10 links that point to the future of digital marketing:
Walmart Launches Shopycat, A Social Gift Finder Built On Top Of Facebook | TechCrunch
This is really smart on several levels. For one, Walmart has taken a more open approach to their gift finder, integrating product recommendations from competing stores, thereby increasing the validity and accuracy of their app. At first glance, I found this to be very helpful simply in terms of quickly gauging what people’s interests are.
I also like how Walmart is setting themselves up for Facebook ecommerce down the road. Some interesting things from a giant not known for cutting edge marketing innovation.
50% Of Ecommerce Site Visitors Are Logged In To Facebook | TechCrunch
This is big. Many brands are still treating their website and social media properties as separate entities. Sure, they might cross-link, but the bigger opportunity is in integrating things like Facebook Connect. When you consider how much money some brands spend driving traffic to their website, and then consider what a great CRM tool Facebook is, it really makes sense to integrate the two as tightly as possible.
Global vs. local social media strategies / We Are Social
The question of whether or not to have multiple Facebook... Read more
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Tagged 'Facebook Connect' 
Creativing :: Walmart’s smart shopping app, big reasons for using Facebook Connect, and the top infographics of 2011
Tags: apps, Facebook Connect, facebook marketing, Facebook strategy, infographics, localization, research, social, social marketing, Social Media
Posted in Creative Best Practices, Emerging Platforms, Opinions, Social Media, Word of Mouth | No Comments »
Dump Your Web Site and Move it to Facebook
What's better for a marketer: having someone buy your goods in a vacuum where no one can see them OR buy your goods in front of 100 of their closest friends? Which one is more powerful for driving additional sales through word of mouth? That is exactly the opportunity that faces brands today.
Brands need to start shifting their online content and interactions away from a brand's .com site and to Facebook apps and Fan Pages to harness this additional traffic. For all of you on Facebook, how many times have you seen News Feed items about your Facebook friends downloading Facebook for Blackberry or iPhone. Plenty. That little message was instrumental in driving thousands of additional downloads without a single ad dollar spent.
Now think about all the online interactions and their corresponding brands that could benefit from a similar move: buying movie tickets, downloading music and videos, buying books, making restaurant reservations, uploading photos to get printed, downloading recipes, and so on. All these interactions can occur or start on Facebook. And when they do your Facebook friends are notified on their News Feed (we can talk about News Feed Optimization another time). That is a form of Word of... Read more
Tags: Facebook, Facebook Connect, marketing, news feed, Website, Word of Mouth
Posted in Social Media | 1 Comment »
'The next great Facebook app war'
Deep Focus' Ian Schafer has some pretty bold things to say about Facebook Connect at Ad Age this week. To sum it up, Facebook connect is the battleground for "the next great Facebook app war," he said.
Facebook Connect makes it easy for people to add stuff (like restaurant reviews) to their Facebook profiles. Schafer calls this the "holy grail of Facebook marketing success."
I agree. It's pretty slick. And it should provide a reality check for your online efforts.
Ask yourself, "what does my business allow people to do online that can be connected to a Facebook news feed?" If the answer is, "well, tons of stuff," lucky you. Your digital efforts are probably keeping up with the times, and your competitors are probably sweating. If the answer is, "I'm not really sure." Your job is going to be a lot harder, and your competitors may be a solid fixture in social networks before you have an angle to play.
Tags: Facebook, facebook applications, Facebook Connect, social marketing, social media applications
Posted in Social Media | No Comments »
Can Facebook Lead The Social Web?
Let's face it, the entire web is becoming social. By the end of 2009, all sites will have some social component to them--and why not?
Where there is content, there can be conversation
When there is conversation, there is engagement
Most great live presenters ask questions of their audience. They generally don't do so because they want to know the answer, they do so to keep the audience on their toes
When there is engagement, there is the potential for increased ad revenue (this is not always the case, but creative sales planners can, more easily, find ways to monetize content when users are engaged)
The questions then becomes, who will lead the charge in making the entire web truly social-
Perhaps it will be a current social network that makes it capabilities extensible and lends its audience/tools to content providers
Perhaps it will be new/open standards that drive the social web
The last, least desirable option would be for every content provider to provide their own, proprietary social tool
Over the next few weeks Facebook Connect will be expanding to various content sites, making them more social. In the short term I think that this will be great. I think that new... Read more
Tags: Content Management, conversation, Discovery Channel, Facebook, Facebook Connect, google, Lead, myspace, Open standard, Sales, Site Management, Social Network, Social web
Posted in Social Media | No Comments »
