First Social Media, Now Social Commerce!
So not so long ago we were told the new inbox would shift to social media, and it did as sites such as Facebook, quickly became one of the most visited sites. We were then told that the news would soon start to find us, and again it did. I remember finding out the news of Michael Jackson’s death via Twitter!). So whats next? Which trends or areas can we expect will see growth over the comings months/year?
We’ll I’ll stick my next out and say that one of the areas I’m tipping to see exponential growth next is Social-commerce.
We’ll no longer have to search for products and services, they’ll soon start to find us! We know ‘word of mouth’ is one of the most powerful tools in a marketers armoury, and the technology is now in place for customers to see what their friends, colleagues and wider networks have purchased, found relevant, liked or commented on.
Superdry, Superbrand!
I was recently contacted by the Head of Ecommerce for leading clothing retailer Superdry and asked to carry out an appraisal on their website and propose a digital marketing strategy for the super-cool brand.
Now, it’s not everyday you are contacted directly by such a well known fashion brand, let alone one which is currently going from strength to strength. The company recently floated with a value of £395m and have posted sales of £139m with profits up 83% on the year before. Not bad ehy for a company who has only been around for 7 years! However, there digital presence could be working much harder for them.
The Marketing Mantra 2.0
The Marketers job has changed from creating and pushing hard-sell messages to one that is now fundamentally about listening, engaging and reacting to existing and potentially new customer needs.
The Old Mantra
- Push messaging , good marketer’s can sell anything
- We know what’s right for the customers
- Products and messaging developed in house & pushed to customers
- Brand guidelines and key message critical
The New Mantra
- It’s critical to listen and respond to customer needs
- The product/service is paramount
- We may not know what is exactly right for the customer, but we will engage in dialogue with them and fine tune our offering
- Customers can often market the products better than we can, utilising one of their ideas or influence is beneficial to everyone
Buzz TV – Chat Roulette Killer
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Social Media Isn’t a Fad….
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A Social Media Framework for Engagement
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Build Your Own Free Social Media Monitoring Tool!
With costs for social media monitoring and measurement tools ranging from £1,000 p/month to £½ million a year… you could be forgiven for thinking isn’t there an alternative way?
