Social Media Marketing

With the growth of Facebook, it’s clear that the social network is now a social platform. One of the activities best suited to this new social platform is commerce. From the results we started seeing in 2011 — which will only grow in 2012 — here are four reasons why your brand should add social commerce in 2012:

A mom's own circle of friends is her most trusted source of information when considering purchases for her family and herself, according to results of The Shopping Mom's Mindset, a new study released by The 360PR MomSquad and conducted by 360 Public Relations and Cool Mom Picks.

It's beautiful, it's addictive and now Pinterest is having its glorious hockey stick moment. TechCrunch has attained exclusive data from comScore showing Pinterest just hit 11.7 million unique monthly U.S. visitors, crossing the 10 million mark faster than any other stand-alone site in history.

For most brands, the decision to participate in social media was made because the audience numbers on platforms like Facebook or Twitter made it an alluring marketing opportunity. This opportunity, coupled with competitive brands setting up an official presence, pushed a vast majority of fashion brands to now be present on the most popular platforms.

Casual clothing retailer Lands’ End took a social and multichannel approach to acquiring new customers this past holiday season with St. Nick’s Picks, a campaign that offered consumers daily deals and discounts on merchandise. St. Nick’s Picks was complemented with a “12 Hours of Twitter” campaign and Facebook fan contest.

Like many retailers, Sephora is working on what to do with a Facebook "Like." The beauty retailer's solution comes in the form of a special weekly promotion that fans of its page learn about first through their Facebook feeds. Called "Fan Fridays," the promotion works to boost the retailer's brand awareness as well as drive e-commerce traffic and sales.

Social and search continue to be essential inbound marketing channels. And while Google's generating a lot of discussion around Google+, another website is actually driving more inbound traffic: Pinterest.

Lowe's announced it's partnering with Houzz, a social site for home remodeling and design, to offer consumers the chance to win a dream kitchen. As part of its marketing relationship with Houzz, Lowe's has launched the “Dream Kitchen” sweepstakes, giving customers the chance to win a dream kitchen, valued at $50,000, designed and built by Houzz's top designers and contractors with materials from Lowe's.

Pinterest, the virtual pinboard at the crossroads of social and style, has burgeoned into a marketplace for consumer brands, offering a visual and demonstrable platform for engagement. A wide range of major brands including Lands' End, West Elm, Etsy, Gap and Whole Foods are using Pinterest to engage fans through social curation and as an online focus group to see what clicks with consumers.

Social media and e-commerce have evolved since 1-800-FLOWERS.com launched the first Facebook storefront in July 2009. Internet users have become more comfortable with online buying on Facebook as they spend more time on the site.