Getting Consumers to “Like” and Buy Your Products
Social Media & E-commerce
INTRODUCTION
With the advent of social media, many of today’s leading brands have been quick to develop a more accessible and personal brand image using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest. But how are they portrayed on their actual websites? A recent Accenture study1 showed
that consumers who visit a brand’s website before going into a retail location spend 53% more than those who don’t visit the website. This not only stresses the importance of a brand’s website, but it reinforces that owned, earned and paid channels must complement one another to create a consistent user experience. To expand that into social media, ClearSaleing2 found that “when
consumers were exposed to social media in addition to other online ad formats or marketing channels, the average revenue per order for US advertisers was…more than double the order size compared to the average of all digital channels.”
HOW TO EVALUATE YOUR SITE
So, if social media affects purchasing decisions, why not incorporate it into your site? Zócalo Group developed an easy, four-step process to evaluate how to incorporate social activities into your shopping experience. The Social Media Evaluation Model provides a helpful approach to analyze any social media or user generated content on the basis of four key elements:
Amplification is any activity where a user pushes or shares content from within your site to another website or social channel.
EXAMPLE: Shares on Facebook or Twitter
Engagement is any activity where a user provides input, action, or content within your site.
EXAMPLE: User reviews
Personalization is any method by which content is customized for the individual user experience, based upon social data like profile descriptions, “Likes,” etc.
EXAMPLE: User-selected website content
Aggregation is any method by which content from your brand’s social channels is re-purposed onto your main web property.
EXAMPLE: Twitter stream
1
Accenture, Are Your CPG Brands Maximizing the Return on Your Digital Investment?,
http://www.accenture.com/us-en/Pages/insight-cpg-brands-maximizing-return-digital-investment.aspx 2
BEST-IN-CLASS EXAMPLES
When researching social commerce, many brands have adopted the use of social widgets to help integrate e-commerce and social media. We’ve found a few best-in-class examples to show how to build additional engagement into a brand’s website, based around the four elements described above.
ZAPPOS – AGGREGATON
Known for its social media prowess, Zappos has built a “Tweet Wall” to allow its consumers to highlight actual and potential purchases via Twitter. These tweets are then aggregated on the brand’s main website, highlighting the breadth and popularity of its product lines.
LEVI’S – ENGAGEMENT
Levi’shas incorporated Facebook into two pivotal sections of its purchasing experience – within the “Friends Store” and with each of its products. Users’ collective “Likes” are gathered within the Friends Store to show users which products are most popular within the site and then, on each page for single pieces of apparel. Levi’s encourages users to like the item on Facebook and share with their friends.
ETSY – PERSONALIZATION
After allowing this merchant of handmade items to connect to a user’s Facebook account, Etsy can select gift ideas for a user’s Facebook friends based on the preferences they list on their own Facebook profile. Building a social
shopping experience within a brand’s site would allow customers to view what their friends and peers have previously
purchased, thereby educating themselves on what might be best to buy.
ZAPPOS – AMPLIFICATION
Zappos incorporates Facebook, Twitter, email and Pinterest with each of the products it sells. Consumers are encouraged to share their purchases with their social networks, and can easily do so with how the brand has
seamlessly tied these channels together.
SUMMARY
Brands are already beginning to make the transition to a more social web presence. Brands like Zappo’s, Levi’s and Etsy show how simple it can be to truly make an impact on a consumer’s site experience. The integration of social media into brand websites will be a steady process as social media’s footprint continues to grow. To help improve your own site’s performance from a social commerce perspective, here are a few best practices to follow:
• Make the website experience flow – in the same way that we all hate pop-ups, no user wants
to be annoyed by the constant reminder that social media widgets exist on your site. As seen in the examples above, leave the option to share user activity with their social networks (and encourage this behavior), but don’t make it mandatory or intrusive.
• Messaging and engagement are equally as important – incorporating social media into your website doesn’t negate the need for interesting and relevant brand messaging and
information. Consumers still want to glean the same knowledge about your products, while potentially sharing with their networks.
• Start small and test – as with any social strategy, knowing your audience is the key piece of knowledge for adding social widgets to your site. Keep user data and testing in mind and make sure to evaluate your consumers’ site interactions on a regular schedule. Analyze your audience to see what they might be the most receptive to, and therefore most active with, in terms of social interaction.
How are you or your brand using social commerce to drive successful engagement and sales? Share your comments and suggestions on the Zócalo Group blog (zocalogroup.com/blog).
Contact Zócalo Group
200 East Randolph Street, 42nd floor, Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 596-6300
www.zocalogroup.com
Zócalo Blog: zocalogroup.com/blog Twitter: @zocalogroup
About Zócalo Group
Zócalo Group is a full-service word-of-mouth and social media marketing agency, helping leading consumer and business-to-business brands become the most talked-about and recommended brands in their category. Zócalo Group is a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) and Ketchum.
