When we think about how we used to make online purchases, its amazing how far we’ve come from the ‘Click to Buy’ transaction a few years ago. Social commerce has brought the opportunities to make the emotional connection with the vendor before we buy. The new way of classifying goods for sale democratises data, allowing it to be shared with our friends and colleagues. Good marketing campaigns get much further reach and a greater awareness than ever before, and peer recommendations encourage further sales.

1. Social Media Shopping and the Rise of
the Social Customer:
Eileen Brown
+44 7764 359 905
Amastra Ltd
@eileenb
June 2011
Amastra Ltd.
Registered Office: 22 Friars St. Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 2AA Registered in England and Wales No: 06930568 VAT Reg. No: 972 3998 64

2. Social Media Shopping and the Rise of the Social Customer
Eileen Brown
When we think about how we used to make online purchases, its amazing how far we’ve come from
the ‘Click to Buy’ transaction a few years ago. Social commerce has brought
the opportunities to make the emotional connection with the vendor before
we buy. The new way of classifying goods for sale democratises data, allowing
it to be shared with our friends and colleagues.
Good marketing campaigns get much further reach and a greater awareness
than ever before, and peer recommendations encourage further sales.
The challenge that marketers have is our current mind-set. We’re unsure
what’s happening to the economy. When will it recover? Will it recover? How
are we going to manage right now? Our survival instinct kicks in, we tighten
our belts and we stop purchasing the very things that marketers are trying to
get us to buy. We search for more affordable things – and this drives our behaviour.
We use comparison websites, we surf channels for the best deals. Our purchase decisions are all
driven by the bargains we can get. Consumers are often not making the decision to buy something in
the shops – the impulse to buy is delayed until they have done some research online, read the reviews
about the product before they make their decision.
The way we shop has changed too. There are 3 roles that consumers tend to fall into and this is
classified by their purchasing behaviour:
 The end user: For them shopping is done almost exclusively online. They shop from home and
they use price comparison websites extensively
 The shopper: They walk around town, visiting shop by shop to see what’s on offer. They then
use the web to see if they can get a better deal online
 The buyer: They buy physical items in real shops. Yes, they’ll shop around, but they make the
purchase at a physical store. Its a real experience for them
The challenge for the marketer is that the power has shifted from the brand to the consumer. The
consumer makes the decisions about where, when and how they will shop. With over 300 million
applications for smartphones and tablet devices like the iPad, media has shifted from Marketing media
to My media, to Our media (through sharing). The right technology allows consumers find the best
product for them and buy it at the right brand. It allows them to build a relationship with these
brands.
So how do you break through all of your competitors, and the competitive clutter to target your
audience with relevant messaging from the brand? how do you enlist your brand advocates to spread
the word on your behalf?
Brand advocates are really important in your marketing and advertising efforts. Getting a good
dialogue with your brand evangelists as I talk about in my book is key to broadening your message out
beyond the first tier of connections. Your message gets shared and amplified.
Amastra Ltd.
Registered Office: 22 Friars St. Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 2AA Registered in England and Wales No: 06930568 VAT Reg. No: 972 3998 64

3. Factor in these 5 concepts to connect with your customer.
 Every customer has a lifestyle which goes way beyond your product. Study their lifestyles to
really understand how to market to them. If you know your customer well, and know their
lifestyles, then you will know what they want to buy/
 As a marketer, you have an opportunity to delight customers by providing timely and relevant
content in the right place – on the right device. Make sure your content is compelling and
interesting.
 Social Coupons which can be shared – and can go viral are much better than paper based
coupons. They have a huge reach and return. See the reach that Threshers had with their very
successful viral coupon campaign and the associated commentary here and here wondering
whether it was a genuine mistake or a fake viral campaign
 Consumer promotions and brand advertising work well together and have a higher return that
just a TV campaign on its own. Think about a co-ordinated approach similar to the Old Spice
US marketing campaign
 Give them the campaigns that they want- in the form factor they want – on the device that
they want. Don’t make them change their behaviour to suit you
But most of all, make sure that you try to understand what your customers want and don’t try to give
then what you want them to want. Giving your customers exactly what they want will lead to more
sales and success for your business.
Eileen Brown is a social media professional who has been working with social and collaborative
technologies for over 14 years. Eileen works with corporates to leverage their community
connections, influencer networks and to take advantage of social commerce and social CRM. She
works across the globe with companies to develop their social strategy, customer reach and online
branding. Her book, Working The Crowd: Social Media Marketing for Business, is available at
http://bcs.org/books/workcrowd She is a regular presenter at conferences and events around the
world and can speak at your conference or event. Book her at: http://amastra.co.uk/speaking.aspx
Eileen Brown, Amastra
eileenb@amastra.co.uk
+44 7764 359 905
http://twitter.com/eileenb
http://eileenbrown.wordpress.com
http://LinkedIn.com/in/eileenbrown
http://Facebook.com/WorkingTheCrowd
http://Amastra.co.uk
Amastra Ltd.
Registered Office: 22 Friars St. Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 2AA Registered in England and Wales No: 06930568 VAT Reg. No: 972 3998 64