Like many readers of Social Media Today, I too work in the field of social media. As the Director of Sales and Marketing at Wellness Layers, I work closely with health and wellness companies to conceptualize and build their private, branded social networks. I often like to examine new trends in the public social media market and consider how I might approach things differently.
Each time I read about Facebook's business challenges, for example, and then discover that the company has increased advertising feeds in an attempt to increase revenues, I cannot help but think that there must be a better solution that will not put off its members. If Facebook keeps this up, I believe it will slowly turn itself into more of a 'spambook', and make way for competitors to take its market share. After all, it could be argued that something similar happened to MySpace.
To launch a successful customized destination, I consider all stakeholders at play and what will present them with the best experience and provide the highest value. In my field of health and wellness, this is a complex task. There are always multiple stakeholders (patients, caregivers, care teams, etc.), along with other considerations such as multiple service lines, products, incentive plans, programs, disease states, and so forth.
For a public social network like Facebook, this is much simpler. Facebook houses a massive and fully captivated network of consumers, with the majority accessing the environment daily or even multiple times a day. Facebook is looking to capitalize on this through willing CPG companies. Given the natural marriage between buyers and sellers, I believe social ecommerce would be a natural evolution. It would provide a new value proposition to both Facebook members and brands without the feel of being overrun with ads.
I, for one, am always interested in what other people are buying because it influences my purchasing decisions. I do not enjoy ads, however I would like to see what electronics, jewelry, clothes and kitchen appliances my friends and family are buying, would like to buy, or would like to receive as gifts. It would be much easier around birthdays and holidays if I could look at the Facebook profile pages of my friends and relatives and send gifts by simply clicking on their desired product and having all of the shipment and specifications already filled out.
Facebook could charge the CPG companies for participating by taking a percentage of the sales and/or charging per click, as with ads. There are many social ecommerce sites with great product reviews and rating systems, however they do not provide the value of seeing what one's personal network buys or wants to buy. Also, with most social ecommerce sites, the structure requires the consumer to seek out the product and then see the reviews/ratings. In the case of Facebook, the products and their reviews and ratings could come to the consumers along with a convenient link to "purchase now". While all sites have ads, an innovative approach to ecommerce could further enrich the community experience.
Be it social ecommerce or another creative new structure, in order to reverse the downward trend of Facebook, ads are not enough. There needs to be an evolution which takes into account the experience of the members.
References
www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/facebook-now-serving-advertisements-your-search-results-961206">http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/facebook-now-serving-advertisements-your-search-results-961206">www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/facebook-now-serving-advertisements-your-search-results-961206">http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/facebook-now-serving-advertisements-your-search-results-961206
www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57499375/going-public-key-developments-in-facebooks-ipo/">http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57499375/going-public-key-developments-in-facebooks-ipo/">www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57499375/going-public-key-developments-in-facebooks-ipo/">http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57499375/going-public-key-developments-in-facebooks-ipo/
http://newyork.newsday.com/opinion/fb-facebook-stock-hits-new-low-price-drop-may-continue-1.3911917">http://newyork.newsday.com/opinion/fb-facebook-stock-hits-new-low-price-drop-may-continue-1.3911917
http://blog.coherentia.com/index.php/2009/08/facebook-usage-how-often-do-different-types-of-users-access-facebook/">http://blog.coherentia.com/index.php/2009/08/facebook-usage-how-often-do-different-types-of-users-access-facebook/