the relationship needs to go beyond the transactional. We are demanding more conceptional and creative thinking from our influencers and in return they want deeper recognition and collaboration.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

One of the most intriguing trends emerging from the social shopping explosion is the re-positioning of the consumer as product expert; the level of trust we now place on strangers.

A recent post on ReadWriteWeb provided some further statistical evidence of this movement with specific reference to the travel industry. Referring to Kevin May’s review of the latest World Travel Market (WTM) Industry Report, Curt Hopkins writes: “Peer recommendations have overtaken specialist knowledge as a make-or-break point for online purchases”, and highlights that online forums and chat-rooms appear to have more influence on travel decisions than travel blogs.

The inherently social nature of sharing holiday discussions and the popularity of travel related conversations across social media could offer some explanation for why these mediums are so popular; but it is interesting to see how this pattern is replicated across other product categories. Whether the experiential nature of travel means that we prefer personal accounts to professional advice; and whether there are some areas where the consumer isn’t always right.

We asked survey respondents “Who would you trust to provide you with an accurate opinion on the following products?” With 19.6% of people trusting ‘another consumer online’ over both ‘someone who works at the retailer‘ (10.6%) and ‘a professional journalist’ (4.8%) in relation to travel products, our results echoed the WTM report. And we also found that:

• On average, the only product categories where someone who works for the retailer is trusted more than another consumer online are Sporting/Outdoor equipment, DIY purchases and Property/housing. For property/housing, the difference was only 1%.
• On average, men are more trusting of other consumers online than women. Women also trust ‘someone who works for the retailer’ more in relation to financial services and cars/automotives.
• Women trust the opinion of someone who works for a retailer 7% more than they trust other online consumers in relation to DIY products. Men trust them 0.7% more.
• Less than 1% of people trust ‘A celebrity that you like’, with the exception of their opinion on health and beauty products (1.8%) and fashion (1.6%). 1.3% of men would also trust celebrity’s opinions on sporting/outdoor products.

So what does this mean?

Let the consumer speak

– the travel industry has some great travel communities for people to share travel advice, ideas and recommendations.  So make it easy for consumers to share recommendations and reviews, particularly if you operate in an area where trust in other consumers is high.

Understand the influences

– our research highlights the different sources of influence across the product groups. Understanding these can help to direct where knowledge is provided and by whom.

Collaborate with the consumer

– work with reviews and reviewers to develop your brand and extend your customer base.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The conversion from “like” to purchase is currently a hot topic for brands seeking to optimise social media opportunities; and recent research from YouTube, supported by the IAB, has highlighted the magnitude of this challenge.

The iconic Facebook thumb

60% of people who “like” or share content from brands are not existing customers – despite the fact that 75% of these very same customers consequently feel more positive about the brand.

As a social media agency, we’re obviously interested in really understanding how consumers want to interact with brands on social media and how that impacts purchase.

So, what’s going on?

The research

The YouTube/IAB research explored how 3,000 consumers in the UK, Germany and France, use YouTube and Facebook. It analysed sentiment  about branded content and advertising on these platforms, and asked questions which illuminate the motivations for visiting these platforms.

The answers to these start to offer some hints towards the current gap between liking – and buying from – a brand.

Not the real world

According to the research, 50% of “users cite both sites as a break from everyday life”. Behaviour is predominantly social, particularly on Facebook where keeping up with friends is a priority (66%) and site visitors have a more open agenda (63% “see what they feel like” when they get there). Similarly, on YouTube where “a cool video” is the prime reason for sharing a brands’ video, entertainment, rather than consumption, seem to be the dominant driver.

Could it be as simple as the fact that consumers’ heads aren’t necessarily in a purchasing frame of mind at this point?

And, if so, how do brands make this link?

Getting consumers

The IAB press release highlights the importance of understanding the different “customer mindsets” of each social media platform. YouTube,  for example, is often more associated with “entertainment” or “fun”, whilst consumers are more likely to visit a brand’s Facebook page than their YouTube channel if they want to “hear about or receive a special offer”.

Our ‘Social Shopping Explosion’ report explores what attracts consumers to follow brands on Twitter, and what encourages consumers to “like” a brand on Facebook. Discounts, for example, are far more effective in encouraging Facebook likes than Twitter followers -  and, as the IAB study also notes, when you add category into the mix, the picture changes again…

Step 1 is about understanding how to operate across social media platforms and how to get the message – and offer – right.

Step 2 is about encouraging the purchase once the consumer has started building a relationship with the brand.

Getting real

Whilst social networking sites may be a break from the routine of everyday life and linked to entertainment and fun, “1 in 2 users on each site think it’s a good idea for brands to have their own pages there”. There appears to be an openness to advertising.

Our research explores the changing landscape of recognition and recommendation, and considers some of the new routes to brand affinity and then advocacy, like ideas, inspiration, and reviews. This also highlights that the the opportunity to shift a site user from friend to customer is ready and waiting – but that brands might need to work a bit harder, particularly when brand loyalty is looking like a thing of the past.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

You may have noticed that we’ve been had a very retail focused week here!  As a leading social media agency we’re particularly interested in how social is changing the way we shop.

Given this focus, here’s our pick of the top three retail stories this week:

Retailers set for £85.2bn Christmas windfall – covered on Retail Gazette publicising figures from Verdict Research.  No surprises here that the figures point out that online sales are expected to rise 17.6 per cent to £8.1 billion, and this represents the largest share of growth of any sector.  Maureen Hinton, lead retail analyst at Verdict, interestingly points out that “retailers such as @johnlewisretail, Marks & Spencer and Next, that provide a range of multichannel options for buying, delivery and exchange are the winners at Christmas, as well as specialists with unique ranges such as The White Company.”  Nice to know we’re along the right our social shopping explosion report!

