The 6 Habits of Highly Effective E-commerce Site Owners

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Thanh

There are six traits all successful e-commerce site owner have. Over the years, I’ve met many of them at conferences and through friends. After countless conversations, dinners and phone calls, I could see that all of them were very similar in their way of thinking, how they managed their business and their approach to growing their online store.

I’ve identified all the commonalities and I boiled them down into six (not seven!) habits. Let’s start with the first one.

1. They are passionate about the customer experience.

The most successful e-commerce websites deliver the best customer experience and their owners are really passionate about this. Unlike brick-and-mortar business owners, e-commerce store owners cannot directly interact with their customers. They can’t directly guide and assist you along the way as you’re shopping. At least, not physically.

That’s where e-commerce site owners differ from traditional business owners. They have to focus on delivering the best customer service experience possible through their website and other online channels. In other words, the quality and passion has to shine through in every part of the shopping experience. This means having:

a beautiful and user-friendly website
an easy and secure checkout system
a return policy with no hassle
useful follow-up emails that people want to read
responsive customer service emails and calls
and much more…

When you can’t showcase your passion face-to-face, showcase it in every aspect of your online business so your customers do notice. Every successful e-commerce store owner does this and they want to share that passion not only through their online store, but also through their stories that they tell. Which brings me to the next habit.

2. They are storytellers.

People love reading and listening to stories. When you are passionate about your business and delivering the best customer experience, you will naturally share stories about it that people can relate to.

There are many ways e-commerce site owners can share their stories. While they can’t do it directly face-to-face, video is one the best mediums for delivering stories and for people to relate to your brand. Think of ways how can you use videos on your e-commerce website. In a traditional retail store, you have people who can answer all your questions and give you more insight into a particular product. Well, you can deliver almost the same experience by using videos. Here are some ideas:

As the founder, share how and why you started your business and how you want to help others
Talk about your product, how it will benefit the customer and put this on the product page
Have a video version that will address all commonly asked questions (think of it as a “FAQ video”)
Product educational videos that teach customers how to get more value out of your products and show them ways to use your product.

As an example, for software it’s very common to have screencasts that show exactly how you can use a particular function of the program. If you’re selling physical goods then that doesn’t work but the same idea still applies. Let’s say you sell blenders. You can produce videos that show customers how to make certain smoothies using your blender. Or, in a funny and extreme case, you can showoff how powerful they are by blending electronics like Blendtec did with its videos on “Will it blend?”.

Not only will videos help your business, it will also build your brand that people can relate to. The most successful e-commerce stores have a brand and people buy from brands they like. How do you get people to like your brand? By you sharing your stories.

It doesn’t have to be just over videos. You can start a blog, write fantastic newsletters, release a book, talk at conferences or even have a podcast. The main purpose of storytelling around your online business is that you want to build an emotional connection with your prospects and customers. That’s how you get people to buy from you without any price barriers and loyal customers that will buy from you many times over.

Look at Zappos. Aside from their great customer service and products, they have built their online business using storytelling. They released a book that shows how the company works. They give free tours around the office. They are transparent in all their communication. They have shared their stories countless times and many people have fallen in love with their brand.

Building a brand takes time and effort. Start today and share your stories. Communicate how you want to help them. Express your values to your prospects and customers. Let them fall in love with your brand and they will buy from you. Again, and again, and again.

3. They are obsessed with metrics.

You might have heard of the old adage “if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” This especially applies to e-commerce stores.

Every effective webmaster knows this. In order to grow your online business, you have to know your metrics. These are key indicators of how healthy your business is and they give you the foundation to grow.

While there are many metrics you can track, here are some you want to be aware of:

Cost per acquisition
Average daily / monthly sales
Average order value
Conversation rate
Refund rate
Shopping cart abandonment rate
Average number of visit before purchase
Customer lifetime value
Repeat purchase rate
Revenue per visit

How do you know what success looks like when you don’t know your numbers? If you made $12,943 in revenue this month, is that a success or a failure? What about if your revenue per visit went up $0.01? Is that a success or failure?

When you don’t know your metrics, you simply can’t grow your business in a competent way and enjoy its success.

When you know your numbers, you can also make better decisions. The great thing about online business today is that it’s very easy to gather all the numbers you need before you make a final decision.

A common example is deciding whether you should up-sell customers before or after their purchase. You can guess which approach is better, but you’ll never know for certain if you’re making the right decision.

You’re making a leap of faith that could be costly and you will miss out on potentially doubling or even tripling your profit.

It’s totally unnecessary. It’s better to test this assumption on a small scale and let the numbers drive your decision.

4. They are experimenters.

Every successful e-commerce website owner is always testing different parts of their website to improve conversions and to generate more sales.

Once you get into the habit of testing ideas and assumptions, this will become a lifelong process in your business. There are many things you can test, but here are some suggestions that can affect your bottom line right away:

Category and Product page templates – try different templates and see which converts the best.
Checkout page template – same idea as mentioned above.
Up-selling before or after purchase – could triple your profit if you find out the right sequence and products.
Prices of your most popular products – test a wide range of prices to see which brings the most profit.
Testimonials – where to put them and which to include.
Social sharing buttons – some products benefit from this, others don’t.

There are a lot of experiments you can run with an e-commerce store, but the list above is a good starting point. If you are new to split testing, I suggest you look into tools such as Google Analytics Experiments, Visual Website Optimizer or Optimizely. They are very easy to use and one of the best tools available today.

Get in the habit of experimenting and your bank account will love you for it.

5. They proactively seek feedback from their customers.

The best way to find out what’s successful about your online business and what’s not working is by talking to your customers. Talk to the ones who spent their hard earned money on one of your products. They are the people who will give you the best feedback because they want you to succeed. After all, they trusted you with their money.

Calling them is more effective than sending them an email. It’s more personal and you can build a connection with your customers. Don’t know what to ask them? Simply think of questions of how you can improve your business. But if you need some suggestions, here you go:

What is one thing we can do better?
Are you happy with your purchase? Is there anything we can do to make you even happier?
How did you find out about us?
How was your experience shopping on our website? Is there anything that stood out positively or negatively?
What made you ultimately decide to buy from us?
What is the one thing we should never stop doing?

Get social with your customers. They are the best people to talk to and to spend time with. The more you do it, the more you will improve your online business in the shortest amount of time.

6. They are obsessed about making customer’s lives better.

Your customers are the lifeblood of your business and you want to treat them the best you can. From analyzing many e-commerce websites, I’ve noticed that the top ones are always giving; they add value to peoples’ lives whenever they can and profit from that.

Think win-win. How can you improve your customers’ lives? Think of ways to make them happier. How you can make them a better people?

Here are some actions you can take to inspire your customers and add value to their lives:

Write a killer newsletter for free that they will want to read every time.
Show them different products and accessories that complement their recent purchase (up-selling) and show them how it improves their lives.
Send follow up emails on how they can use your products more effectively and how they can get the most out of it. You get bonus points if you use videos.
Give them a call and suggest different products that they might enjoy based on their past purchases (cross-selling).
As a sign of appreciation, only give existing customers a discount for a future purchase.

