Social Media Marketing

The value of Facebook and other social media sites to retailers is greater than previously thought, according to a recent survey conducted by Media Logic, a company recognized for specializing in marketing for a social world. After all, Facebook would be the third most populated country in the world if it were, in fact, a country. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for retailers to be involved with the social media site.

We're excited to offer you Retail Online Integration's 50 best tips of 2010. Our editorial staff reviewed every word published in our print publication, e-newsletter (The ROI Report) and website over the past year. From there, we've extracted the best money-making and cost-saving pointers. Enjoy.

Social media is as easy to control as the ocean. Some days are so calm you wonder if the world has taken a day off. Others are filled with activity that sends customers and prospects clicking to your site. And some days bring hurricane-force winds that threaten the foundation of your business.

Sephora has announced the launch an online social shopping community for Sephora customers.  Customers can use the service to talk about the products they're buying, discover trending products, and write product reviews to share with others.

We’ve found that YouTube has broad appeal and, unlike virtually any other channel, YouTube videos allow us to tell stories that we couldn’t convey in print or other online media. We create original content that you can’t see anywhere else for YouTube fans and the active blogger community.

In a post on its Facebook page, Wal-Mart launched the deals app Crowdsaver, which unlocks a discount once enough consumers opt in - much like the group deals phenomenon the start-up Groupon has made popular in recent months.

Part two of this series examines what impact social media will have on retail going forward. In particular, opportunities to bridge online and offline customer experiences in order to seamlessly integrate multiple touchpoints and selling channels are identified.

YouTube is the second most trafficked search engine on the web; if you aren’t using this service for your business, you're missing out on reaching tons of potential customers.

Social commerce has shifted into high gear. E-commerce continues to grow at increasingly rapid rates and experts predict that online sales could grow to as much as 30 percent of total retail sales over the next few decades.