Social Echoes…ideas by Jeffery Giesener – CEO – ShoppeSimple

As Facebook (at 800 Million users) and Twitter (over 100 Million users) continues to grow at their exponential social pace the concern coming from merchants is that their website analytics are showing an increased level of defection from their websites to social and mobile platforms.

This is not a surprise and at ShoppeSimple we have been speaking about this issue for some time now. We have also been promulgating Surround-Sound Social Business™ solutions that drive social engagement and conversations horizontally through all of your marketing channels. Social shouldn’t be verticalized within your organization.

Social Space . . . The Innovator’s End Run

For those of you who have stayed tuned into my message you are in a unique position to capitalize on a first mover advantage essentially “Taking The Mike™” for your brand and own these social spaces before your competitor gets there. This is a case study in the classic disruptive innovation that Clayton Christenson speaks about in his definitive work called The Innovators Dilemma. In his book, he describes many cases where companies have used technology to do an end run around their bigger, more entrenched competitors. These social spaces now make it possible for you to step up and make this happen for your brand.
For others who continue to be skeptical about social media, now is not the time to ignore that your consumers are already buying in these social spaces. We continue to see these social monetization results every day.
Social spaces are here to stay and make no mistake that your consumer is driving their bus around these conversations. The Genie is out of the bottle and is never going back in.
If you are still sitting on the sidelines or just tiptoeing into the social and mobile waters, I only have to take you back a short 15 years. It was the “Blue Ocean” of the World Wide Web where many marketers had similar reservations.

Should I build an ecommerce website?
I don’t want to or can’t cannibalize my retail channel.
My customer is too old and therefore either not online or they’re certainly not buying online.

I am sure you remember. Today, these or other similar excuses are playing out in the social and mobile space today.
Sidebar: Did you know? Amazon disclosed in last year’s financials that it is already doing $1 Billion+ in mobile revenue or 3% of their total revenue
Now, if you’re thinking you are socializing your business by putting a Facebook or Twitter icon on your website, please think again. When you place these icons and then casually walk away from social (thinking you are doing all you can do) you are frankly just building the Facebook and Twitter brands. This is great for Facebook and Twitter but what is your ROI?
To make my point even further, have you been able to monetize these Facebook and Twitter icons and truly bank money through social for your business? If you are like most of the merchants we speak with, the answer is no (more like NO!) and this is not a surprise.
ShoppeSimple’s patent-pending social sharing tools drive more social business from every one of your marketing channels. So ask yourself, are you socializing all of your Social Business channels?

Pay Per Click and SEO Channels?
Email Channel?
Affiliate Channel?
Catalog Channel?
Website Channel?
Retail Channel?
Mobile Channel?

All merchants should be, yet too many companies still neglect some basic Social Business strategies that could maximize frequency of ordering, improve conversion rates for the traffic they already have, increase average orders and add new customers.
Drive Social Horizontally

Surround-Sound Social Business solutions are all about driving social horizontally throughout your organization. It’s about generating conversations and engaging with your consumers wherever they are. It’s about distributing content that consumers want because it’s highly relevant to them and they determine when and where they want to receive it. Giving the consumer control over the content they receive is a paradigm shift. But when they’re in control, they more willingly share content with their friends and family extending your marketing reach (viral).
Surround-Sound Social Business solutions socialize all of your marketing channels and always bring your social and mobile traffic back to your website where the sale is made.
Around The Next Corner
I would love to say that Social Business is easy to build but if it were, everyone would be doing it successfully and making a ton of money. Again, you only have to go back 15 years when most of you were not into serious e-commerce yet. Just think how far your e-commerce business has come today. Now look into your crystal ball and just imagine where your Social Business will be in 3 years.
What are your social projections?
Yes, answering this question will require some intense thinking on an organizational level but if you start tomorrow (actually yesterday) you can begin to make a daily deposit right away from your Social Business into your bank account. ShoppeSimple is here to help you do just that.
Even with the Holiday season only a month away we can still help you bank Social and Mobile dollars yet this year. Your program can be launched without the need of any of your IT resources in less than 10 days. Yes that quick!
To start the conversation simply give me a ring at 612-349-2740 or email me at jeff@shoppesimplenetwork.com