Marketing and social media ha
ve been growing closer and closer over the last few years. More businesses are utilizing the benefits of social media than ever before. I mean, why wouldn’t they? The benefits, advanced tools, and amount of users have grown substantially in the past five years. According to Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Report from 2011, 93% of marketers are using Social Media for marketing purposes. Almost every business you search for will have a Facebook account and most of those will have accounts on other social media sites as well.
One company who stands out in their adaptation of social media for marketing is Giantnerd, an outdoor gear online store who actually created their own social media community on their own website. By joining and remaining active on the site you can earn Nerd Dollars to add towards future purchases. For example, you receive $15 for every referral you send to the page who makes a completed purchase. This wonderful online community also allows members to talk and interact with one another about products available so everybody can make highly informative purchases. Just think, you’re in the market to buy a certain new bike and suddenly you have access to hundreds of people who know about or even own the bike you’re thinking of purchasing. This is genius…
Founder and CEO of Giantnerd, Randall Weidberg, first launched the site in 2009 out of Boulder, CO, USA. Since then the community has more than 5000 members and sees 70,000 visits per month.
“Running an e-commerce site is always a war, but the rewards far outweigh the risks,” says Randall. Him and his company have been featured in many business and social media publications highlighting their great success; The Next Web, Entrepreneur, Forbes, and many others. See Giantnerd’s full press/media list here.
Social Media is one of the most powerful forms of marketing out there. Not to mention it’s far less expensive than any other marketing platforms. I for one am eager to see what the future holds for this exciting form of interactive advertising. What do you think? Let me know in the comments bellow.
Web references:
Giantnerd
Social Media Examiner Social Media Marketing Report 2011
Submitted by: Anthony Sauder – SMBP Student, University of Waterloo
To contact the author of this entry please email anthony_sauder@hotmail.com
If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.