Start adding value to existing customers and I have no doubt that you and your online store will succeed.

Time for Action

There you have it. The seven habits of highly effective e-commerce site owners. Now it’s your turn to incorporate these into your life that will help you grow your online business.

Let us know in the comments below how you are going to do it!

Images credit: JD Hancock, Ansik and Makelessnoise.

5 Ways to Establish Your Own Brand as an E-commerce Retailer

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Alvinl

Internet retail continues to up the competition factor among similar brands. Department stores like Belk and Macy’s compete with a range of retailers, from Walmart to Nordstrom to each other. Shoppers visit their local electronics store to browse and then turn to their smartphones to compare prices on sites like Amazon and eBay. An increase in competition is forcing both E-commerce and brick-and-mortar retailers to quickly adapt to the ever-changing landscape — as it changes, they must find a way to differentiate themselves.

As an Internet retailer, one of the best ways to stand out among the competition is to establish your own unique brand. This can be especially tricky if you retail other brands, as most consumers will comparison shop and make a final decision that’s largely based on price. If you’re not competitively priced, then you better have something truly different to offer that keeps them from “bouncing” away to find what they need somewhere else. That difference is defined in your brand. Here are 5 ways to establish your brand as an E-commerce retailer.

Engage.

Engaging your customers is key in a competitive landscape. The easiest way to engage people these days is through social media. We will just go ahead and assume that your brand has a Facebook page (but if you don’t, then stop reading now and go create one!) Over-promotion is one of the biggest mistakes I see among brands on social networks today. Don’t talk about yourself too much. Yes, it’s okay to promote special offers and deals as they occur, but true social engagement is about relationship building.

Talk to your fans and followers. Ask them questions that encourage responses. The more specific you get, the better. According to an article on Mashable.com, questions, famous quotes, photos and tips are all types of posts that tend to get more responses/likes/comments. Here are some other examples of posts may that elicit responses from followers:

“Like / Share this post if…”

“What’s your favorite…?”

“Fill in the blank: _____…”

Try this strategy for a few months and you’ll probably see more customer engagement than you’ve seen previously.

Some brands are finding other creative ways to engage customers outside the social networking space. Threadless has an engaging experience built right into its brand. Everything the site sells is made by ordinary people. Artists submit designs to one of the company’s design challenges. The community then gets to rate and critique the submissions for inclusion in the Threadless store. The more votes a particular design receives, the more likely it is that you’ll see it on Threadless apparel, accessories or home goods for purchase.

Do Something Different.

TOMS Shoes did something different when they pioneered the “one-to-one” charity concept. This concept is built right into the essence of their brand. For every pair of shoes you purchase on the TOMS Shoes website, the company donates another pair to a child in need. This idea was so unique that many other brands have since decided to jump on board. (In fact, Skechers created a carbon copy of the concept in their BOBS shoe brand!)

Warby Parker embraced the one-to-one concept with eyeglasses. But they didn’t stop there. They went a step further to establish their brand in a unique way by giving consumers a new way to shop for eyewear. Realizing that most people would not feel comfortable buying glasses online, the company developed several different try-on systems that would enable customers to try before buying. The first is a virtual try-on software built into every product page that lets website visitors upload a picture of themselves and see what any pair of glasses will look like on their face. The customer can then choose to do a home try-on: Warby Parker will ship up to 5 pairs of glasses to them at no cost and allow them to try each pair for 5 days. They even include a pre-paid return shipping label so that you can send back the pairs you don’t like and keep the pairs you love. This creates an especially unique and reassuring experience for buyers who may be hesitant to shop for eyewear online.

Have A Unique Voice

Your voice is established largely in your copywriting. Develop a brand “persona” and keep that persona in mind when you communicate with your visitors.

One great place to do that is in your company product descriptions. Once you know your brand persona, write from that persona’s point of view. You can also approach it from an audience mindset. If your target market is mostly women in a certain demographic, write to that target market.

A great example of a company that uses creative copy to establish a unique brand voice and tell a story is The J. Peterman Company. Every one of their product descriptions tells an entertaining story that gives the product a history and unique personality. If you can relate to the story, then you’re more likely to buy the product.

Become an Authority.

Consumers need to be educated. They shop online, not just for competitive prices, but to find information about the goods they are buying. Integrate that information into your customer’s user experience. One of the easiest ways to do this is through a company blog. You can also create buying guides, or — as in the case of the men’s fashion retailer, Mr. Porter — a “stylepedia” of product terms.

Offer Something Exclusive.

According to an article in The New York Times, many retailers are choosing to carry exclusive lines to stand out. As a brick-and-mortar store, carrying exclusive brands puts you ahead of your competitors, especially for those brands you carry. As an E-commerce retailer, the offer becomes even more exclusive: “not only can you not buy this item in another store; because it is only sold online, you must shop our site to get it.” In addition to offering exclusive brands, you may choose to offer online-only coupons. This works especially well if you have brick-and-mortar locations, because it forces customers to shop your online inventory in order to get the deal.

Some online retailers also use an exclusive members-only shopping model. Sites like Gilt Groupe, Rue La La and Fab.com offer exceptional deals on luxury brands. The catch? You must first be a member to shop. Gilt Groupe even requires that to become a member, you must be invited by someone who is already a member, making the experience even more exclusive.

As we’ve demonstrated, there are several ways to make yourself stand out above the competition as an E-commerce retailer: engage, be different, have a unique voice, be an authority in your niche and offer something exclusive to online customers. The first step in all of this is to figure out who you are. Define your brand, and then decide what makes you different. Once you embrace those differences, come up with innovative ways to engage your customers by creating a truly unique online experience.

5 Organic Steps to the Only Facebook Fans Your Business Needs

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Joy

Facebook spokesman, Adam Isserlis, recently shared with Mashable that part of their security improvements would include eliminating many erroneous fans from Facebook fan pages. They named compromised accounts, malware and deceived users as their reason for pulling the plug on this highly utilized strategy for increasing Likes.

Even though the most reputable small business marketers or social media specialists avoid using techniques such as purchasing Likes for pages, the cleansing enacted by Facebook this past August can absolutely serve as a reminder of how vital organic fan aggregation really is.

Why Are Organic “Likes” So Important?

There are many valuable reasons behind keepin’ it real when it comes to Facebook fan aggregation.

