5 Ways to Optimize Social Media ROI

There's a battle raging for the control of e-commerce. On one side are retailers looking to increase market share, accelerate revenue, grow brand affinity and increase customer lifetime value. On the other side are consumers who want to be empowered, increase connectedness, find relevant products, receive feedback from peers, and have interactive and entertaining experiences online.

At the Direct Marketing Association's Annual Conference & Exhibition last week in San Diego, I led a session where I discussed how the rapid advance of social media has given the edge to consumers, putting them in firm control. The good news for retailers is that this isn’t necessarily bad. By leveraging customers, not just the platform, retailers can still reach their goals.

Social media consists of online tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other. The most leveraged forms of social media include blogs, ratings and reviews, message boards, and social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube.

During the DMA session, I identified several social media tactics that online retailers can implement to boost loyalty and sales:

• Tightly integrate and elevate the exposure of social content and/or social networking links on your website. Showcase your social network links in global navigation, and provide “share this” functionality on your product pages.
• Increase the visibility of ratings and reviews in merchandising creative, directory/product listing pages and as part of global navigation.
• Add self-service capabilities to allow consumers to help themselves and each other. Monetize your video content distribution via social networking sites, such as YouTube, by integrating functionality that allows customers to purchase products directly from the video (e.g., www.qoof.com or www.liveclicker.com).
• Stay actively engaged on social networking sites (e.g., Facebook and MySpace) with postings about new products, events and exclusive promotions. Sur La Table is a great example of a merchant that's actively engaged with its customer base through Facebook (www.facebook.com/SurLaTable).

Here are five steps to help your company create a social media strategy: