Article

How retailers can get better ROI from Facebook Open Graph 2.0 and Timeline

Open Graph 2.0 allows for actions and expressions that were previously unavailable.

June 5, 2012

By Greg Links

To understand the potential value of access to Facebook's Open Graph 2.0 and shoppers' Timelines, retailers need only to look as far as Facebook's reach — about 845 million active users by the end of 2011. And while recent changes to Facebook's user experience have sparked some debate among their sprawling user community, Open Graph 2.0 allows for actions and expressions that were previously unavailable. Why is this important, and how can merchants capitalize on the changes?

1. Move Beyond the Like.Consider the fact that the vast majority of consumers do not create a shopping cart or sign up for retailer-specific wish lists. It's easy to understand that finding a more effective way in which to transform this passive audience into active, social online shoppers is critical. Open Graph 2.0 gives retailers a better opportunity to interact with consumers in a way that makes sense to them: expressively, accurately and socially.

Offering contextual social plug-ins, such as buttons conveying emotion (e.g. "Like") or buttons that link content back to specific sites (e.g. "Pin It") is a good way in which brands can socially engage with interested shoppers. Not only are these apps already fully integrated into Open Graph 2.0., but it is also important to note that there are a variety of choices, depending on your target demographic. When considering the different plug-in choices, be sure to take into account the potential audience; for example, while Pinterest has experienced a recent explosion in popularity, it is still invite-only and a largely female contingent, so if you sell to a male demographic, it may not be as immediately relevant to your shoppers.

Retailers that understand the power and nuances of these new action plug-ins are better positioned to capitalize on the specific needs of their audiences. Strategically, adding one – or several – of these social plug-ins to their product detail pages will not only give them the exposure they are looking for on Open Graph 2.0, but also the exposure that is most impactful to their particular buying audience.

2. Keep it Simple.Like many businesses embracing social media, I often see retailers trying to be everything to everyone, and this rarely works. Put yourself in your shopper's shoes. Why are they on your site? To purchase, to research, to browse – or a combination of the three? Are they simply looking for content to share or to build a "dream" board, with no purchase intent? Not only does your audience want a good buying experience, but a good user experience is also important, even if they are not intending to purchase.

Today's consumers are likely to share desired products with their friends, often to gather opinions if they are on the fence, or to share dream purchases. And the easiest and most intuitive way for them to do this is to use social apps that are integrated into Open Graph 2.0. Unfortunately, even with all of these available actionable options, though, many retailers still cling to traditional, close-ended wish lists. The downside of this is they create another speed bump in the online shopping and sharing process due to the sometimes long and laborious sign-up process and lack of a truly universal host for such lists.

Instead, today's consumer appreciates the ability to quickly save products to a universal location that can be shared with their friends more conveniently. Allowing them to use social apps as their wish or want list improves the customer experience and engagement. And it is no secret that satisfied shoppers become the most loyal customers and brand advocates.

3. Frequently A/B Test. The good news is that retailers have some choice as to how to best access Open Graph 2.0 and the exposure it will provide. So why not test? There are many A/B and multi-variate testing tools (for all budgets) at retailers' disposal today, and simply testing different social apps will provide the insight necessary to know which ones their shoppers will most want to engage with.

Because we are still in the early stages of adoption of the tools and platforms that can fully harness the opportunity presented by Facebook's Open Graph 2.0, retailers need to keep experimenting until they get it "right." There is huge potential for social commerce to be one of the biggest revenue generators for retailers in the coming years. The key, however, is to put consumer needs first and build relevant social engagement features throughout the shopping experience.

Above all, consumers crave genuine engagement and authentic interaction and want to share their experiences easily and visually with their friends. Learning how to satisfy that desire in a more complete and intuitive way will forge brand awareness, trust and shopping confidence – translating into greater success for retailers.

Greg Links is vice president of sales for social tech company Want Technologies.