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Adding Facebook Like to mobile site can boost sales: Steve Madden

Adding the Facebook ?Like? button to a mobile commerce-enabled site could drive sales and branding of the brand or retailer?s products and services, according to industry experts.

The Facebook Like button lets members of the social network signal their approval for brands or products with one click. Already brands such as Steve Madden have seen positive feedback from using the Like feature on their mobile sites.

?We?re seeing an increasing number of fans who truly want to share their Steve Madden experiences, ideas and product recommendations,? said Andrew Koven, president of ecommerce and customer experience at Steve Madden, New York.

?Enabling this for mobile has provided the benefit of real-time engagement and interaction between our very passionate and connected fans,? he said. ?What we?ve noticed is it?s not about the size of the Fan or Like base ? it?s about the level of activity.

?Incorporation to mobile improves the opportunity for more activity.?

Here is a screen grab that accompanies the main image of this story. It depicts what happens when a user "Likes" an item on Steve Madden's mobile site. The "Like" is added to the user's Facebook Wall for all to see.

Consumers like to ?like?
Facebook?s Like accelerates the viral nature of Steve Madden?s branding efforts.

When the brand introduces a new product, when a celebrity is wearing something by the brand or the press has featured Steve Madden, the company can quickly and effectively share this excitement and information, which can be viewed over mobile.

It adds speed, efficiency, energy and the opportunity for fans to react in real time ? anywhere, anytime ? to what is going on with the brand.

?By connecting the Steve Madden lifestyle and amazing products we offer - with the energy, speed and marketing scale our fans can provide over mobile - the messages gets carried forward and fast ? we?re  fashion leaders,? Mr. Koven said. "Mobile brings us closer, quicker to the customer and customers closer together to one another in real time to support the buying process.

?We incorporated Facebook Like to like the brand, to like a product, a promotion, and to like a recommendation,? he said. ?We believe consumers ?like? the feature,? he said.

All brands live for engagement with their customers. The farther a brand can reach into a customer?s life, the more potential engagement occurs.

Including Facebook in a mobile campaign for a viral effect can raise awareness through social media, and Facebook works on most mobile handsets.

?By incorporating the Facebook Like feature, retailers encourage a more dynamic mobile shopping experience and greater consumer engagement with their brand,? said Jason Taylor, vice president of global product strategy at Usablenet, New York. ?As consumers rely heavily on the opinions of their social network, they benefit from the community while browsing items.

?Facebook Like validates to mobile users that other shoppers have engaged with the brand and liked certain items,? he said. ?Moreover, it offers the consumer a social action to take that reflects his or her enthusiasm for the brand, beyond just purchasing an item.

?If a certain item is heavily Liked, a consumer is more likely to investigate and consider that product.?

Use case
Brands and retailers can add the ?Like? link to Facebook on any mobile site, including mobile commerce sites for promotions.

Users then will sign into Facebook and the majority stay signed in on most smartphones.

Then, users are able to ?Like? the page, product or service.

The business or campaign then appears on the user?s Facebook Wall for all of their friends to view and click ?Like? as well.

The benefit of using ?Like? on a mobile commerce site is that it becomes viral for minimal cost.

Additionally, the awareness level jumps a large percentage ? again, for minimal cost ? spreading the word about the site and its features.

Lastly, Facebook links can also be used in SMS campaigns and other social media to raise awareness.

?There are some caveats to using social media, Facebook or Twitter in any marketing campaign, mobile or otherwise,? said Marci Troutman, founder/CEO of Siteminis, Atlanta. ?First is that you have to have a specific social media strategy, some companies that do an exceptional job at this are Abercrombie and Fitch, Best Buy and McDonalds, on the Luxury side, BMW does a great job. 

?With Facebook having reached the 500-million-user mark and growing at a rate of approximately 100-million users every six months or so, how can a company not incorporate social media like Facebook into all of their marketing campaigns,? she said.

?It just so happens that mobile marketing is growing at the fastest rate.?

Final take
Giselle Tsirulnik is senior editor of Mobile Marketer