PowerReviews Insider

Sometimes trends appear that seem new and innovative, and other times, it feels like some marketers simply put labels on old ideas.  Social Media is one of those trends that can go either way.  On one hand, companies have been leveraging customer-generated reviews, forums, photos, and videos for quite some time.  On the other hand, new sites such as Twitter and Facebook have drastically transformed the scale, speed, and impact of social media strategies.

Interestingly, the debate isn’t quite so black-and-white when it comes to applying Social Media to eCommerce.  The main question we get from our clients is not “Should we get involved with Social Media?”, but “How can we use Social Media to Increase Sales in a Measurable Way?”.  The answer to most of our clients is “You already ARE!”…through the use of reviews and Q&A (and combined with our In-line SEO solution and recently introduced Facebook/Twitter widgets).

Of course, that’s just putting a new name on old tricks…the NEW strategies that are emerging for eCommerce companies to engage in Social Commerce I believe will come in 3 primary flavors:

1)  User Generated Content will evolve into Social Recommendations.

The debate over the mechanical aspects of UGC (moderation, SEO, etc) is quickly falling into the background — meaning that, most mature websites will have some sort of reviews and/or q&a content, and that content will be well managed by an outside vendor or otherwise.  However, the process and technology of utilizing that content to guide other customers toward a better purchase decision (i.e. a Social Recommendation) is still an emerging frontier with tremendous opportunity.   Instead of competing for the “largest selection” or “lowest price”, I believe that Websites will eventually compete to have the “smartest customers” whom other shoppers can trust.

2)  Brick & Mortar experiences will include Social Recommendations.

Not overnight, since there’s some change in consumer behavior required, but it will become pervasive .  Whether it’s on product packaging, store signage or mobile devices,  Customers will insist on easy access to recommendations and feedback from their peers (and specifically peers “like them”) to supplement the assistance of a sales associate.  Let’s face it, no matter how experienced a sales associate is, he/she can’t know the collective experience of all their customers using each product.

3)  Social Media will be the Brand-Building tool of choice.

No matter how hard your PR or marketing works, because everyday people can talk about your brand with a high level of authenticity and trust, your advocates and detractors will continue to hold the largest sway on how other customers perceive your brand.  Figuring out how to amplify the opinions of your advocates and enabling them to recruit new users is a major opportunity.  The challenge of this effort is to execute a strategy in a credible, transparent manner.  For examples of what NOT to do, read about the Belkin’s fake reviews fiasco (if you haven’t already) or about Murphy-Goode Wines backfired video contest.

At PowerReviews, we are certainly working hard to experiment and find solutions that take advantage of these upcoming trends…mainly as extensions of our Reviews and AnswerBox solutions.  There are also several other innovators that are taking a different approach.  The first is LiveClicker, that is amplifying the power of recommendations through video.  Look at OnlineShoes.tv as a great example of ecommerce-enabling UGC.  Another is Ripple6 (see MomsLikeMe.com) that works with big publisher sites to identify and nurture brand advocates by offering robust community tools.

No matter what the ultimate solutions are, we are excited to be on the forefront of this Social Media groundswell, and I look forward to working with our clients and partners to creating a new vision together.  Oh yeah, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!