Accurate Analytics – Facebook provides amazing data analysis and demographics information to anyone who owns a fan page. Adding fake likes to that mix does little more than render inaccurate the only information you need to continually improve upon and grow your business’s social network.
Interactivity is Key – The theory behind fake Likes on Facebook is sound. Page owners want to provide the appearance that others Like their product or service offerings, and show any new visitors they wouldn’t be alone in their Like, if granted. However, fake fans will not Like your content. They will not interact on your page. They will not enter your contests. Last and most important, they will never turn into conversions.
Possible Page Deletion – Though not many pages were deleted in the last update, that is no accurate prediction of how the next update may affect those who have utilized less than pristine fan aggregation techniques. If your page is deleted you will have virtually no recourse and the chances of having it restored is absolutely zero.

The Only Fans You Will Ever Need

Always think quality over quantity when it comes to Facebook fans. 100 interactive fans are better than 1,000 idle Likes.

1) Begin at Home

Once a page is up-and-running, shoot out invites to all of your family, friends and acquaintances on Facebook and other social networks you frequent. This is the one case in which it is okay to be a bit more assertive in your requests. You need a small base of fans before you head out into the fray to look for more. Even if you have a relatively small social network to begin with, 100 real Likes from your acquaintances is a super start to building an organic fan base.

Direct and Indirect Follower Aggregation

There are direct and indirect ways to aggregate fans using the fan page itself to get interactive with others. The indirect methods are much more favorable to a brand’s reputation than the direct manner, but both have their uses.

2) Direct Aggregation

Direct aggregation is directly promotional. Use the fan page account itself to go to relevant, non-competitive fan pages and groups and ask that users follow your page and help to build your fan base. This direct approach may get you an influx of followers if done on pages with a large amount of followers, however, it may also get your account banned from those sites, as well as frowned upon for being so self-promotional or lacking in social media etiquette.

Indirect Aggregation Methods

Indirect aggregation methods are much more user-friendly. Just your simple and respectful interactions on other pages will garner you the true Facebook fans you are in search of. Before posting on any page, as your fan page, read the about section or other guidelines to make sure there are no rules against pages posting or commenting. Then you can get started.

3) “Like” Like-Minded Pages with Your Fanpage

Etsy Seller – Bonsai Victor lets the Fanpage for a Bonsai tree selling site know his business collaborates with their products.

When you use your page to Like another, it shows up on your own page to show you are supportive. You can have up to 5 of these highlighted on your page at any given time. When you do Like a relevant page, post a message to their wall letting them know that you have. Be honest, and transparent, let them know exactly what it is about their page, products or services that you appreciate. As you can see from the example above, there is really no need to ask others to follow you

4) Participate on Relevant Pages

Here Bonsai Victor is participating on a thread on a like-minded website.

Showing yourself to be an expert on a topic relating to your products or services goes a long way in compelling Facebook users to Like your page. Do not just leave a comment and move along. Linger, reply to others and in general, interact with respect with other users.

5) Like Personal Comments

Bonsai Victor Likes comments from others on relevant websites.

Do not just willy nilly Like every comment in every thread you see on a page. This is likely to immediately or eventually be viewed as spam and bad practice. Instead, take the time to read through threads and Like the comments you agree with. Be prepared to explain why you did. Not only will this garner extra page Likes, but it will bring in like-minded Likes. What type could be better?

As working knowledge on Facebook fan page’s front and back end increases, fan page managers will find their own system and flow of fan aggregation that will return the most appropriate, valuable and organic Likes they desire.

Sources:

Social Media: 10 Ways To Increase Website Traffic

Posted on December 5, 2012 by chardee42

Are you looking for Internet traffic that will bring paying customers to your site? A quick search on Google will quickly show several sites that offer “free Internet traffic,” but what’s the catch? If these services are as great as they say, how do companies like Google still be in business selling clicks for more than a dollar each?

This article will teach you several methods for getting quality, targeted, traffic to your website.

1. Facebook

Who isn’t on Facebook these days? Facebook currently has over 1 billion active users and is considered by many Internet marketers to be their favorite traffic source. Succeeding in Facebook can be simple but it requires some time.

Since Facebook is all about “being social,” using it on a regular basis definitely helps. One way is to add links from all of your posts to your Facebook timeline. Use as much visual content as possible, as this will increase the likelihood of people viewing it. Have fun creating memes and use them to help build your brand!

2. LinkedIn

After you set up a great LinkedIn profile, start connecting with everyone you know. Help out your contacts with recommendations for the people you know professionally and add skills to their profiles. Many times, they will return the favor and add recommendations and skills to yours. Be active. Answer questions on LinkedIn forums and join groups where you can ask and answer questions. You can also share your LinkedIn profile with your peers off-line to help build your network.

When you meet people that might benefit from your website, ask to connect to them through LinkedIn. Sometimes people will connect using this method instead of e-mail as it seems less obtrusive than exchanging an e-mail address.

3. Google Plus

Google Plus can help give you social proof and improve your search engine rankings. Much like Facebook, you can engage with people and connect with them through circles. You should link out to your published content on your website. It can also be helpful to host huddles and hangouts.

If you’re using keyword terms, make sure you use your customer’s terminology. This will help you connect better to your customers.

4. YouTube

Video marketing can be a powerful tool in building traffic to your website. It can be a great way to create controversy and at the same time educate viewers. Make sure you include a call-to-action telling the customer what you want them to do. Have your URL in the video as well as in the annotations. Introduce your site as soon as possible in your video to help establish your brand. Create an interesting video description.

5. Pinterest

Pinterest is the fastest growing platform on the internet. The number of visitors has increased by an amazing 6% year after year. If you spend about half an hour 3-4 times per week adding pins and following other pinners, you get to grow a following. Pin your best articles from your website, but make sure they match popular topics on Pinterest. Take extra time to select interesting images as they will increase the likelihood that someone will share your post. Take some time to think of a great description for your pins.

6. Twitter

If you are not using Twitter to promote your site, you should start now. Twitter is a micro-blogging platform where every message can only be 140 characters long. It takes some practice, but with a little work you can create a Twitter following that will make you proud.

Two things you need to do when you set up a new Twitter profile is to create an interesting description and find an interesting background. You will also want to impress people with your rapier wit and thought-provoking style the moment they arrive. If not, at least make them believe you are more interesting than the sandwich they had for lunch.

Whatever you do, don’t immediately start promoting your product or service. This will turn people off and you’re likely to lose followers and credibility. Take the time to help others by answering questions and providing value. Selling your service or products will come later after you’ve established trust.

Start following people that are leaders in your niche. You can find them using Twitter search. Once you find the first one, you can follow their followers to quickly grow your list.

7. Writing Articles for Site Promotion

Writing articles can be a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Most articles should be a minimum of 500 words. You can either write it yourself or hire a freelance writer to write one for you. It is important to post the article on a site that is in the same niche as yours. This way the people that read your article will already have an interest in your topic.

It is a good idea to pick popular sites in your niche. They usually have good traffic and you can get some from them. Don’t be surprised if you don’t get much traffic on the first article. It is generally a good idea to submit 3-4 articles at once. This way, readers see your name more than once and it gives you a great opportunity to build trust.

