It's All About Personalization (2011)

Two years ago (somehow it's been that long), I gave 20 predictions for digital media & e-commerce in 2009. This year, I am going to do it slightly differently and write individual posts about various themes / predictions in 2011. You can follow them at the tag "predictions". Today's is simple: it's all about personalization. I was reminded this yesterday while spending the day at the-very-exciting ShoeDazzle (note: Polaris is an investor, and you can see more about ShoeDazzle on TechCrunch TV). ShoeDazzle has built a business in part on great product, in part on a great & differentiated shopping experience, and also in part on the power of personalized & social shopping.

And I was reminded again this morning by an email from Gilt Group which looks different than their ordinary daily emails. Rather than a list of today's deals, the email noted items available for my specific shoe size (based on a Gilt purchase months ago). Among a slew of unread emails (some important, some not; some shopping, some personal) - Gilt's stood out because it spoke directly to me.

And as folks' like Gilt look for ways to resonate with their customers, drive conversion efficiency and optimize everything from the experience to search results to the pixel's creating an ad unit... personalization will be the differentiator. In addition, personalization has the opportunity to improve more than the middle of the funnel (conversions) - it can affect the top of the funnel through virality.

Facebook, Twitter and the loads of data that we each produce (and the companies sit atop) enable personalization is ways that previously were not possible. Some of those solutions are out-of-the-box scripts and widgets - others will be baked directly into the product, experience and brand.

If it wasn't a core discussion for you in 2010, personalization should be in 2011. And it should be a discussion for each component of the organization: what does it mean for:

- Product - User acquisition: advertising, virality and social - Conversions & retention: email marketing, search, customer support, landing pages

"Social Top Ups with Facebook"... Not by Facebook

Here is an example of why it is important to pay attention to an advertisement's provider: I stared at this ad for quite some time and wondered what Facebook's Social Top Ups product was. Turns out it is NOT a new Facebook promotion to drive Credits, international usage, etc. Turns out it IS a developer's product (Social TopUps) and their ad unit is made to look like a Facebook product (not sure this is / should be allowed). If you dig in, the ad creative is similar to Facebook's mark(s) but at much lower quality... and the app's landing page describes the product:

"Roamware's Social TopUps Service allows a Facebook user to directly recharge a mobile subscriber's prepaid mobile phone in another country, as long as their mobile network operator is a participating carrier in this Service."

I suspect the ad unit converted terrifically from impression to click. And it probably lead to higher-than-average install rates... but the unit is sneaky and yet another example of why it is important to pay attention to the source of ads (on Google, Facebook, etc).

McDonald's Buys Facebook Ads to Ask, "Would You Check-In?"

McDonald's is currently buying sponsored ads on Facebook to ask whether you "would check-in at a McDonald's restaurant". Considering that McDonald's does not currently provide offers for checking-in via Facebook Places, this appears to be a survey campaign. At the time of the screenshot, over 20,000 Facebook users completed the survey. ~30% of those users have already check-in to McDonald's (hard to believe?) and 43% would do so for a "good" deal.

This is not surprising: we know that people love discounts and anything with the word "free".

It is a different approach to advertising alongside Facebook Deals. Starbucks and H&M have run campaigns promoting their deals - McDonald's might well do that in the future, but for now it is more of a branded research project.

Facebook Now Advertising "Facebook Deals" to iPhone Users

Last week I wrote about how both Starbucks and H&M are beginning to advertise their Facebook Deals / Facebook Places campaigns. Now Facebook itself is advertising the Deals Platform:

"Find Deals on Facebook: Checking in on Places can get great deals nearby. Find specials wherever you see a yellow icon in the Facebook for iPhone app."

Like Starbucks and H&M, this ad is targeting consumers and aims to drive check-ins... which in turn can also be considered a promotion for the deal providers (ie Starbucks, H&M, etc). Also interesting:

1) the ad specifically targets iPhone users - I wonder if there is an Android specific campaign? 2) the ad expands into a video. Facebook has been releasing high-quality videos for each of their new products (example here)

Landing page:

Facebook Testing New Ad Format With Groupon?

As Facebook ramps its own Deal platform, it appears as though they might be testing a new ad unit / format with the web's leading deal provider: Groupon. The following ad appears as a Facebook sponsored unit on the main page and is essentially a mini feed post includes:

- the friend's / purchaser's name - the exact same text as Groupon's automated feed post (see the feed screenshot below) - the Groupon deal's image and location - has a unique three button base that allows for comments, likes and "Deals" .... that "Deals" link goes directly to the Groupon page and also appears on the feed post (like a custom application link)

The ad itself is hyper relevant: - time (expiring) - relationship (my friend) - and location (specific to me - I imagine I would NOT get an ad for a Minneapolis deal).

I wonder how automated the buying and publishing is... and I wonder if it is a sign of an ad platform being built directly into the Facebook Applications platform. From the look of it, it appears that could be true.

The Facebook Sponsored Ad Unit

The Feed Post for that Same Groupon Deal

H&M Offers 20% Off Entire Purchase for Facebook Deals Check-In

Within a day of Facebook announcing their new Deals platform, Starbucks started advertising for their check-in rewards.

Retailer H&M is now doing the same: rewarding checked-in users with 20% their purchase. H&M has been an aggressive experimental marketer. For instance, they were early to advertise in Booyah's location game MyTown and have advertised on Facebook in the past. It will be interesting to see if H&M starts appearing in your newsfeed during the promotion (which ends today).

Facebook Messaging & The Social Inbox

Today Facebook announced Facebook Messages, which bundles together email, chat and text messages to create a single communication stream: "The New Messages: Texts, chat and email together in one simple conversation." If you haven't watched, the Facebook introductory video is below and you can request your beta invite here: 

"All your messages together

Get Facebook messages, chats and texts all in the same place. Include email by activating your optional Facebook email address. Control who can send you messages through your privacy settings."

Gilt Groupe Gives Free Shipping for 10 Invites

Social commerce sites like Gilt, Rue La La, ShoeDazzle, Groupon and LivingSocial have been among the leaders in 'social marketing'... and they find success through relatively straightforward, sometimes simple products and promotions. Here is a great example: Gilt is running a promotion where users who invite 10 friends to the service get free shipping. Clear value proposition and very simple process to invite. Furthermore, it is an attainable result (not tied to purchases and not a crazy number of invites).

And of course the site / brand itself is 'share-worthy' - if Gilt provided a poor experience, these sorts of promotions wouldn't result in sharing or ROI.

"Got 10 Friends? Get Free Shipping" "Invite 10 friends to Gilt and enjoy free shipping on your next order. Spreading the word is always in style."

Welcome to RockMelt: Great Product Marketing Introduction

RockMelt has a rather big product marketing challenge: explain to users how their new, social web browser works. It is not overly complicated - but it is quite different from what users are accustomed to. Most products display the equivalent of a "Read Me" introduction upon installation / first use. These are usually text heavy, step-by-steps tutorials... and they are often optional. RockMelt recognizes that the browsing capability itself is explanatory ... but it is also ordinary. The social elements are what makes RockMelt compelling - so upon download, they overtake the browser with a great, visual introduction. It can't be missed and focuses only on the social elements (assuming that you are do not need help with normal browser functionality). And in addition to being useful, the intro is far more inviting and enjoyable than the normal "Welcome!" experience.