Social Networking: Engage Your Customers

What’s good for the small business e-tailer is often good for brick-and-mortar business, too, and that’s certainly true when it comes to building your business through social networking. Ecommerce-Guide.com looks at how to make the most of your customers’ social networks.

E-tailers have long known the benefits of acquiring their best customer's best friends, and they also know that nothing makes virtual cash registers ring better than word-of-mouth marketing. For these reasons, social media and online social networks can drive online shopping and spending.

Charles Nicholls, founder of SeeWhy, a re-marketing services company, believes that one issue hindering the e-commerce industry is marketers’ inability to use social networks in an engaging way.

While many e-tailers take advantage of Facebook Connect and tweet their latest deals, Nicholls says the danger this season is that social networks will be used as little more than cheap broadcast channels, and not as communication channels to truly engage customers.

"Once a customer has shared their passion about an e-commerce brand with their social network, it’s important to identify and recognize the customer’s value specifically," he said.

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