Social Media Marketing

Integrating Facebook into marketing efforts is a great way to build your brand, interact with consumers and drive sales. It’s no accident that the most successful retailers have a strong presence on Facebook, many with more than 1 million fans. When we analyze the practices of the top retailers on Facebook (Starbucks, Target, Victoria's Secret, Kohl's and Wal-Mart), we find approaches that ensure success.

Bulldog, the men’s natural grooming brand, is planning its biggest marketing push to date to support the launch of its Facebook commerce site. The brand is launching its advertising campaign using the strapline "Man up" in an attempt to promote its natural credentials and attract people to its website and Facebook page.

Pretzel Crisps' slogan reads, "One bite and you'll rethink your pretzel!" Maybe it should read "one coupon and you'll rethink social media," because coupons and word-of-mouth marketing is exactly how the company saw such an increase in Facebook fans.

eBay is adding Facebook buttons to the top of listings so shoppers can "like" specific postings. But eBay continues to prohibit sellers from linking to Facebook and other social networking sites.

Wal-Mart announced it's signed a definitive agreement to acquire Kosmix, underscoring its commitment to social and mobile commerce. Kosmix has developed a social media technology platform that filters and organizes content in social networks to connect people with real-time information that matters to them.

Ask any entrepreneur how many Facebook fans they want and you're liable to hear upwards of 1 million. Few people ever think that the “wrong kind of fans" can bring any Facebook page to its virtual knees.

All sorts of merchants are experimenting on Facebook. But does this mean Facebook is en route to becoming a major e-commerce player? Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru says the answer is a resounding “No.”

Video game retail giant GameStop has opened up a store to sell games on its Facebook fan page. The store will sell physical games that users can receive in the mail or pick up at a local store. The move is part of GameStop’s strategy to stay relevant in the age of digital distribution of video games, since it doesn’t want to go the way of the now defunct Hollywood Video and Tower Records chains.

Just when you thought Facebook couldn't get any bigger, a recent study from Webtrends shows that Fortune 500 brands are seeing more web traffic go to their Facebook pages than their websites.

It’s where teenagers go to hang out. It’s where they gossip. And it’s where more than half a billion people spend a lot of their time. No, it’s not the mall. It’s Facebook. So could the social network also be the place you go to shop?