USA Today on Social Commerce | Social Commerce Today

You know something has gone mainstream when USA Today covers it...

How brands have been regulating amicable networking to reach customers. Focus is some-more inclusive than amicable custom (fusing e-commerce with amicable media), covering pick areas of amicable media selling too. Summarised as well as archived next for your delight as well as delectation.

Top Takeouts

• Brands such as Ford, Levi Strauss as well as Chevron have been increasingly reengineering selling operations to welcome digital collection to some-more nimbly code products, await commercial operation as well as money in upon the social-media wave
• Brands have been regulating amicable networking platforms to do four things, supplement commercial operation quickly, do word of mouth marketing, enhance patron service, as well as verbalise without delay with customers
• Social networking is the modern-day chronicle of needlework to kill downtime (Kaitlin Villanova, social-media strategist)
• Brands which dont know how to get their arms around amicable media selling appear to be hold back by worrying about the authorised implications of commercial operation helping customers, as well as about being as well honest with customers

Top Facts

• Three-fourths of group ages eighteen to 34 contend they outlay many of their time in front of the computer shade vs. 18% in front of the TV screen, according to the consult of 50,000 by AskMen.com, the lifestyle website. Those who dont have the social-media devise dont during their own risk, contend selling experts.
• 53% of some-more than 300 marketers programmed to increase social-media selling spending this year, according to the Forrester display in April.
• Nine in 10 consumers trust their peers some-more than marketers, according to the code brand brand new consult of 25,000 by Nielsen.
• The share of Americans eighteen as well as over online who make make make use of of of the social-networking make make use of of some-more than quadrupled to 35% in 2008 from 8% in 2005, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project.
• Facebook is up to 250 million members, 50 million of whom assimilated in the past 3 months. In April, they outlayed 13.9 billion mins upon Facebook, up 700% from Apr 2008, says Nielsen NetView.About 30 million Facebook members access it by mobile devices
• Twitter users outlayed scarcely 300 million mins upon the site in April, 3,712% some-more than in Apr 2008, Nielsen says.Twitter users outlay 66% some-more dollars upon the Internet than non-Twitter users, says marketplace researcher ComScore.
• More than 10,000 websites make make make use of of of Facebook Connect, the make make use of of which lets Facebook users log in to affiliated sites regulating their Facebook account as well as share inform from those sites with their Facebook friends.
• LinkedIn has some-more than 365,000 association profiles. More than twelve million small-business professionals have been members of LinkedIn.
• As smartphones such as iPhone as well as BlackBerry take off, some-more people have been updating their Facebook as well as Twitter profiles while upon the move.Smartphone shipments have been approaching to surge to 164 million this year, up 13% from 2008, says marketplace researcher Forward Concepts.The mobile social-networking industry is approaching to turn the $3.3 billion marketplace worldwide by 2013, ABI Research predicts.

Top Cases

• Adding commercial operation quickly: When program builder Intuit built the site for tiny businesses in late January, it integrated elements of Facebook, Twitter as well as LinkedIn, the amicable network for commercial operation professionals. After twelve weeks, it generated some-more than 1 million visits as well as helped spike QuickBooks section shipments 57% in June, year-over-year.
• Adding commercial operation quickly: National pizza sequence Papa Johns added 148,000 fans upon Nov. seventeen by the riotous selling debate upon Facebook. It offering the giveaway middle pizza to any one who sealed up to be the air blower upon Facebook. The promotion gained it thousands of commercial operation as well as drove the Web trade up 253%. It right away has some-more than 300,000 fans as well as hopes to tip 1 million by the finish of the year.
• Doing Word of Mouth Marketing: To await launch of code brand brand new Fiesta, Scott Monty head of amicable media during Ford loaned Fiestas to 100 tip bloggers for 6 months only requirement, upload video to YouTube about the automobile once the month, blog, twitter as well as news feed it by Facebook.
• Doing Word of Mouth Marketing:Best Buy as well as MyFICO, consumer credit-risk measure site have built specialized online communities where their commercial operation freely weigh products as well as services as well as disciple those they like
• Enhancing Customer Service:Comcast has pioneered the make make make use of of of of Twitter to speak without delay to customers. Its Twitter page, @comcastcares, has 28,000 followers. Also cuts investigate costs giveaway online pick to traditional focus groups which can cost$10,000 to $15,000
• Talking Directly with Customers: The Carphone Warehouse, Europes heading eccentric tradesman of mobile phones as well as services, has the elementary credo: It says, Im sorry when compulsory upon the Twitter page for patron support.
• Talking Directly with Customers: UpMoThere is no opening in between the CEO as well as customer. They right away speak without delay to any other, says Promise Phelon, CEO of UpMo, the career-management website. The network is so connected, theres no need for the middleman.

