Page 236 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

220 7 Social Commerce: Foundations, Social Marketing, and Advertising

Using Twitter as an Advertising
and Marketing Tool • Using professionals to enhance company pres-
ence on Twitter. Twitter is used by many profession-
Twitter and some other microblogging sites have added als, some of who are social commerce influencers.
social networking capabilities to their sites such as creating Companies can interact with these professionals and
profiles and lists of fans and friends. Sellers can reach out to with active bloggers.
these friends to create strong WOM. • Cost effectiveness. Interacting with customers and
Twitter is becoming a little more of a business. The com- business partners using Twitter is very cost- effective.
pany launched its first ad product—“promoted tweets”—in An example is American Apparel, which is using
2010 and netted $45 million in ad dollars. That was due in Twitter to solicit and discuss ideas for ads.
part because brands like Virgin America, Coke, Ford, and
Verizon were willing to experiment with the idea. Twitter
earned about $2.2 billion in 2015, up from $1.4 billion in A major success factor is the mobility of Twitter. Most
2014. Companies can tweet about their business and product people tweet from mobile devices. As a matter of fact, the
offerings, including promotions. This way, they can attract majority of its advertising revenue comes from mobile ads.
Twitter followers to visit their stores. Twitter may help dis-
seminate ads resulting in increased sales. Twitter’s software
suites help merchants reach their Twitter followers by post- Other Innovative Ways to Advertise
ing “tweets” when the merchants add new products or create in Social Media
promotions. For successful examples, do Google searches
for “twitter simply speakers,” and “twitter SBLpublishing.” A major objective of social advertising is to increase traffic to
Twitter is already the world’s second-largest social network- the digital and or physical sites, as described in the Starbucks
ing platform (about 1.3 billion registered users in August opening case in Chapter 1. There are many innovative ways
2015), see reports at mediabistro.com. This may help the to do this. 3dCart (3dcart.com) lists the following: Advertise
microblogging site compete with Facebook in attracting your Facebook store on your company’s Facebook Page,
advertisers. place a “Like” button linked to a customer story to your prod-
Finally, here are some more ways one can do business or uct page, and use social e-mail marketing on Facebook;
advertise on Twitter. These are: advertise your store using customer stories through Twitter;
advertise in videos on YouTube; use mobile apps; and social
bookmarking will improve communications from your prod-
uct page.
• Recruiting and finding jobs. These can be facilitated
by direct contacts, or contacts via an intermediary.
• Brand display. A company’s blog, display ads, and
marketing communications can be displayed on • Use a Facebook Page for your company, and add a
Twitter. Bloggers can display their capabilities. Facebook Store. Customers will become “fans” of
• Market research. By listening to tweets, companies your business to check on updates and meet others
can learn what customers and competitors say. Also, with similar interests.
companies can actively participate in discussions. • Tweet about the business and any promotions/new
• Delivering offers. Companies can offer promo- products, etc.
tions, coupons, and discounts to those that opt-in. • Blog to your customers to keep them updated about
For example, American Express synchronized their new products, etc.
customers’ accounts with the customers’ Twitter • Integrate videos (e.g., YouTube) on your website.
account to provide discounts from participating • Add social bookmarking to your product’s page for
merchants. easy return.
• Collaboration. Twitter provides for efficient col- • Embrace mobile apps.
laboration within and between organizations. • Add a Facebook “Like” button with its sponsored
• Customer service. As will be described in Section story to your product (e.g., Gatorade brand scored
7.5, Twitter can facilitate CRM and customer 1.2 million conversations in 6 months using their
service. “Mission Control” campaign).