Bands, Artists, Labels, Management Companies… it’s time to move beyond a single stand alone online store and bring your online store to where your fans are hanging out; Facebook, MySpace, Blogs, Websites. Don’t just post your new CD on your Facebook Wall and link your fans back to a typical online store. Post your new CD on your Facebook Wall, MySpace Page, Blog or official website and let your fans buy it right there without even leaving. Let your fans share your new CD as a Wall post with all their friends, while including the ability to buy your CD in every single one of those Wall posts.
STOP, think about what I just said… every single Wall post by all your fans could be a store with the ability to buy your CD. What could that mean for sales?
It is time to bring your commerce to the world of social. CommerceSocial is a new tool that is extremely easy to setup and lets your CD spread virally through the social networks.
Here is how it works: Imagine that the next time you post a product on your Facebook Wall that instead of it just being a image that links off to your website where you need to get your fan through the entire conversion process to complete a purchase that now when they click on the product image a small window actually expands right inside Facebook with a mini shopping cart embedded,. This mini shopping cart allows the fan to instantly make a purchase right in the Facebook Wall… while they are still the most excited and interested in the product. Now what if your fans could become your sales force, they are your biggest supporters. There is a Share button right in the cart that allows the fan to further Share the product on their Facebook Wall. All of a sudden your Wall post is being spread across Facebook by all your fans, and every one of those Wall posts is a online store.
A major shift is happening in online commerce and advertising, consumers in ALL social networks and communities are relying heavily on peer word-of-mouth recommendations for their purchases as they chat about brands and products - it’s happening every minute of every day.
90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust opinions of unknown users. 67% of shoppers spend more online after recommendations from their online community of friends. A product posted on a Facebook Wall or shared in a user’s blog is a recommendation of trust.
CommerceSocial even has a full affiliate program built right into your store. If someone posts a product on their Wall and makes a sale you can choose to pay them a small finders fee. Even more incentive for your fans to start posting your products… they can make some money selling your products!
I have been talking all about Facebook, but all of the same functionality works on MySpace, Blogs and Websites. You can post a complete working store wherever your fans are.
Check out CommerceSocial. Signup as a merchant if you are a band and have some physical goods to sell. Contact me if you have questions about how to best implement social commerce or have questions about CommerceSocial.
Michael Brandvold is leader in the management, development and marketing of large-scale international websites, community websites, subscription-based revenue streams for clients such as KISS, Britney Spears, Madonna, U2, Motley Crue, Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac, Universal Music Group, BMG/Sanctuary Records, Rhino Records, Good Vibrations, Exotic Erotic Ball, GourmetCountry.com, Vivid Entertainment, Playboy, Private Media Group; selling products ranging from software to apparel, paper goods, CD/DVD, books, subscription memberships, Video on Demand and Pay Per Minute.