More marketers make make make use of of of amicable networking to reach customers

By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
Archived from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-08-27-social-networks-marketers_N.htm

SAN FRANCISCO Ford Motor has high hopes for Fiesta, the popular indication abroad launching in the U.S. next year.

So how does it deliver the subcompact automobile to Americans? A massive ad blitz upon TV? In-house promotions during dealers nationwide?

Nope.

In April, Ford tapped 100 tip bloggers as well as gave them the Fiesta for 6 months. The catch: Once the month, theyre compulsory to upload the video upon YouTube about the car, as well as theyre encouraged to speak no binds barred about the Fiesta upon their blogs, Facebook as well as Twitter.

Its extremely important to this companys history, says Scott Monty, whose pursuit as head of amicable media during Ford was created about the year ago to take value of the flourishing social-networking wave. Its about enlightenment change as well as adapting to this ongoing approach of communicating. The bloggers have been fully giveaway to contend what they want.

Social-media services, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube as well as large pick websites, have had the profound effect upon how millions of Americans generally those under 35 correlate with others (or dont), emporium as well as perspective brands. Its the real-time digital lifestyle, powered by smartphones as well as netbooks, which often colors what products they purchase, how they perspective brands as well as where they outlay many of their waking hours.

Marketers have noticed. Social-networking services increasingly have been essential commercial operation tools, says Forrester Research. According to the consult of 1,217 commercial operation decision makers worldwide late final year, 95% make make make use of of of amicable networks to the little extent.

And 53% of some-more than 300 marketers programmed to increase social-media selling spending this year, according to the Forrester display in April.

Some of the biggest companies Ford, Levi Strauss as well as Chevron, to name the few have been reengineering selling operations to welcome digital collection to some-more nimbly code products, await commercial operation as well as money in upon the social-media wave. In doing so, they have been creating online communities as well as aggressive outreach programs, as well as being brutally honest in articulate without delay to their customers/followers/fans/friends.

It was an easy call. This is where the commercial operation are, says Megan OConnor, executive of digital selling during Levis. The more-than-150-year-old association final month launched the social-media program upon Facebook as well as Twitter along with the incomparable Go Forth traditional selling campaign. Its goal is to burnish the code name among immature men.

Grown up digital

At their core, amicable networks have been fostering the peppery number of personal connectors as well as gibberish online. The share of Americans eighteen as well as over online who make make make use of of of the social-networking make make use of of some-more than quadrupled to 35% in 2008 from 8% in 2005, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Its the modern-day chronicle of needlework to kill downtime, says Kaitlin Villanova, 26, the social-media strategist in Brooklyn who is an avid iPhone user. I make make make use of of of amicable networking to communicate, bank, comparison shop, everything.

Facebook is up to 250 million members, 50 million of whom assimilated in the past 3 months. In April, they outlayed 13.9 billion mins upon Facebook, up 700% from Apr 2008, says Nielsen NetView.

More than 300,000 businesses one-third of them tiny businesses have the participation upon Facebook. Members of the fastest-growing demographic those 35 as well as older have enormous purchasing power, the powerful incentive to marketers.

Twitter has about 40 million users who any day furnish the towering volume of tweets, Twitters old-fashioned word to describe reduced messages. Its users outlayed scarcely 300 million mins upon the site in April, 3,712% some-more than in Apr 2008, Nielsen says.

Increasingly, consumers dont search for products as well as services. Rather, services come to their courtesy around amicable media, says Erik Qualman, writer of Socialnomics, the code brand brand new book which explains how amicable media have changed how companies do business.

Social-networking-savvy businesses have appointed social-media directors to help:

• Add commercial operation quickly. When program builder Intuit built the site for tiny businesses in late January, it integrated elements of Facebook, Twitter as well as LinkedIn, the amicable network for commercial operation professionals. After twelve weeks, it generated some-more than 1 million visits as well as helped spike QuickBooks section shipments 57% in June, year-over-year.

Social (media) is one of the key trends driving the business, says Kira Wampler, social-media selling personality during Intuit. Its some-more than pure marketing. Its about fast connectors with commercial operation as well as office building an ongoing relationship.

