Facebook Messages Raising the Bar for Relevant Messaging

Facebook has released a beta version of a new form of messaging to a select few of its 500 million users that has important implications for the digital communication methods of retailers. The new platform allows easy filtering of Facebook messages, SMS, MMS, and emails within a personalized “social inbox” tied directly to each user’s Facebook friends. This platform puts a new premium on the delivery of promotional messages that are relevant, timely, and valued, and those retailers who miss the boat will risk losing the communication channel with their users. The traditional methods of mass-messaging to any email address or phone number on record will no longer be effective; the time is now for retailers to start using point-of-sale software capable of collecting and synthesizing data about their customer preferences and segmentation.

Entering the Decade of “Real Life as a Game”

According to Seth Priebatsch, the Chief Ninja from SCVNGR, the past decade of internet development has been all about establishing a global social network, otherwise known as Facebook, and the next decade will be defined by the ever-blurring line between real life and games. This is a very important conclusion because it will ultimately determine how brands and retailers can best allocate their advertising and marketing dollars to capture the largest possible segment of consumers. If social media is the springboard from which daily life is transformed into one giant game (or a collection of smaller games), then the ability to attract attention from the public will be a function of how well you can affect their behavior by rewarding and incentivizing them. In other words, if games do take over then the winners in advertising will be those who figure out exactly what people want, how often they want it, and how best to deliver the rewards; influencing behavior is only possible if we are able to figure out what it takes to get people to respond to messages or instructions, and then deliver those messages exactly when they’re most powerful. The next question will be what types of methods will work best for advertising within this “game layer”? Will it be effective to utilize product placement within games the same way that companies are currently doing with television? Does it make more sense to give people a choice as to what type of commercial they want to watch (as Hulu does), or to simply show them a short 30 second message periodically? The possibilities are virtually endless, both for the type of message and the delivery method, which is exactly why advertising in this expanding, constantly evolving social media space is so exciting!

Location Based Apps Are Cool, But What Are They Good For?

As location-based services like Foursquare and Gowalla gain more and more users, and the coverage of retailer’s using these services grows apace (the PR guys and tech media are really showing nice symbiosis here), the long-term challenge for retailers remains sustained differentiation. These services may be creating buzz and driving short-term results, but when everyone has the same access to the same tools, it’’s unclear how meaningful the technology really is in producing results.

If the goal of the marketer is to achieve short-term objectives, all is well and good. A friend of the company once reminded us that discounting can drive behavior, but doesn’t produce long-term brand relationships; that’’s where the hard work is, and it’’s work that can’’t be compressed into a weekend promotion. While it’’s fun and interesting to have short-term projects around some of these new technologies, whether the important long-term results can be achieved is an open question.

It’’s surely worth pursuing the experiments and running the campaigns to see how LBS (location based services) can work, and we’’re all watching them with great interest. But if they’’re offering the same thing to everyone, and unable to fit coherently into a broader strategy aimed at sustainable brand engagement, they risk being marginalized over time as an interesting but ultimately unproductive distraction.

Best Buy Launching Experiment with Shopkick Technology

Best Buy announced today that it plans to implement Shopkick technology in about one quarter of its total stores by October 1, 2010. Shopkick, Inc. is a location-based software development company that allows retailers to reward customers with discounts, points and special offers for entering their stores, and also for walking to different departments within the store. This is a major development for Best Buy who have seen their stock price fall by 16% this year and are looking for a way to begin building greater traction among shoppers on tight budgets.

The first release of Best Buy’s Shopkick app will be available only to iPhones, with a Droid version due out later, in 257 of its total 1,010 locations. Clearly the success of this program will depend on customers’ willingness to participate in the “scavenger hunt” that Best Buy and Shopkick have devised, so the depth and breadth of the rewards and special offers should ultimately determine the outcome. Overall, very exciting new technology from Shopkick with virtually limitless potential for driving customer behavior and interaction!

Brands Increasing Facebook Ad Spending 10-fold in 2010

Now that the total number of active Facebook users has eclipsed 500mm, brands are beginning to pour advertising dollars into the site in an effort to reach more readers on the world’s number one social media website.