8. Blog Commenting

Proper blog commenting is not about creating bulk comments using an automated tool. It is about helping people and adding value to the conversation. If blog commenting is done regularly and correctly, it can be a great traffic source.

9. Posting to forums

Forum posting has received a bad rep in recent years because spammers have used these sites without providing any real value. What you want to do is the exact opposite. Forums can be a great way to learn more about your niche and eventually contribute to the community. It is usually a good idea to read and learn more in the beginning so you can get a feel for the people on the forum before you start posting.

Be careful not to directly promote your product on forums. This can be an immediate turn-off and can even get your account banned forever.

10. Blogging

We saved the best for last. If your website does not have a blog, get one. You should post engaging, well-researched articles a few times a month at a minimum. The search engines like blogs and so do readers. Just like with social media, it is important to build a community. You can use tools like Addthis.com to create sharing icons for Facebook, Twitter, and the other sites you’ve read about in this article.

Blogging can be a great way to tie all of this work together. Regular posts to your blog can be posted on Facebook, Pinterest, tweeted on Twitter, etc. These sources of traffic will help bring more people to your blog and your website.

What about that “Free Internet Traffic”?

So what about all of those websites that promise “free internet traffic” that were mentioned at the beginning of this article? Most of them use a method called traffic exchange which is the old tradition of “I’ll go to your site if you go to mine.” The problem with these is that most people will spend several hours a week going to other people’s sites. They in turn generally get very low quality traffic back to their site from people that almost never buy anything.

Conclusion

This article contains several great methods to gradually increase traffic over time. These methods don’t cost any money, but most require your time. If your goal is to establish yourself and your company as a leader in your niche, this is a great way to start.

What’s your Facebook Engagement Factor?

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Alvinl

One of the great ways to reach out to your audience and position your brand is through Facebook, and our last post on the Top 10 “Most Liked” Online Retailers on Facebook got a great response.

While researching for that piece though, we stumbled upon a far more interesting phenomenon. As you may know, in addition to “likes”, there is a “people talking about this” metric on Facebook, which is basically the number of unique users commenting, liking or sharing your wall posts over the last 7 days. The metric also includes “viral shares” – whenever fans share a page’s post, any subsequent likes, comments, or re-shares will be counted towards a page’s “talking about this” number as well. (To find out more about the “talking about this” metric, check out this great explanation here.)

Introducing: Facebook Engagement Factor (F.E.F.)

After too many rounds of caffeine-fueled discussion, we decided that the ratio of the “talking about this” number to the number of “likes” was a pretty good measure of the overall level of engagement on your Facebook page. Think of it this way: the number of likes is a baseline measure of how many people have come across your Facebook page and found it useful or liked it, whereas the “talking about this” page gives you an idea of how many people are actively commenting on and liking your posts.

Hence the number of “talking about” divided by the number of “likes” is a good indicator of what proportion of your users are actively engaged on your page. After some research online, we found that variants of this metric had actually been talked about (hey great minds think alike!). For instance, it had been used to calculate the Facebook engagement levels of casinos in Las Vegas.

We called this metric the Facebook Engagement Factor, and here’s how we calculate it (Note – because this ratio of “talking about” to “likes” is usually small, we multiply it by 100 for more intuitive comparisons):

Facebook Engagement Factor (F.E.F.)

= (Number Talking About This / Number of Likes) x 100

Let’s take the example of everybody’s favourite teen singer, Justin Bieber. Justin had about 2 million screaming teenage girls and their mums talking about him over the last 7 days. Divide this by his 46.9m likes on Facebook, multiply it by 100, and you get a Facebook Engagement Factor of 4. Now this number doesn’t seem like much, but it’s still way better than his girlfriend Selena Gomez (0.9) and another teen pop sensation Miley Cyrus (0.6). (Note that this works only for pages of celebrities, companies and the like, and not your personal profile, which doesn’t have the “talking about this” metric.)


Justin Bieber’s Facebook page: high popularity, middling engagement

What the Facebook Engagement Factor Means for Your Brand

If you’re a company selling a product, the first thing you want to look at on Facebook is probably the number of likes on your Facebook page, which is a decent proxy for how popular you are overall on Facebook. However, the F.E.F. is a proxy of how (for want of a better word) fanatical your online followers are, and how much of a viral reach you have with your posts. This could translate into a stronger brand for you and more loyal paying customers, although the jury is still out on this one.

So who does well on this metric? Amongst the giant brands with more than 10m views on Facebook such as Converse (33.3m likes), Walmart (23m likes) and Victoria’s Secret (19,9m), none of them do particularly well. Converse, despite it’s massive popularity on Facebook, has a surprisingly low F.E.F. of 0.6, Walmart does slightly better than Justin at 6, and Victoria’s Secret does okay at 1.6. Bear in mind of course that the F.E.F. changes with time depending on how many users are talking about your brand in the past 7 days.

We got curious as to how our Top 10 Online Retailers on Facebook did on the Facebook Engagement Factor. Here are the results:

Facebook Engagement Factor of Top 10 Most Liked Online Retailers

10. Infibeam (942k likes, F.E.F. = 0.6)

9. Flipkart.com (1.1m likes, F.E.F. = 0.9)

8. NewEgg.com (1.1m likes, F.E.F. = 1.2)

7. Fashionandyou.com (1.1m likes, F.E.F. = 1.3)

6. Worldsoccershop.com (1.4m likes, F.E.F. = 0.8)

5. Yepme.com (1.4m likes, F.E.F. = 6)

4. Eastbay.com (1.5m likes, F.E.F. = 2)

3. Peixe Urbano (1.7m likes F.E.F. = 6)

2.Shoedazzle (2m likes, F.E.F. = 4)

1. Amazon.com (13.5m likes F.E.F. = 1)

As you can see, there is no clear correlation between what number of Facebook likes and your Facebook Engagement Factor. You might have the most number of Facebook likes, but if your engagement factor is low, it’s time to rethink whether those are truly engaged fans posting on your Facebook page.

So how do you increase the Facebook Engagement Factor?

So what affects the F.E.F. you ask? The geeks here at ReferralCandy crawled the web for the online stores with the highest F.E.F. (as well as more than 100k likes) and found out what makes them tick.

The winner? An Indian Online T-Shirt Retailer Bewakoof, which specialises in what looks like funky t-shirts with cool slogans for the Indian hipster market. Their Facebook page uses a tried and tested formula of posting once every few hours or even minutes, which leads to an incredibly high engagement factor, probably from viral shares by their loyal clientele. Their F.E.F. hovers at around 180(!), which is tremendous, given that Justin Bieber averages about a 4. This is possibly also because the nature of the posts (jokes and lolcats) lends itself easily to reposts and viral shares.

Let’s look at another online retailer, SuperheroStuff.com, with an F.E.F. of 29 (137k likes, 40k talking about). Their secret sauce? Again, lots of posts, as well as funny and cool stuff like the picture of Darth Vader below.


Funny stuff gets liked a lot!

