Social media has been around for some time now, from Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and even LinkedIn.  As all of these social platforms have evolved over the years, you still hear people asking…..but what does it all mean?  If you really sit down and think about it, social media is just another form of communication simply just bringing the world closer together.  Ten years ago if someone were to ask me if I would ever have the ability to chat with Madonna I would have just laughed at them, but now with Twitter the thought of that chat doesn’t seem so far off.

With the introduction of all these social media outlets, retailers are slowly starting to enter the realm of building societies and groups of avid fans and followers.  It was only a matter of time before my colleague’s looked at me funny because I was not friends with Amazon.com on Twitter.  I can still hear them whispering; “That’s exactly why he never gets any one day deals on Amazon….sucker!”

With all the Facebook friends and Twitter followers, what does this ultimately mean for retailers and vendors alike?  More potential shoppers!!  By using the social media outlets, retailers are now keeping shoppers informed and ahead of the rest of the crowd through Facebook updates and Twitter tweets.  This is allowing them to create a cult following and loyal fan base of shoppers that they can direct to their site whenever they want.  Once again, you have to take one step back and ask ”what does this all means?”  With increased loyal traffic coming to retailers sites, and certain promotional offers being provided to the Twitter bugs, Facebook friends and MySpace followers, how are these retailers able to differentiate between the various traffic sources and what to provide them with?

As social media continues to mature, so has Sitebrand’s involvement with these new sources of traffic.  Being the leader in online website personalization, Sitebrand has once again taken the lead and is allowing retailers to segment their various social media traffic sources through a series of simple one click campaigns.

It’s been a long time coming, but allowing retailers to speak to their individual Twitter traffic or Facebook friends is becoming an everyday affair with Sitebrand.  The new Segment&Serve tool is allowing retailers to use referrals through any one of the social media tools to speak to their unique traffic segments and add a sense of continuity and relevance to that customers shopping experience.  By clicking on a tiny_url from Twitter and then having a “Welcome Twitter bug” message once the link is clicked, has allowed retailers to create a friendly and non threatehing environment for shoppers.  This has allowed our customers to enjoy higher cart averages and ultimately more Twitter followers and Facebook friends!

This campaign was also used for all Twitter shoppers.

This campaign was used for all Twitter referrers.

Alok Ahuja

The Road Less Travelled