By Nick Johnson - November 2nd, 2010
Hi everyone, Lots of interesting movements for corporate social media news last week, just see below Facebook and PayPal get hitched Proving yet again that it is at the forefro...
Hi everyone,
Lots of interesting movements for corporate social media news last week, just see below
Facebook and PayPal get hitched
Proving yet again that it is at the forefront of the digital curve, Facebook are launching a micropayment service in connection with PayPal to debut later this year. Harnessing the power of e-commerce the feature presents a simple two click payment system meaning you never have to leave Facebook when shopping for your digital goods. Facebook and PayPal are working together to channel the “impulse buy” nature of digital purchasing. After the release of The Social Network film this year, perhaps we are likely to see a sequel Facebook: The Monopoly....
Skittles, experiential marketing and social media
Brands are discovering that social media and experiential marketing make a great combination. Facebook brand audiences are increasingly becoming as large as some tv audiences, and there has been a recent survey revealed showing brands are actually more popular than celebrities on the network. Perhaps that is why Skittles are starting a long term strategy to focus on their staggering 1.4million strong fanbase on Facebook. For more details of the stunt they created, resulting in an increase of over 130,000 fans on the Facebook brand page and more than 2000 comments in just 10 hours, see here (New Media Age subscription required - for more detail let me know).
Why do people become fans of brands on Facebook?
A great new report by ExactTarget and CoTweet investigates the reasons why consumers affiliate themselves publicly with brands on Facebook. Perhaps obviously, 40% quoted their incentive as being discounts. 39% confirmed the idea of “social badging” where consumers show their brand support to their friends. 'Liking' is often done to get updates on future products. Before brands assume too much however, note that only 17% of Facebook users who 'Like' at least one brand say they are no more likely to buy the product, and for the same respondents only 23% said they follow brands on Twitter. Not so simple...
Ecommerce traffic from Social network sites increases 13% a year
According to a Google commissioned study earlier this week, the UK is fast becoming a nation of digital shopkeepers. Surprisingly, it reports that the digital economy now contributes more to the UK GDP than construction, education and transport. Social networks are sending 13% more traffic to online retailers compared to 2009. Also of note is that this traffic is not just coming from Facebook but from other social media sites such Vimeo, Badoo and tumbir which have all doubled their online traffic in the last 12 months. Blackberry for example after a conscious social media push, now receives more traffic from social networks than from search engines.
Margaret Atwood creates superhero outfits for Twitter avatars
And finally, even an award winning literary star has discovered the diversity of Twitter. Margaret Atwood, arguably one of the world's greatest living writers is also, as it turns out, a talented fashion designer and draughtswoman. She spoke to the Guardian about her interaction on Twitter with two fans, and her subsequent offer to design costumes for their avatar superhero alteregos. She has also written an amusing account of her introduction to the world of Twitter here on the NYRB blog. Atwood in Twittersphere is her experience of tweeting and her swift conversion from Twitterphobe to Twitterati with more than 30,000 followers.
More next Tuesday!
Thanks,
Francesca Boothby
Contributor
Useful Social Media