If you are a marketer, brand manager, advertiser or social media trend follower, Jeremiah Owyang’s recent report “The Future of the Social Web: In Five Eras” is a must read. Marketers must not ignore the power shift from brand to consumer that is taking place as a result of the social web. The old model of marketers dictating the message and consumers passively listening is fading quickly. As Jeremiah predicts, “the community will take charge, and that’s going to happen whether or not marketers or brands participate”. In his report, the Forrester analyst outlines the 5 eras of the social web:
1. The era of social relationships
2. The era of social functionality
3. The era of social colonization
4. The era of social context
5. The era of social commerce
The era that I would like to focus on is #3, the era of social colonization. It is described as an era in which every web site is social, even if it doesn’t chose to be, and it is taking place now. Consumers share products, links, opinions and rely on advice from friends to make purchase decisions regardless of whether or not the brand is participating. Many of us have been referring to this as social commerce but Jeremiah actually defines social commerce as the era during which consumers work with peers to define the next generation of products and make purchases as groups. There is some overlap obviously but I wish to focus on social colonization because the technology as it applies to ecommerce and advertising already exists and consumers are primed for it. How does it work? Say you want to buy a new cell phone and are debating between an iPhone and a Blackberry. Wouldn’t you rather ask your friends opinions than spend hours wading through anonymous online opinion sites? Applications like Zibaba Social Shopper let you instantly ask your friends opinions through email, IM, surveys and even read archived reviews written by the people you know through the social search feature. If someone you know has already written a review on a particular product or seller, that search result will surface first. What this means is you can consult with your friends instantly without ever leaving the page and instantly make your purchase decision.
Crucial to this era is the trend in profile portability that is rapidly being adopted. This feature allows you to login to an ecommerce site using for example your already existing Facebook login and thereby bringing your connections with you and giving you the ability to instantly get advice from your existing social connections. For brands this means you have created a powerful and effective marketing network for your product or service. Brands can then use all that shared information to focus on influencers and offer discounts or personalized offers. As users begin to congregate around common interests and create niche groups within their larger networks, this will lead to the era of social commerce and group buying.