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The Collapse of Social Commerce

Matt Winn • Senior Brand Manager • Volusion Zach Welch • VP of Client Services • BrandGlue

What we’ll be covering EdgeRank Ø  Facebook’s Algorithm and how it works

  The State of the Union Ø  Where we’ve been, where we’re at, and where

we’re going

  Remaining Successful in Social Ø  Best practices, tips and tricks

  Remaining Successful in Ecommerce Ø  Best practices, tips and tricks

The algorithm

  Commonly referred to as EdgeRank by marketers   Algorithm is based on three main components:

1.  Affinity 2.  Weight 3.  Time Decay   Keep in mind there are many other variables involved

News Feed Optimization (NFO)   Essentially SEO of News Feed

  The practice of reverse engineering

the data to optimize content visibility based on the algorithm

  In 2011 the average page on Facebook reached about 7.5% of their fans

  With implementing best practices

and keeping an eye on data, you could double, triple, and in rare cases, quadruple that percentage

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The heyday of NFO There was a time when…

  When we began working with Jackson Kayak,

they were reaching 9% of their followers   In just 6 months they were reaching nearly 40%

of their fans (No Ad Spend)

  Relied heavily on imagery in each post

  Used engagement tactics to maximize affinity scores

  Example, ‘Thumbs up if’ or ‘Fill in the blank’ or ‘Choose one of the following options.’

  Ran sweepstakes every quarter compound engagement

Case Study State of the union   Organic reach on Facebook drops to

new lows, 1-3%

  Why current changes have occurred:   Facebook IPO   Decrease in quality content   Growing competitiveness in the

Newsfeed

  Organic social strategies are an uphill battle for everyone

  Is social a viable channel anymore?   More importantly, can social still

drive sales?

Case Study Can You Still Be Successful on Facebook?

  Is organic reach dead?

  Obtaining big jumps in organic isn’t as easy as it was before

  Challenges exist now more than

ever. Is the pain worth the gain?

  In most cases yes – but you need to make sure you understand the barriers

  You must set goals and reasonable expectations

Newsfeed optimization best practices Think about all three components of the algorithm when posting

Affinity

Be personable and relatable

Don’t force it. Be creative if you use a CTA

When posing a question – put it at the end of your update

Reduce friction when writing content

Be a knowledgeable thought leader in your space

Know how to read the negative data

Weight

What kind of engagement are you trying to get?

Remember that each form of media has a different weight

These weights can change quickly

Currently video is getting substantially more weight than other content types (must be native)

Link previews now perform better than native images

Time decay

Posting too much can hurt you

Post can cannibalize each other so make sure you are giving enough space

Frequency issues will show in your negative feedback

How much is too much?

Case Study You can separate yourself with great content   Content is king and your success

relies on it

  Bummed about reach? Might be time for some soul searching

  The algorithm knows how to sort

out bad content

  While your reach may have gone down, if you have good content, it’s likely the quality has gone up

  Overly promotional content

typically performs poorly (80/20 Rule)

  So how can you improve your content game?

Case Study Seize opportunities and think outside the box

Case Study Be willing to take a different approach on social – branding is evolving

Case study: Facebook Ads This client has goals clearly defined

Notice the amount of engagement vs. clicks

They capture every user that hits there page and then retarget them through a pixel

Their front end budget is only a few hundred dollars a month

Lower CPA on Facebook than any other channel

Facebook Advertising 3 ways to run ads. Boosting Posts, The Ads manager and the Power Editor

NFO and the algorithm play a key role in how much you pay for your

Don’t try to predetermine if a post will perform well

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How to remain successful in ecommerce

  Leverage channels like Pinterest to showcase your products and drive direct traffic to your product pages

  Try offering flash sales and exclusive social media discounts, both from a traditional advertising perspective and by boosting your posts on Facebook

  Combine your email and social efforts to maximize impact and build engagement for both channels

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Key takeaways:

  Challenges exist, especially with organic content

  The social landscape is constantly

changing   Success stems from high-quality,

engaging content   Set aside a budget for Facebook

Advertising and use it effectively

  The future of ecommerce on social is complex, blending channels is advised