Note: This is the first of a three part series
F-commerce is the name most commonly used to describe Facebook ecommerce. The idea is appealing to marketers trying to reach people in a micro-marketing environment. Since Facebook has half a billion plus users, who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to reach them while they play?
In a best case scenario, people would pop over to your Facebook store, pick up a couple of items, and then continue visiting with their friends. Or, better yet, they would bring their friends along for a virtual shopping experience. Can you imagine the fun of trying clothes on your shapely avatar? Or, challenging your best bud in a lively game of avatar laser tag? Oh, the fun we marketers could have dreaming up creative ways to separate people from their cash.
We don’t live in a best case scenario world. The time may come that f-commerce is the people’s choice for online shopping. Until then, smart marketers are testing the waters without investing heavily in something that may never be a viable business model. They keep everything simple and strategic with an eye on the bottom line. This helps them avoid the top three f-commerce traps.
Trap 1: Investing heavily in unproven territory
F-commerce is too new to make an educated risk management decision. Instead of throwing money at it in hopes that something sticks, smart marketers are taking baby steps. That is exactly what Proctor and Gamble did when they tested selling Pampers via their Facebook fan page. The results are encouraging, but they are not as revolutionary as social media advocates would have you believe.
P&G’s initial foray into f-commerce famously sold 1,000 diapers in less than an hour. For most businesses, this would be a huge success story. P&G isn’t like most businesses. If the 1,000 per hour were repeatable and sustainable, they would sell $87.5 million in one year. That is 1% of their $8 billion annual diaper sales. This ratio isn’t mentioned when people cite their test as a success story. The implication is “if P&G can do it, so can you!”
The 350,000+ fans aren’t mentioned either. This is a 0.2 response rate for a limited time special offer. There were only 1,000 units available in a promotion featured as a “deal of the day.” This was a dabbling in the f-commerce waters to see if there were any opportunities. Treating it as proof that f-commerce works is foolish. It was simply a stepping stone for one business.
I recently received a telephone call from someone testing social media as a marketing channel. His first question was “how can P&G sell a thousand diapers in an hour when I can’t give things away?”
The easy (and also snarky) answer is that P&G is awesome and it takes a remarkable company to emulate their success. But, that isn’t true or real. It’s time for social media advocates to stop with the redundant attribution to touchy-feely and help the channel grow up. If social media is to reach its full potential as a viable marketing channel, it needs people without rose colored glasses scrutinizing every effort and cataloging what works and doesn’t.
The real answer is that P&G established a fan base long before they ran the test. Once they had a solid community base, they tested the commerce waters using an Amazon platform. When the test results were in, P&G quietly closed the store and went back to the drawing board. They are back now with their own platform and an opportunity for retailers of their products to participate.
If you want a successful social media strategy, here are some lessons from P&G’s example:
Invest in building a community. It takes time to assemble a group of people who are interested in interacting with your brand.
Try different things. What works in social media? Take a wild guess… It may or may not work, but you might want to give it a try. There are no rules so you have to write them.
Measure well. If you aren’t measuring (or at least documenting cause and effect), you are wasting your time. The results are needed so you can improve your marketing efforts.
Go back to the drawing board. Finding your way around multiple platforms while identifying how people want to interact with your brand is challenging. Having the option to regroup is essential to your success.
For guidance in creating a social media strategy that works, check out Social Media 4 Direct Marketers
Trap 2 – Fragmenting the Customer Experience
Trap 3 – Giving Your Business to Facebook
If you like this post, please share it with your community. You may also like these:
- Social Media 4 Direct Marketers is Even Better…
- Why Social Media Matters to Direct Marketers
- 5 Spam Triggers to Avoid to Improve Email Deliverability
- The Official Rules for Social Media Engagement for Both B2B and B2C Companies…
- Why Social Media Won’t Work as a Silo Marketing Channel
Ask Debra!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for sharing cogent facts about P&G’s “success.” Too often we try one thing once, we don’t get the results we expect, and we throw the entire project away. The true heroes are the ones who take the ideas apart after the first attempt and put them back together in a slightly different fashion. Your point about building your fan base FIRST is also well-taken. I think we have put the cart before the horse sometimes, thinking that the activity will bring the follower.
Hi Kathryn,
Excellent point – “we have put the cart before the horse sometimes, thinking that the activity will bring the follower.”
Thank you.
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