Social Media Marketing

In 2006, computer maker Dell Inc. launched a social media and community department to manage consumers’ then-burgeoning use of the Internet. At the time, so-called social media was viewed as a specialized approach to marketing. Four years later, it has become as much a part of doing business as conventional advertising, and companies such as Dell have integrated social media with broader marketing strategies and made it more mainstream. Although Dell still operates a social media department, it's now using social media across all its divisions to connect with customers through online channels such as Facebook and Twitter. Last year, the company revealed that about 100 employees send tweets through 35 channels, reaching customers in more than 12 countries. Dell, which operates more than 80 user groups, reported generating more than $6.5 million in business through Twitter deals during 2009.

For multichannel retailer Deb Shops, a seller of junior and plus-sized apparel and accessories for women aged 13 to 25, combining the power of two of online retail's most profitable channels — social media and search — has brought increased brand awareness, more site traffic and ultimately increased sales.

On day two of the Retail Marketing Conference in Orlando, Fla., last month, a panel of executives from Best Buy, Dell and 1-800-Flowers.com took part in a roundtable discussion on how their businesses have evolved their brand, e-commerce and marketing strategies to differentiate themselves from their competition through innovation.

Outsell estimates that marketing on social networks will grow 43.3 percent in 2010. Forrester Research predicts that B-to-B firms will spend $54 million on social media marketing in 2014, up from just $11 million in 2009. Paid advertising on social networks — banners, text ads and search advertising, as well as the more targeted advertising being deployed by Facebook and MySpace — is a small portion of B-to-B marketers’ social spending.

After learning how to market themselves through tweets and status updates, some small companies are taking the next step: selling directly to consumers via social-networking sites. Merchants on Facebook and MySpace are adding e-commerce stores to their fan pages, hoping users will scan lists of for-sale items and services — such as floral bouquets, hand-crafted jewelry and spa treatments — and click a button to add them to online shopping carts.

Bass Pro Shops has implemented a Facebook tab for fans to buy gift cards that will be delivered via a text message or an e-mail. The digital messages can include personalized audio for purchasers with microphone functionality, as well as uploaded photos from Facebook. Recipients will see instructions for printing the gift cards, which can be redeemed online, via phone, or at the outdoors gear retailer's 56 locations. The browsing experience occurs within a pop-up shopping cart app without requiring users to navigate away from Facebook.

H&M Style Eye was sponsored by Lucky Magazine, Conde Nast Digital and MTV Networks, and was held on Facebook. Whoa, watch out multipurpose powerhouses! For the contest, users uploaded stylish photos of themselves while others voted. H&M went on to choose the three most stylish, flew them to New York for a weekend, along with a $500 H&M gift card and a photo shoot for the July issue of Lucky. Best of all (and supremely smart of H&M), the entire hoopla was shot on video and then broadcast on YouTube and Facebook.

That comes from Paul Madden, a presenter on the "Automating Twitter" panel at Search Engine Strategies New York, held last month, and owner of Crea8 New Media. Madden "specializes in the darker arts of black hat SEO," and "actively explores as many methods for automating and benefiting from social media as possible," according to his speaker bio.

As social media use in the online shopping realm is still a new concept, it's not surprising there have been growing pains. Too often online retailers jump into the social media fray without considering long-term strategic goals. Web-savvy shoppers see right through “salesy” status updates. If your company is looking to get involved in social media and create unique customer/brand relationships, Twitter, Facebook and a company blog are three options to consider.

Steve Spangler has managed to make science cool … and at the same time earn a living. For the teacher turned retailer, the focus has remained the same: to educate kids, particularly about science. And if that means turning bottles of Diet Coke into erupting geysers in the process, all the better. Founded in 1990, Steve Spangler Science is the offshoot of a man's lifelong obsession with science. After 11 years as a science teacher, Spangler shifted directions. He decided to bring his passion for science to a wider audience, and a mail order catalog offering educational toys and science-related products was born.