Marketing and Social Commerce

Consumer behavior is something you want to keep on top of as a business owner and technologies are having an impact here. One of my partners and founder of The Health Club for Women, Herb Lipsman. sent a note yesterday asking "Bryan have you heard about Groupons?" He was meeting with the Faust Group during the week and was curious to discuss the trend. I appreciate Herb's curiosity and his many contributions to the fitness industry.

He asked a good question and was touching on something that I've been researching and speaking about - particularly in the fitness industry. The "commerce of social media". Brian Solis recently touched on it as well in his article: The Rise of Social Commerce. As a big fan of Brian's - I want to thank him. The post it was more great content. Here is an excerpt:

500 million Facebook denizens are plotting their social graphs.

145 million Twitter users Tweet and ReTweet.

3 million people are checking-in on FourSquare.

Brands are flocking to social networks, some with strategies and others simply experimenting with community building. What’s clear is that the 3F’s (friends, fans, and followers) are not created equal. Those brands who examine the composition of their existing community will find that many are simply seeking access to exclusive specials and content.

According to a recent comScore report, 23% of Twitter users follow businesses to find special deals, promotions, or sales. 14% of Twitter users reported taking to the stream to find and share product reviews and opinions.  Earlier this year, Chadwick Martin Bailey published a study that showed 25% of consumers connected to brands on Facebook did so to receive discounts. But here’s where things get interesting, in the same report, comScore found that Facebook and Twitter visitors spend 1.5x more online than average Internet users. Herein lies the opportunity for brands looking to add yet another “C” to the many C’s of Community – commerce.

So how do you embrace Social Commerce to help achieve success given what Brian Solis observed ? Check out Groupon's video below and watch Brian Solis's terriffic video below with Phil Kaplan to learn more. In the interim - contact me, Bryan O'Rourke, and let me know what you think and if you'd like to discuss integrating social media into your strategic planning or marketing execution.