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Archive for the ‘socia media’ Category
A “Social” Publishing Tool for Email Marketers
posted by Peter A. Prestipino @ 7:51 AM
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Email marketing solutions provider GraphicMail has released a new social publishing tool that enables marketing teams to collaborate on email development.
Connect+, which was developed in partnership with social publishing platform MessageSherpa, essentially adds a social content management system to the GraphicMail ecosystem that enables businesses to share and collect content from those within their network, create email messages from that shared content, and distribute communications by both email and social media posts.
The solution will likely be a good fit for those organizations with extended networks like franchises, chains, distributors, retailers, channel partners, etc., which require a centralized, community-driven repository of information and are increasingly demanding greater collaboration features from their software. Connect+ pricing starts at $9.00/mo.
“It's all about connections and sharing resources,” notes Nick Eckert, CEO of GraphicMail. “Every organization has a network that extends beyond colleagues to include suppliers, sales reps and clients. The network influences the organization's vision and goals and its approach to commerce. Connect+ enables the collection of content from across this network so it can be leveraged to achieve the organization's communication objectives.”
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Social Gamification Gains Momentum in the Retail Channel
posted by Peter A. Prestipino @ 7:20 AM
Thursday, April 26, 2012
eCommerce coupon and “offer marketing” platform Fanplayer has brought its gamification technology to Magento, the first such partner in Ebay’s X.Commerce ecosystem.
Magento merchants are now able to add the Fanplayr widget to their stores to engage consumers socially with games that provide multi-variable coupons and offers. There are currently three Fanplayr games – Spinner (see short demo video below), Mystery Game, and Card Flip.
The Fanplayr widgets can be deployed pretty much anywhere – not just a Magento shopping cart – including Facebook brand pages, email, mobile websites, even within advertising. The extension offers real-time performance insights into the coupons/offers being used by merchants and also provides social graph (and Facebook Connect) integration.
"Magento's integration partnership with Fanplayr enables merchants to better engage and convert social consumers to sales using new and traditional marketing channels," said Fanplayr CEO Simon Yencken. "We're excited to be a lead innovator for the Magento and X.commerce platforms and are focused on building new and innovative commerce experiences that drive the highest engagement, loyalty and sales for merchants."
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Consumers Want More from Social, Mobile and Local Commerce
posted by AllisonH @ 12:00 PM
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Social media and mobile devices have been a game changer for local businesses due to features that allow consumers to interact with brands, browse products, find nearby deals and more. But as features for these channels grow, consumers are also expecting more.
A new study from Commerce in Motion reveals that most retailers aren’t keeping up with consumer expectations in regards to social, mobile and local shopping.
Here is what consumers expect and the percentage of responding retailers that are meeting these expectations:
- 46 percent of consumers expect to be able to place orders through their smartphone, which is only being offered by 38 percent of retailers.
- 42 percent of consumers expect product pricing and availability via their smartphone, which is offered by 30 percent of retailers.
- 44 percent of consumers want to receive order status updates on their smartphone, which is offered by 30 percent of retailers.
- 40 percent of consumers expect the ability to use QR Codes to access product content, which if offered by 33 percent of retailers.
- 34 percent of consumers expect the ability to browse and make purchases with a tablet app, which is only offered by 28 percent of retailers.
- 38 percent of consumers expect to browse and make purchases within a social network, which is only offered by 22 percent of retailers.
- 26 percent of consumers expect to receive location-specific offers through their phone when near a store, which is offered by 20 percent of retailers.
- 28 percent of consumers expect to receive department-specific offers on their phone while inside a store, which is only offered by 12 percent of retailers.
So why aren’t consumer expectations being met? According to the study’s retailer respondents, 33 percent lack corporate commitment, 36 percent don’t have the ability to integrate new channels in their commerce platform, 36 percent have limited inventory visibility across channels, and 25 percent claim that their stores are unable to support new fulfillment and promotion challenges.
However, most surveyed retailers are intending to offer new social, mobile and local programs in 2012, including 38 percent implementing the ability to place orders via smartphones, 20 percent implementing geo-location strategies and 30 percent including product availability and pricing information for smartphones.
“The good news is there’s a heightened sense of industry awareness and onus to react to SoMoLo shopping behaviors,” says David Bruno, director of Commerce Studies for RedPrairie and the editor and publisher of CommerceInMotion.com. “For retailers that develop executive commitment, clearly defined all-channel strategies, and the right technology platforms, SoMoLo and the all-channel evolution offers unprecedented opportunity to increase brand loyalty and market share. It’s an exciting time for the retail industry.”
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StumbleUpon Facelift and Discovery Enhancements
posted by Peter A. Prestipino @ 12:45 PM
Monday, December 5, 2011
Website discovery service Stumbleupon, which was just referenced on WM’s new Big List of Social Media Sites, has received a rather substantial update (rolling out through the day apparently) which focuses on the site’s design and adds a new channel feature.
For those unfamiliar with the service, StumbleUpon enables Web users to discover and share content based on categories. Users “stumble” recommended content and then have the option of voting and commenting on the selection. While I personally have questioned the value of the content discovery service in relation to conversion rate, the service now boasts 20 million active users with over 1 billion “stumbles” per month. So regardless of how well it performs to general sales, it’s a popular service that demands the attention of digital workers.
The service’s navigation tool, the Stumble bar, has been updated to display fewer buttons which makes the voting button more prominent. The Stumble bar has also integrated Explore Box, a feature the company added back in August of this year that allows users to search through more specific categories.
Perhaps the most important enhancement to the service is the addition of Stumbleupon Channels, which provide users with a way to explore content from sites, celebrities and brands. There are upwards of 250 existing channels currently which are curated by the brand (and authenticated by Stumbleupon). Early reports indicate that channels are separate from SU’s current discovery algorithm.
Related news on Stumbleupon from Website Magazine:
- Stumbleupon Refers More Social Media Traffic than Facebook
- Stumbleupon Releases an Explore Feature
- New Publisher Tool from Stumbleupon
- Stumbleupon Launches New Social Media Brand Advertising
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