Of course, some may ask whether an increase in the number of likes on your page will decrease your F.E.F. Theoretically, this wouldn’t happen as the number of people “talking about this” should increase proportionately. However, there is a possibility that websites with a large number of likes (think Justin Bieber with 46 million) may lower your Engagement Factor, possibly because the followers tend to be more casual, rather than deeply interested in a community (for instance thinkgeek, an online store selling geeky toys for overgrown boys).

What’s Your F.E.F.?

Whether you’re a small business or a huge celebrity with a page on Facebook, we think it’s useful to check out your F.E.F. to get a sense of your engagement levels and whether you should be posting more on your page. Of course, you should take this and any other metric with a pinch of salt and measure it along with other considerations such as how much social media actually helps your brand and your sales.

Here at ReferralCandy, we have a Justin Bieber Rule of Facebook Engagement. That is, our F.E.F. has to be higher than Justin Bieber. Thankfully, our Facebook Engagement Factor of 5 is just above that of JB at 4. Take that, Baby!

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Alvinl is the marketing guy at www.ReferralCandy.com, the refer-a-friend app that increases your sales through word of mouth. In his spare time he loves geeking out on technology, psychology and economics news.

Image Credit: Birgerking

The Top 10 Most Popular Online Retailers on Facebook

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Alvinl

Have you ever been to a rival online retailer’s website and and wondered how they got so many likes on Facebook? Have you ever wondered which online store owns the most popular Facebook page? Have you ever wondered why your high school crush never liked your Facebook cover photo back?

Well, the geeks here at ReferralCandy actually went to some lengths to find out, and then got me to write about it. First, we collated all the websites on Alexa that were online retailers (we took out those companies that had physical stores, so Victoria’s Secret sadly doesn’t count). Then, we crawled their webpages to find out where their Facebook pages were, and how many likes were on each Facebook page. Finally, we picked out the top 10, and checked out their pages in detail to see how the heck they got a million likes or more (and we did all this while delivering a smoother refer-a-friend web-app for your online store).

It was a lot of work, but it was also a good excuse to procrastinate with some e-window shopping at work. So without further ado, here’s the Top 10 most popular e-retailers on Facebook, as voted in by the mouse-clicking masses.

10. InfiBeam (937k likes)

We kick off the list at number 10 with the popular Indian e-commerce site InfiBeam, which sells everything from computers to flowers. Their Facebook page is full of pithy and earnest sayings, like this one above from Charlie Chaplin. I think it’s sweet, and their customers like it too, apparently.

9. Flipkart.com (1.09m likes)

Flipkart.com founder Binny Bansal tells a great story about how he started the Indian online bookseller from a two-bedroom apartment with his brother in 2007. In a recent interview, he says that every day, one of them would go on a bike to buy books and make their own catalogue. ” We would sit down on the floor and make the packages to give to the courier agencies for shipment.” It’s since come a long way from it’s humble beginnings and now sells music, movies, games, cameras, etc. It’s been likened to India’s Amazon, but with cash-on-delivery and other innovations tailored for the Indian e-commerce market.

Their Facebook page goes by simple themes (this month’s theme is “technology” and last month’s was “rain”). We also really like their use of infographics that their customers can relate to, like this one on the A-Z of Indian cuisine.

8. Newegg.com (1.09m likes)

The guys at newegg.com sell a wide range of electronics, as well as some geeky-techy eenie-meenie stuff, like this TV Universal Remote Control Keychain, in case, you know, you needed to switch channels while on the go. They’ve got a great Facebook page which asks some quirky questions such as “Do you consider your computer a male, female or just an object?”. Well, more than 1400 people responded to that. Some sample answers. “Don’t know, I respect it’s privacy” or “It’s female. Her name is Cortana.” and so on. Clever and conversational content that resonates with the right audience, that’s why Newegg.com comes in at Number 8 (beating out Flipkart by about 500 votes, this one was closer than close).

7. Fashionandyou.com (1.12m likes)

Fashionandyou.com is a leading Indian fashion site that specializes in 3 day deals for site members on clothing and accessories. While their Facebook page is not exactly groundbreaking stuff (nice pictures of nice ladies in nice clothes), their social refer-a-friend programme and deep discounting has helped to generate over 3.6 million members via social media channels. Hey, referrals rock!

6. Worldsoccershop.com (1.35m likes)

It’s no wonder that the beautiful game is in the top 10 list of most popular online stores on facebook. Started by a failed soccer player from Brixton, England in 2001, Worldsoccershop.com has turned into something of a behemoth in online sales of replica team jerseys, boots and all other kinds of soccer paraphernalia. According to their website, they ordered 200,000 balls for the FIFA 2010 World Cup alone (up from 20 for the 2002 World Cup). That’s a lot of balls, Mr Anderson!

Their Facebook page is pretty straightforward, with droolworthy pics of the latest boots and replica jerseys on sale. But when your clientele is made up of the world’s testosterone laden young men playing the world’s most popular sport, you’re bound to get a few likes!

5. Yepme.com (1.36m likes)

Having started just two short years ago, Yepme is an India based online retailer specializing in private-label mens’ and women’s clothing for the 2nd and 3rd tier cities in India, where designer labels fear to thread. An aggressive social media and viral tv campaign (see the funny youtube clip above) has seen Yepme reach more than 1.3million likes on Facebook. Who’s gonna be watching this up and coming brand closely? Yep me.

4. EastBay (1.46m likes)

Americans are fanatical about sports, and EastBay is one of the leading online retailers of sportswear from football to cheerleading. Like worldsoccershop.com, their Facebook page seems to follow a tried and tested formula by posting snazzy pictures of sportswear and sportsmen (be like Mike, anyone?), and asking their scores of customers to comment on which ones they like best. It’s kinda like sports porn. And 1.4m people are addicted to it.

3. Peixe Urbano (1.59m likes)

Coming in at No. 3 is the only Brazilian online retailer on our list. Peixe Urbano (which means urban fish in Portuguese – yay Google Translate!) was founded in 2009 as a group buying site for local products and services, and is today present in major Brazilian cities as well Argentina, Mexico and Chile. With more than 16 million users and an expanding Latin American market in ecommerce, this is one site to watch.

2. ShoeDazzle (1.99m likes)

And the first runner-up of our inaugural online store facebook popularity contest? It’s none other than ShoeDazzle, a online Ladies’ shoe store with a personal stylist function thrown in based on customer preferences. We like their website for its sleek look set against a minimal white background, and their Facebook page is chock-full of item promotions and fun polls, interspersed with other social media like Twitter and Pinterest.

Infamous shoe fan and wife-of-a-dictator Imelda Marcos once said “I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty”. Personally, I believe that you only ever need two pairs of shoes, one for work and one for playing soccer (see item 6 above). Unless you’re a soccer player of course. But hey, it seems that 2m rabid ShoeDazzle fans on Facebook beg to differ.

