Social Media Marketing

Social media has given a voice to anyone who wants to attack your business, and there are people out there who seem to revel in attacking for any reason — or no reason at all.

Many fashion brands, particularly those in the luxury category, remain wary of social media.

Piperlime has raised the ire of some of its Facebook fans with a series of cheeky — or "snotty," according to detractors — wall posts last week. The Gap brand began posting updates on Facebook and Twitter such as "Every time you wear sweatpants in public, a single guy leaves New York" and "Let's put Saturday-night effort into Sunday afternoon." While some fans found the posts entertaining, even applauding Piperlime for attacking sweatpants, others were enraged.

In her keynote presentation at last week's eTail East conference in Baltimore, Zita Cassizzi, vice president of Dell.com, discussed how the computer technology giant has used social media to engage consumers online and ultimately drive sales.

Walgreen's, Canadian Tire, J.C. Penney, Save-A-Lot, Sports Authority, Staples and True Value are among the brands incorporating the web version of their weekly newspaper circulars into their Facebook pages.

Facebook Inc. is finding new kinds of websites to "Like," in the parlance of the popular social-networking service.

Launched on June 23, 2009, as an online marketplace not unlike eBay, Alice.com enables CPG manufacturers to sell their household essentials — think toothpaste, laundry detergent, trash bags, toilet paper, etc. — direct to consumers. By making thousands of products typically not found online available for purchase, Alice.com has tapped into an underserved market, albeit surprisingly so to the company's founders.

More and more, traditional media sites and magazines are entering the world of e-commerce, while more and more e-tailers are offering content that's very similar to what could be found in fashion magazines.

Amazon shoppers who connect their Amazon and Facebook accounts transport their Facebook friends to Amazon — and can get recommendations from those friends on what to buy.

The hard fact is, social media, like any other marketing program — email, pay per click, affiliates, etc. — is less about luck and instant success, and much more about common sense, patience and hard work.