In our billion channel universe, attention is our most valuable commodity.
Like the old adage re: the Golden Rule in Hollywood (i.e. ‘he who has the gold makes the rules’), it may as well be said that in this billion channel universe, ‘he who has the attention gets the gold.’
What’s interesting is how these two companies are attacking the problem.
Facebook and the Rise of Social Commerce
So, Facebook says, ‘ok, we know who your friends are and we know that you spend a boatload of time on our site. What if we just integrated those two things so that you can have a ‘one stop shop’ as it were and get your shopping done WHILE you are hanging out with your friends?”
Makes sense, right?
Mitch Joel does a great analysis in his post “F-Commerce- Rise of the Facebook Consumer” on expounding upon this idea.
You already see stores popping up within Facebook, such as 1-800-Flowers, Delta, and Best Buy.
Pretty soon, we’ll all be able to set up storefronts (for whatever we sell) within Facebook. Kind of like a huge, global mall, where Mark Zuckerberg is the landlord and dictates rents.
But, he brings in the “foot traffic” as well as the analytics to help you customize offers for your Raving Fans and their friends.
In this context, Facebook is like a mall where you go with your friends and you ‘pick up stuff” along the way. That stuff could be cosmetics or movie tickets, but it could also be software or consulting services.
Implications for you as a marketer
A powerful network of community members who are advocates and can serve as authentic evangelists to drive attention and awareness to your store versus your competitors is critical. Here’s how you can nurture them in 10 steps.
Google and the “It’s Everywhere You Want To Be” Commerce Strategy
Google, on the other hand, isn’t so much a destination as it is a taxi service. You pay them with attention and they take you where you want to go.
Now, it used to be that the first place people went on the web was Google, not so much anymore, as people go to Facebook more often (and the data supports that).
And that makes sense.
How often do you walk out of your house and say “I need a taxi.” Not too often.
But, if a taxi was waiting there for you when you walked out and said, “hey, where would you like to go? And, by the way, I can get you there faster, more reliably, and more cost-effectively than you doing it yourself.” Well, in that case, you might start doing that more often.
Google knows this and that’s where Android comes in to play.
Mitch Joel, again, from When Mobile Eats The Internet's Lunch:
“These are the early indications of what will be the inevitable shift from fixed connectivity to a completely mobile experience.”
And the data to support that?
“The number of smartphones sold in Q4 2010 was up 87.2% from the 53.9 million sold in Q4 2009.”
According to HubSpot in this great piece 12 Mind-Blowing Statistics Every Marketer Should Know
- 78% of business people use their mobile device to check email.
- 40% of US smartphone owners compare prices on their mobile device while in-store, shopping for an item.
And if you REALLY want to get crazy on the data, check out this fantastic infographic on “Mobile by the Numbers” (HT @benjamingauthey)
But we don’t even need the data, do we? The evidence surrounds us.
Which is why Google is spending a lot of time and money giving Android away.
By far, the best analysis I’ve read on this is The Freight Train That Is Android. As Bill Gurley writes:
They are not trying to make a profit on Android or Chrome. They want to take any layer that lives between themselves and the consumer and make it free (or even less than free).
They figure…. “if we can be there at the moment when the customer interacts with the digital world by virtue of controlling the OS and the experience, surround it with our apps and marketplace, we can transport them to the right merchant at the right time.”
And, judging from recent reports on its growth in share (particularly vis a vis Apple), they are positioning themselves quite nicely.
Then, we throw in social and curation elements like “+1” to help you decide because you don’t necessarily want to go shopping WITH your friends. It’s not about having them with you, but when you do go shopping, you’d like to know what your trusted friends think about your potential purchase.
These are necessary by the way because, as Paul Kedrosky wrote: “Google's Search Algorithm Has Been Ruined, Time To Move Back To Curation.”
Now, I don’t agree with him fully and I don’t think Google does either. For the most part, Google still works, HOWEVER, he’s not all wrong and I think the “+1” effort by Google is a small admission of that (as well as an effort to appear ‘social.’)
So, what does THIS all mean for you/us as marketers?
Location. Location. Location.
But not of you…of your customers.
- how we can interact in a permission-based way that is consistent with a mobile lifestyle?
- what can we offer that would warrant a desired notification?
Mobile ubiquity will fundamentally change marketing and we must "Think Mobile First..and Second.”
Bottom Line?
Focus on your fans, of course.
And listen/ask your fans and your customers “what could we possibly give you that would make it worthwhile for you to get “push” notifications from us on your mobile device?”
Then innovate on both of them.
Man, this is going to be exciting.
