RBM: Social Commerce Set to Explode in 2011? - Peter Vaughan - MediaBizBloggers

"Show me the money!" If you're in the social marketing space, chances are you've heard some iteration of this Jerry Maguire quote whenever you make a pitch for new business. Of course, we've always preached that social marketing is a long term way to engage fans, create loyalty and eventually drive sales. But with new technology advances, monetization of communities can happen faster for eager CMOs.

Facebook developers like Involver and Milyoni have evolved the ecommerce experience for social communities by integrating natural viral capabilities like commenting, "liking" and social couponing. Community managers can feature products in wall posts that allow fans to buy right within the post itself – even when credit card information is required, fans never leave the comfort of Facebook. Better yet, when a purchase is made fans have the option to inform friends in their newsfeed, extending the reach of a typical "private" ecommerce purchase.

But will fans stand for even more product pushes in social media? We already know that 43.5% of people follow brands in social media to receive exclusive discounts and offers. The coupon is already something fans expect, so why not make redeeming it easier than printing out a code, going to your microsite or online reseller?

And what about your product microsite with e-commerce functionality? It's dead. Last year I started to see more and more clients get more traffic and engagement to Facebook pages than million-dollar microsites with fancy flash experiences. If the only difference between your Facebook page and product microsite is ecommerce functionality, it's time to stop wasting money and fish where the fishes are.

So back to the original question: will social commerce explode in 2011? Yes, but those companies who will be most successful are the ones that still respect the approach is different than traditional ecommerce. Creatively wrapping the purchase experience around social media's advantages – crowd sourcing, peer recommendations, geo-location, etc. – will separate the smart from the tacky.

Will you be investing in social commerce in 2011? Take our poll at http://www.facebook.com/RedBricksMedia?v=app_337571781443.

Peter Vaughan is Associate Director of Social Media at RBM. He can be reached at pvaughan@redbricksmedia.com.

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