1. Amazon.com (12m likes!)

And the one Facebook page to rule them all? You guessed it, it’s none other than Amazon.com, and they tower over the market with a whopping 12m likes. That’s 5m more than Mitt Romney! Amazon’s Facebook page keeps things interesting by asking viewers to comment on their favourite singers, movies, games, gadgets etc. It also touches on key product launches and the human stories behind them – its post on the re-launch of the Furby asked customers to relate the longest time they’ve waited in line for a hot toy (and got 1700 comments). But mostly their Facebook page got a lot of likes by being, well, Amazon.

How to get more likes on your Facebook page

So, after a few days of Facebooking, what have we learnt from the most popular online retailers on Facebook? While it’s clear that how big your Facebook following is necessarily a function of how many customers you have, there’s a lot of things we can learn from the top 10 nevertheless. Here are three tips we picked up from the best in the business.

Know who your customers are

The best Facebook pages for B2C businesses understand their target demographic. Newegg.com targeted their geeky clientele by asking them a whimsical question about what gender their computers were. Flipkart.com reached out to their Indian mass market with infographics that they could relate to, such as this one about cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. The best content speaks to the heart of your loyal Facebook friends, who will spread the word in turn.

Let your audience do the talking

Many of the top 10 online retailers on our list use interactive activities to get the audience involved. For instance, ShoeDazzle is a master of this with online polls and contests such as this one on the winning look for the Emmy Awards, with the winning items getting a discount on their store. Getting your Facebook community involved in commenting, voting and posting gives them a sense of ownershop of the Facebook page, as well as your brand.

Post. Alot.

Most of the Top 10 on our list post on a daily basis, some multiple times a day. Keeping things fresh with a joke or the latest product update helps keep your Facebook following coming back for more, and adds a sense of vibrance and activity to your page.

Which Top 10 List do you want to see next?

So from India to Brazil to the US, from Football to Furbies, that’s our roundup of the most liked online retailers on Facebook from around the globe, as well as what makes them likeable. We hope this helps you understand better what works on Facebook for your online store.

Got a top 10 list you want to see on the ReferralCandy blog? Let us know below. Till next time.

Image credit: Sean MacEntee

How to Stop Paying for your Customers – 5 Lessons from Rand Fishkin

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Alvinl

Here at ReferralCandy, we’re always looking for cool and innovative ways to market great products. One of the leading experts in this field is Rand Fishkin, CEO of software company SEOmoz and a master of inbound marketing. His advice on how to earn customers without paying for them is relevant for all e-commerce businesses.

Rand started his SEOmoz blog in 2004, and as he tells it, slowly built it from struggling no-readership material to a behemoth in generating publicity and genuine interest from readers interested in SEO.

We recently stumbled upon a video of an exceptional impromptu talk that he gave at a Hacker News Meetup in London. It’s worth watching in its entirety, but if you don’t have 60 minutes to spare, here are the top 5 things that resonated with us from his video.

1. INBOUND MARKETING IS A HACK FOR MARKETING

Inbound marketing is essentially putting interesting original content onto innovative channels, so that your target audience gets to know your brand and product, and that leads actually come to you. It could come in the form of a viral video, a blog post (like this one), an infographic, or anything really that draws readers and viewers in.

The good news is that inbound favours the nimble and clever startup rather than the giant corporation. This is opposed to outbound marketing, which is paying for advertising, cold-calling and playing the numbers game to generate leads.

Rand’s main point is that inbound marketing shouldn’t be seen as distasteful “black magic” marketing, but rather as a hack for marketing that accomplishes more outreach and generates more sales with usually no money down. In fact, according to him, Inbound marketing can generate up to 80% of traffic as compared to 20% from paid marketing (10:50 in the video). It’s a no brainer that we should use inbound!

As Guy Kawasaki, former Chief Evangelist of Apple once said, “If you have more money than brains, you should focus on outbound marketing. If you have more brains
than money, you should focus on inbound marketing!”

2. CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT

So you’re sold on inbound marketing. But what’s the secret sauce you ask? The truth is that “you don’t buy those visitors, you earn them”. Creating good content and doing work that you’re proud of is the basic building block of inbound marketing.

It’s simple, if you can recreate relevant and even exciting content that people will tweet, blog about and link to, they’re going to want to know your name and what you do. In inbound marketing the content draws interest in, rather than you pushing your product out.

The content that you create needs to engage readers. Good content requires research and hard work to put a fresh spin on things or even say something totally new. It could be an infographic that makes sense of the latest trends and figures in a compelling and intuitive way, or even a product that is so compelling it gets your target audience buzzing (Rand cites the ingenious example of a “USB Doomsday Device” at 16:17). For an in-depth view on how to create good content, check out this blog post on content creation.

3. THE RISE OF SOCIAL IS NOT THE END OF SEARCH

Social Media channels are a natural fit for great content. We all have a favourite advertisement video or blog post that went viral on social media channels and brought great publicity for a particular brand. Rand cites the brilliant example of the Dollar Shave Club commercial. Although the business model is simple (selling cheap razors online for a dollar a month), the commercial has garnered almost 5 million hits on Youtube.

While social media channels are great for generating brand awareness, this doesn’t mean that we should underestimate Search Channels. According to a Pew Internet Survey, 91% of Americans are searching for information online, compared to 66% using social media channels. Ranking high on searches through SEO remains a great way to drive targeted traffic to your site. Of course, social media will remain a huge influence in driving higher rankings on searches.

4. CONVERSION OF CUSTOMERS MEANS LISTENING, TESTING AND RE-TESTING

Getting page views does not always translate into sales. Rand tells us that optimizing conversion of interested eyeballs into paying consumers depends on listening to consumers, and then using that information to refine your product. Once they hit your landing page, understand what makes them buy, or more importantly not buy your product.

Rand’s team listened to customers of SEOmoz and tried to figure out what made them move further down the sales funnel upon hitting the landing page, and what put them off. By listening, reformatting and constantly testing their landing page, they achieved over $1million more in subscribers per year.

5. BUILD TRUST BY KEEPING IT REAL

So now we know that inbound marketing is powerful stuff, it’s centred on engaging content, works well on social media (but don’t neglect search!) and that conversion is key. But perhaps the most important takeaway that we got is to “keep it real.”

As Rand puts it, “Instead of thinking about what will make my page rank higher, what will get me more followers, I really like thinking about it from the other way. What are the things I can produce that people will wanna share, love, make them trust me. That’s gonna be much more powerful and much more successful.” (see 29:30).

FINALLY, HAVE FUN!

We couldn’t agree more that ultimately, it’s about building trust and being genuine with potential customers that see your content and your brand by creating content you love. This way, you’ll not only build brand awareness and loyalty that lasts, but you’ll have much more fun while you’re doing it.

Tell us below about your attempts, successes and failures in creating inbound marketing content. We want to hear from you!