Asos launches mobile site – opening up another route to purchase for the UK’s biggest online fashion retailer this site will work across BlackBerry, Symbian, Android and iPhone operating systems, offering the full range and features of the retailer’s transactional website, such as its ’save for later’ function.  A timely launch in the run up to Christmas.

Weekly Facebook fashion index: most popular retail brands of the moment – a list of the most popular retail brands on Facebook.  Victoria’s Secrets, Zara and H&M are top three.  We will be revealing more data regarding specific brands, from our research, so it will be interesting to compare and relate such an index to our findings.

Following on from the final story, we also spotted some interesting research from DDB on www.adweek.com.  The most interesting points we took from this were:

• Over 90 per cent of Facebook users that have chosen to follow brands can be considered genuine advocates
• 92 per cent of this audience would either “certainly” or “probably” recommend companies and products they “like” on Facebook to their friends
• Fans want to feel more like a VIP who can access exclusive content and information about new products and special offers before the general public can
• 39 per cent of DDB’s interviewees said fan pages could be improved through supplying advance information and previews

Next week, we’ll be writing another post looking specifically at some of the sector findings of the research and providing some top tips on how to engage Twitter and Facebook followers.

In case you’re new to the immediate future blog, we released a major piece of research this week exploring the motivations and mindsets of consumers online (you can get a flavour for some of our findings in previous posts, Should we reward customers for social media recommendations and our introductory post, The Social Shopping Explosion).

You can download the report by visiting http://bit.ly/Social-Shopping

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The Explosion in Social Shopping

Developing brand loyalty and encouraging repeat sales is a challenge for online retailers, particularly in an increasingly competitive and crowded marketplace. With the ability to move between retailers at the click of a mouse and with a multitude of comparison sites for the savvy shopper, encouraging brand loyalty can feel like an uphill battle.

But social is providing a new route.

Reviews, recommendations and recognition

Our research, The Social Shopping Explosion, demonstrates that product reviews are on the up. 53% of respondents had reviewed a product or service in the past six month.

We also demonstrated that the review is rapidly catching up with both search and word of mouth in terms of influencing purchasing decision.

Consumers are increasingly writing reviews – and they are increasingly making purchases based on recommendations.

But it’s not quite clear where the retailers fit in.

The ethics of recognising customer recommendation

Recognising customer contribution is often approached with caution. There are whisperings of bribery or manipulation or undermining review authenticity. And as a social media agency, with our own reputation to manage, we tend towards caution.

However, only 3% of consumers would think negatively about a brand that recognised customer contribution.

53% would think more positively.

It’s a win-win situation. And the preferred form of recognition is not a discounted price.

The impact on brand perception if consumers are given incentives for recommendations

Recognising your customer with a bit of retail love

83% of survey respondents would like a combination of transactional and experiential recognitions; and there is a marked trend towards exclusive offers and developing a closer relationship with the brand. The preferred forms of recognition, including “exclusive insight about the retailer” and “the ability to interact and talk to real people at the company” demonstrate a growing appetite for brand advocacy; and present a compelling opportunity for e-retailers to extend their relationship with customers beyond the point of sale.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Today we are launching our report on social shopping and its impact on consumer behaviour.

Online retail has traditionally been characterised by price-driven sales and purchase-driven consumers. The focus, for retailers, has been on engaging the latter and maximising the former.

And as a social media agency, we are seeing how social connections are changing this behaviour.

Social relationships on the web have transformed how shoppers are behaving online and dramatically changed the online customer journey. It’s an exciting time for retailers and The Social Shopping Explosion report highlights some of the new opportunities that social retail affords.

Research shows new social behavioural trends

With the rapid growth of social networks and the socialising of the internet, the question of where social media and e-commerce meet  – and how  –  is of huge relevance for retailers today. Particularly in the UK, where internet users continue to lead the way in purchasing online.

In August 2010, social media agency immediate future conducted an independent survey of 2,000 UK internet users to understand how consumers are behaving online.

The results are surprising; the implications for retailers, huge.

Changing the path to purchase

The social web has opened up the purchase cycle. It’s made it easier for consumers to talk online and easier for consumers to share opinions, information and advice. This means that purchase decisions are based on different criteria: the social shopper is increasingly buying on review, recommendation and the advice of other consumers.

Our research found that 46% of consumers are no longer searching purely on price.

This means that retailers can now engage with consumers before they’ve decided what they’re going to buy.

The empowered social shopper

The social shopper is empowered, vocal and increasingly collaborative. They are savvy, knowledgeable, demanding and the rules of engagement are different.

Broadcasting no longer works: brands and customers are talking; and, in the online space, it’s what other consumers say that really counts.

Our research found that 37% of respondents had reviewed or talked about a product online after purchase, fast catching up with those who had discussed it face to face (38.4%). Word of mouth is nothing new. What’s different is where it’s taking place.

Social spaces have created wider networks and, as such, have created a much bigger opportunity for retailers. Our research has found that consumers trust other consumers, even if they are people that they don’t know. This means that every consumer can now drive traffic and purchases via social.

The Social Shopping landscape is in growth

Recent reports from the IMRG/BPS Internet Access and Online Shopping in Britain report shows that online shopping continues to increase. It also finds that the number of internet users visiting social networking and blogging sites for the second quarter in 2010 has increased fourfold when compared to the same period in 2008.

Understanding this changing landscape is key to retailers; and understanding the social shopper is at the heart of their future success.

Exploring the types of shopping behaviour online and investigating how social touchpoints are affecting the customer journey, The Social Shopping Explosion provides up to the minute insights for brands operating in this new social marketplace.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites