Viralogy

Name: Espree Devora
Company: http://minneapp.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/espreedevora

Today we have Espree Devora from Minneapp who talks to us about how ecommerce stores can effecitvely use social media to increase their fan base and increase their revenue.  We dive into some pretty specific techniques, so you can read the summary below which links out to the sites that Espree refers to.  Hope you enjoy the video and please email us if you have any questions!

Link to Mind Map

What advice do you have for a small ecommerce store that has a Facebook Fan Page, Blog, and Twitter profile. What should they do to get more targeted traffic?

Companies need to STOP wanting 10,000 fans when they should focus on generating $10,000.  All you need is 1,000 advocates for a brand to have a profitable company.

The way to build brand ambassadors is to go to events, create custom content, and engage with the target audience.  Survey your fan base to find out what kind of content they find interesting and then feed them what they want.

Example: Ecommerce store sells custom wooden bowls.  What kind of content should they start writing?

Suggestion: use Flickr to upload photos and then import them to Facebook.

Espree does not recommend Facebook as a starting point; Facebook is a place for people who are already interested to find out more.

Then where do you find the new people to get interested in your company?

Espree suggests using http://search.twitter.com/advanced to find people based on what they’re saying and location.  By segmenting the target market, you’ll be able to @ reply them directly and engage them.

How do you Tweet without sounding spammy?

It’s important to understand that in social marketing you’re building a relationships and you’re going for a slow sale.  If someone comments about bowls, you don’t say, “Buy my bowls.”  The goal is to build the relationship and engage the person gradually.

Eventually, the person you connected with will get excited that you are excited about them and find your website.

Does the ecommerce store owner have the time to do social media marketing?

The majority of the time, Espree’s company communicates on behalf of the brand to the community online.