Be Awesome: Use Pinterest to Drive Traffic and Sales

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Michael Gray

For small businesses and eCommerce merchants, keeping up with the new social media services that sprout up faster than weeds in a garden, is an overwhelming problem. How to use these services for SEO, to gain links, traffic and ultimately prospects, customers, and sales is even more complicated. In this article we’ll take a look at Pinterest, and some ideas on how businesses can leverage to their advantage without being considered a
spammer.

Terms of Service and Community Culture

As with any social media service, the first two steps are reading the terms of service, and watching the community BEFORE getting involved. Terms of service pages are notoriously boring, but you want to get an idea of any legal pitfalls and what the service’s stanceon is like before posting your own content.

One of the interesting differences on Pinterest is that the user is responsible for making sure they aren’t violating any copyright restrictions posting pictures. So if you upload a picture, drawing, or item that someone else owns the copyright, you are legally responsible and liable, not Pinterest.

The second part of becoming involved in any social media community is watching, observing, and getting a feel for what is generally considered “acceptable behavior”. As a real life example: wearing a bikini to a pool party is acceptable, wearing the same bikini to a formal wedding isn’t. Context is everything. On Pinterest, it’s a culture of showcasing awesomeness, aspirational quotes or ideals, pictures that are funny or outstanding, or anything that showcases uniqueness and creativity. It’s a positive community, not a negative one of confrontation.

The Crisco Game Plan

Crisco the cooking shortening was introduced in the 1870′s. At the time people were mostly cooking with lard, and getting people to change was difficult. In 1912, Crisco released it’s first cookbook, which they gave away for free. The idea was to show people how to use the product and they would buy it. This has been a tried and tested method that has stood the test of time.

Home improvement stores like Lowes and Home Depot have large how-to sections on their websites on how to lay flooring or install tiles, showing you how to use the products they hope you buy from them. This can also work on Pinterest, for example Family Handyman posts DIY home improvement projects to their account. The key to getting the most out of this strategy as a merchant is to post your best, most useful, problem solving content.

Contests and User Submissions

Another effective strategy is to get users to pin pictures of themselves using your products. You can incentivize this behavior with weekly/monthly contests. A fun way to keep it interesting would be to vary the theme of the contest every month – most creative, most artistic, most unusual, etc. Run a cooking website where you sell baking equipment or cake decorating equipment, run a chocolate cake contest one month, then a cupcake contest, followed by a muffin contest. Contest laws are tricky and vary from state to state so be sure you review the terms of service and any legal restrictions that may come into play.

Link, No-Follow and User Data

Many people look at social media services and see the links are no followed, and assume they have no SEO value… In my opinion, this is only partly true. In the classic sense a link with a rel=”nofollow” tag will not pass any link equity or anchor text keyword value, and insteadwill act strictly as a “pointer”. In my opinion these pointers have value, especially if they generate click throughs and user data. I would rather have 1000 links that are nofollowed, that users click through, generate user traffic and sales, as opposed to 100 normal “straight” links that no-one sees, clicks on or generates user data. For more on this be sure to read the link building experts interview 2012 edition.

So in conclusion:

Look at social media services like Pinterest, see if they
are a demographic match for your community
Read the terms of service or legal restrictions, and get a feel for the
community
Look for ways to post your best content, that shows people how to use your
products
Look for ways to get your customers to upload and share pictures of things
they have created using your products
Don’t focus on links that pass keyword equity, focus on links that drive
customers, traffic, sales, and generate user data

Image credit: BigStockPhoto/Yeke Photo Studio

How Ecommerce Sites Can Use Pinterest

Posted on June 12, 2012 by ReferralCandy

Like many social sites, Pinterest has taken a while to break into the mainstream. Founded over two years ago, it has only come to global prominence within the last six months or so. Now though, the image sharing site has over 18.7 million active users, including photographers, bloggers, designers and marketers.

The simplicity of Pinterest has acted as a catalyst for its incredible growth. Users are able to create themed boards and pin various images, sharing them with followers and other social sites – including Facebook and Twitter. As a result, you can generate huge interest in pictures, products, infographics and the websites on which they were originally featured.

So how can ecommerce sites use Pinterest?

All online stores sell products, and most feature images. As a result, the majority of ecommerce sites already have more than enough to get started on Pinterest. However, as with any social network, the key to success is building a strong following by sharing quality pictures that others will want to pin and pass on.

Consequently, some businesses will find it easier to succeed on Pinterest than others. For instance, art galleries may have more to offer the image sharing community than a store selling plumbing supplies. That’s not to say that you can’t carve out a niche, but you have to be creative with what you share and also realistic about what you can achieve and the best way to go about it.

Choosing an effective strategy

As you may be aware, there are potential SEO benefits to pinning your images, particularly as each picture contains a link to the original source. Up until February 2012, these were all followed links, which meant that they passed on more strength to the targeted page. However, these are now nofollowed, reducing the benefit for third party sites and spamming by overeager marketers.

The reason for mentioning this is simply to dispel any potential myths surrounding Pinterest. It shouldn’t be viewed as an easy optimisation technique, otherwise we would all be sharing thousands of images and reaping the rewards. The true value of creating a Pinterest account will only ever be realised when you share for the benefit of the wider community, not just your own site’s needs. By engaging with others and linking through to existing profiles on social sites, you can create genuinely sharable content that will improve your business’ visibility online.

Getting the balance right

As with any social site, the quality and quantity of the content you share will determine whether you succeed or not. If you decide to instantly upload hundreds of low resolution images directly from your ecommerce site, each with keyword-rich descriptions, it’s not going to look natural. So handpick a few of the more aesthetically appealing products and begin creating simple, themed boards.

In fact, one of the great things about Pinterest is that you don’t even need to have your own images to share. Some brands ask customers to upload their own photos, with the best examples then be displayed as part of themed groups. Others simply go out and “repin” favourite pictures from Pinterest or upload them from blogs, Flickr and other websites.

Creating a good blend of your own images, which can then be shared by followers, and repinning or hosting pictures from other sources can really pay dividends. A good example of this can be found on the Petplan Pinterest page.

As a pet insurance provider in the US, they have a great subject matter to work with – animals. But whilst they could just feature a random selection of images from their own website, Petplan have chosen to collect pictures that promote the brand’s personality. As such, you will find boards dedicated to cute accessories, all of which contain links to non-related sites, funny photos from around the web and their own pet facts. The reason this works, and why it’s likely to attract much more public attention, is because it doesn’t just feature monotonous marketing imagery.

You have to give people credit, particularly on social sites. Nobody wants to have brands forcing advertising down their throats and most can spot such flagrant efforts from a mile away – whether it’s done covertly or overtly. So don’t just upload every image on your site, including banners, buttons and small icons, and try not to use it solely as a vehicle to further your marketing or SEO campaigns.