National pizza sequence Papa Johns added 148,000 fans upon Nov. seventeen by the riotous selling debate upon Facebook. It offering the giveaway middle pizza to any one who sealed up to be the air blower upon Facebook. The promotion gained it thousands of commercial operation as well as drove the Web trade up 253%. It right away has some-more than 300,000 fans as well as hopes to tip 1 million by the finish of the year.

• Word-of-mouth marketing. Sometimes the companys many appropriate advocates have been the customers. Just ask Best Buy as well as MyFICO, the consumer multiplication of Fair Isaac, which invented the FICO credit-risk measure used by lenders. Theyve built specialized online communities where their commercial operation freely weigh products as well as services.

Those who visit MyFICOs community website have been spending 41% some-more than pick customers, says Lyle Fong, CEO of program Lithium, which helps build online communities for some-more than 150 companies, including MyFICO.

Nine in 10 consumers trust their peers some-more than marketers, according to the code brand brand new consult of 25,000 by Nielsen.

The Federal Trade Commission is in the routine of amending discipline which would require bloggers to disclose their relationships with marketers whose products they endorse, says Mary Engle, join forces with executive of promotion practices for the FTC.

• Enhance patron service. For some-more than the year, Comcast has pioneered the make make make use of of of of Twitter to speak without delay to customers. Its Twitter page, @comcastcares, has 28,000 followers.

Comcasts blueprint for unobstructed patron await no some-more waiting upon hold upon the phone fomented the movement. Software builder Sage North America, to bring an additional example, routinely receives present feedback from hundreds of people inside of an hour upon specific products as well as services. It is the living, breathing, 24/7 consider tank of users as well as employees, says Ryan Zuk, the association spokesman.

Besides being instant, such feedback is cheap. Typically, companies have relied upon third-party focus groups which let them comply the reactions of commercial operation during the two-hour session which can cost $10,000 to $15,000, says Natalie L. Petouhoff, an analyst during Forrester Research.

Lenovo has seen the 20% reduction in call-center activity in the U.S. over 6 months because scarcely 50,000 commercial operation go to the community website for inform about laptops.

• Speak without delay to customers. Blogs, Twitter or Facebook can be an preferred forum for CEOs to offer commercial operation the vehement viewpoint.

When the penetrate attack infirm Twitters make make use of of for hours this month, co-founder Biz Stone gave up-to-the-minute updates upon the companys blog.

The Carphone Warehouse, Europes heading eccentric tradesman of mobile phones as well as services, has the elementary credo: It says, Im sorry when compulsory upon the Twitter page for patron support.

There is no opening in between the CEO as well as customer. They right away speak without delay to any other, says Promise Phelon, CEO of UpMo, the career-management website. The network is so connected, theres no need for the middleman.

These commercial operation wish honesty, as well as quickly, says Shiv Singh, who wrote the inform upon social-media selling for ad group Razorfish.

Challenges ahead

But with rewards come risks.

Reaching out to millions of consumers who thrive online around the time requires an investment, the opposite sort of thinking as well as the little courage, says Petouhoff. She outlayed 6 months upon the just-released inform upon monetization of social-media collection during 20 companies, including Lenovo as well as Intuit.

Many companies reflecting the general publics sentiment toward amicable media fall into two camps: Those who welcome it as well as those who eschew it. Those which dont know how to get their arms around it appear to be hold back by worrying about the authorised implications of commercial operation helping customers, as well as about being as well honest with customers, Petouhoff says.

Most corporations have been still married to the traditional selling approach, based upon TV, air wave as well as print ads, says Charlene Li, partner during record consulting firm Altimeter Group. Ford as well as Levis have been during the fashionable of social-media use, though they have been not typical, she says.

A social-media devise is frequency the guarantee of success, Li as well as others say. While the little companies generally marketplace leaders such as Starbucks as well as Nike with consumer products have been predisposed to the medium, others arent. Tightly regulated health caring providers, for example, may consider twice about creation the publics comments straightforwardly available upon Facebook or Twitter.

Social media is not the messiah, says Michael Brito, social-media strategist during Intel. It is one of multiform tools.

Still, the flourishing number of marketers cant means to omit millions of potential commercial operation who have been consuming media in code brand brand new ways.

Three-fourths of group ages eighteen to 34 contend they outlay many of their time in front of the computer shade vs. 18% in front of the TV screen, according to the consult of 50,000 by AskMen.com, the lifestyle website. Those who dont have the social-media devise dont during their own risk, contend selling experts.

Companies have no choice. This is where their commercial operation have been going, says Shel Israel, writer of the forthcoming Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods. Companies have no choice. This is where their commercial operation have been going.

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