Dec 07 2007
How and when to engage in social media marketing… a do-it-yourself starter for ecommerce businesses without deep pockets.
There haven’t been very many books published on ecommerce and social media for a very good reason. The landscape is changing so quickly that whatever is published is quickly out of date. (Blogs are the best source for emerging information and I’ll list a few at the bottom of this article). None-the-less, social media appears to be moving from bleeding edge to fast-follower territory. The risks of not entering the fray may be higher than standing on the sidelines.
As a former director for an e-commerce business, I am well aware of responsibilities that come with prioritizing the ROI for marketing programs. Social marketing may not make it to the top of the list because the outcome is so unpredictable and the prospects for failure are acute. Although social media tools are free, the process of developing quality content can be resource intensive. If you have not yet maximized your conventional marketing channels, I recommend that you get your ducks lined up before you pursue large-scale social marketing strategies because right now there are programs with a more predicable ROI that cannot be bypassed.
None-the-less, the buzz surrounding Web 2.0 is creating a drumbeat that is unavoidable for a very good reason. Social media is the ultimate PR and SEO strategy when it actually works. The results can be spectacular. However, the success of your social media venture is in the hands of your audience and you cannot ultimately control the impact.
How do you begin? You simply need to ask the question: how can my business respond to the social needs of my customers and prospects? Of course, you need a basic understanding of your customers to answer the question. See my previous article Web 2.0 Madness. You really don’t need to undertake a new research study to get this done. Just dig up all of your research and correspondence and view it with the objective of answering the question.
There are a number of e-commerce sites that have done a great of successfully integrating Web 2.0 strategies. I suggest visiting Bodybuilder.com, Karmaloop.com, 1800Flowers.com and Zappos. Recommended blogs on social media are Socialmedia.biz, Marketingvox.com, Socialnewswatch.com and Marketing Hipster.
You’ve written a solid primer, answered a mystery for me, and provided valuable links. Consider me an impressed newbie! Now I have to give myself an education.
Thanks for the post and the leads!