In the March/April 2006 issue of Revenue Magazine, there's an interesting article about 'Community Commerce' - or the Social Networking trend as it relates to online shopping... and specifically, to affiliate marketing:
"To tap this trend, the best-selling affiliates are adding social networking elements outside the norm"
They go on to suggest adding communication tools such as chat, instant message, email, etc to encourage visitors to interact - not only with the site, but also with other shoppers. Or with friends and family they want to invite into the site.
They mentioned several examples, but the most interesting to me was the bit on Yahoo's Shoposphere which is currently still in beta:
It aggregrates and sorts Pick Lists created by Yahoo Shopping's community, allowing users to "search, view, read about and purchase specific products recommended by people they know and trust, experts they've never met, and everyone in between." Affiliates can use Yahoo's Open Web Service APIs which include shopping search, price compare, reviews and product specifications.
"This creates a whole new value chain that allows those people who were only consumers in the past to become sellers," says Yahoo's Solomon. "Not too many other people can execute on this like we can. Amazon.com is positioned, but without the social networking all ready they're really at a disadvantage." Yahoo won't roll out revenue sharing with Shoposphere-keepers, however, until later in 2006.
That last line sort of got my attention 😀 . I took a look at the Shoposphere portal and found a link to the Paid Syndication Program. They are only accepting a limited number of applicants at the moment, and here are the qualifications as listed on the page:
Yahoo! Shopping Paid Syndication Program Beta
The Yahoo! Shopping Paid Syndication Program enables websites to integrate with Yahoo! Shopping and share in the revenue generated when qualified traffic is sent to our advertising partners. Commercial use of the Yahoo! Shopping APIs is currently available in a beta offering, and we are actively soliciting partners that have built sites that offer compelling or innovative shopping experiences. If you have an interest in participating in the Yahoo! Shopping Paid Syndication Program, please fill out the form below and let us know how you plan to utilize our APIs in your site or application. A limited number of applicants will be accepted during this beta phase, and preference will be given to sites with high traffic volume and fresh, unique content.
Nice ;-)Â
The entire article was a great read - particularly for anyone that owns affiliate sites. In the end it boiled down to looking at various ways that you can tap into the 'social networking trend' as an affiliate to improve your visitors experience and increase conversion rates. Definitely worth some thought.
This falls in line very nicely with my recent thoughts on Adding Value to the Web...
Technorati Tags: yahoo, shoposphere, social networking, affiliate marketing
About Lynn Terry
I keep hearing about social marketing - but something about it all seems to be about treating the internet as a herd mentality.
The internet used to be about innovation, and finding innovation - but how can you do that when people are too obsessed in following the sheep?
2c.
Hi Brian,
That's an interesting view. Not one I share, but interesting nonetheless.
I see 'Social Networking' and 'Social Marketing' as a way to add value to the web as a whole. And a motivating factor for webmasters and online business owners to put special consideration into the customer experience - instead of the focus being on conversion rates and profit potential. It creates more positives for everyone involved.
It's not a new concept by any means, but tagging it with the name is making it 'trendy'. It's simply the idea of making things more interactive, encouraging feedback and communication, and involving your visitors and customers. Nothing new, like I said, just a trendy name for 'building a better business model'.
Best,
Lynn Terry