User-generated content

Coca Cola offer a slight exception to this rule. The reason that their branded images work is simply because they have all been uploaded by followers on their well-established Flickr account. Therefore, whilst most pictures feature Coke in some capacity, it’s within the context of user-generated content. All images are categorised into five simple boards (‘Be Together’, ‘Be Active’, ‘Be Giving’, ‘Be in the Moment’ and ‘Keep Discovering’), with each one evoking core brand values and encouraging interaction.

Ultimately though, you can only do what your resources and subject matter will allow. Pinterest offers a range of opportunities and rewards those who are able to be particularly creative and engage within a community. This is nothing new of course, it is a feature of all social sites. But as this is an image-centric concept, being able to attract and maintain interest needs to be achieved through eye-catching aesthetics.

Be unique and be creative

As the examples above highlight, there’s no need to feel as if you are restricted in the content that you can share. Campaigns and boards can be created around any related subject with content being pulled in from a number of sources, not just your own ecommerce site. However, in order to build more interest for your profile and gain links through to your domain, you need a decent share of original imagery.

So if you’re a boutique fashion house, feature some of your latest designs. If you sell bespoke wooden gifts, take a picture and share it. Every ecommerce site has a niche and a specific target audience, therefore all you need to do is to give the public what it wants.

Pinterest is a platform for you to promote your brand in a visual capacity. Whilst it may not have hundreds of millions of users like Facebook and Twitter, it is a very strong community with ample opportunities for any business to raise their profile. Integrate it with your website, social profiles and other online marketing efforts to create a cohesive and comprehensive strategy that reaches all corners of the Internet. As always though, a clear strategy and a little common sense are going to serve you well when starting out on this platform. Take the time to understand how Pinterest works, what people share and proceed with confidence.

Opening up Your Ecommerce Site with Social Media

Posted on March 20, 2012 by ReferralCandy

Social media and ecommerce make ideal bedfellows. Whilst one is geared towards self-promotion, sharing and discussion, the other is about developing a strong customer-base and driving sales. It’s almost as if they were made for each other.

All ecommerce sites are fundamentally standalone stores of course. So your job, as an owner, is to get as many people coming through the doors as possible. To do this though, you need visibility.

On the high street you can employ a wide range of tactics including:

Billboard advertising
Sandwich boards
Attractive window displays
Local media promotions
Free samples hand outs

The Internet is an entirely different beast though. Whilst the logic is still the same, the tools and techniques are worlds apart. To generate interest, you have to get yourself noticed. This means optimising your site to adhere with search engine practices and getting seen on any platforms that potential customers are using – including social media.

So what do you need to be doing?

First of all, secure profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. If your business name has been taken, look for similar alternatives, such as “Store Name UK” or “Store Name Online”. However, it is important that any profile you create is clearly branded, enabling customers to recognise who you are and associate the accounts with your store.

Each of the aforementioned social networks allow users to create customised business pages, so make sure you take the time to create a design that is indicative of your business. This means incorporating clear imagery, colours and your company logo to tie all your properties to one another. Below are examples from the Gap.

Getting (inter)active

A dormant profile is of little or no use, in fact it may even be damaging. So make sure you have a social strategy in place. Who is going to be managing comments, how frequently are you going to update your profiles and what will you say? All of these questions need to be answered before going any further.

Dell was one of the earliest adopters on Twitter and made headlines when it was announced that the company had made $6.5 million in sales solely through the social network. This was way back in 2009 though, and now hundreds of businesses are booming thanks to their effective social strategies.

To be successful, you need to follow a few key golden rules:

Be human – nobody wants to follow an automated robot that endlessly pumps out sales messages
Be responsive – respond to questions, compliments and criticisms in equal measure wherever possible
Be creative – why not use your social profiles to create special promotions, using unique hashtags or requesting ‘likes’?
Be interesting – give people a reason to leave a comment, share your content or visit your store

Once up and running, you can use these social profiles to funnel people towards your site. However, this is where your web pages and pricing need to deliver. After all, it doesn’t matter how many people come through to your store if nobody ever makes a purchase. So make sure your site is ready to deliver on these promises.

Social Site Integration

Assuming that everything is shipshape, you need to find a way of integrating social elements into your site. After all, now you’ve created these properties, it’s important that people can actually track them down. Most ecommerce sites and online businesses now integrate links to their social profiles in the footer, side or even top navigation, making them incredibly easy to find.

This form of cross-promotion makes it easier for visitors to keep up-to-date through their preferred medium. In time, this could lead to them becoming a loyal and valuable customer. The joy of social media (the major networks in particular) is the ease with which information can be shared. Every message you post will be seen by thousands, either directly or by others ‘liking’ or retweeting it. This only serves to help your brand’s visibility grow, making your future marketing activities easier and more effective.

It is important to make it as easy as possible for your visitors to share products and promotions, so include “share this” shortcuts on every page. These needn’t be intrusive or ruin the design of your site; but the more prominent that you can make them, the better your chances of having a product shared.

A number of ecommerce sites currently have this feature, although few are taking full advantage. Take Amazon as a good example. Here we have the product page for the iPad 2 (on the UK site).

The “Like” button is for Amazon customers to share recommendations, whilst the Facebook, Twitter and Email functions are buried on the right-hand side of the screen.

Gap (US site) place their ‘Like’ button alongside the product, above the price and specification even, for greater exposure. However, this has its own limitations, as it only allows Facebook users to share the product – effectively dismissing Twitter, Google+1, Delicious, Digg and the other bookmarking sites.

Finally, clothing store Office (again, UK site) give their share buttons the greatest prominence of any of the brands featured here. Both Twitter and Facebook have their own unique icons underneath the main image, whilst dozens of others are available by clicking the + symbol. As you can see from the figure, this has generated a reasonable number of shares across all platforms.

Nobody is going to claim that a few buttons are going to make or break your site, but as part of a cohesive effort to promote your business on social platforms, they can be hugely effective. Essentially, you should be helping your customers to help you. Their endorsements can be just as effective as your own marketing efforts, so give them the tools to do it without leaving your site.

Playing the Numbers Game

Social marketing really is a numbers game. The more brand ambassadors you can recruit, the more stock you can hope to shift. Your outreach though is almost unlimited. Whilst your ecommerce store may only have 10,000 Twitter followers, 500 of these may choose to retweet a promotion to their followers, who in turn may share it with their friends, and their friends share it with their friends, and…well, you get the idea. A single message can be seen by tens or even hundreds of thousands of people, offering unrivalled exposure with limited input or cost. As your own followers grow, so does your potential exposure, with one effectively feeding the other.

Ultimately though, you need to always remember why you’re doing this in the first place: sales. Whilst customer service, reputation management and online visibility are all extremely important, the bottom line for any business is to get a return on your investment.

Social media is an interactive platform on which you can promote your produce to an expectant audience. As with brick and mortar stores, there are a number of ways in which you can attract attention, with the only major difference being the platform(s) being used. So rather than using in-store staff and promotional teams to engage visitors, you can use Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to do much the same.