Interesting article in Forbes this week on F-Commerce for Hollywood – turning fans into customers. It’s penned by John Corpus, CEO of Milyoni, the Californian Facebook commerce outfit that’s carving itself out a niche in the movie and TV franchises business for social media fan-stores and pay-per-view fan-streaming. So don’t expect incorrigable objectivity, but do expect some useful insights from a pioneering voice of experience on what makes for successful fan-commerce in social media.
- Facebook is more than a digital distribution channel, it’s a social channel, so ask yourself how you can use the social piping of Facebook to enhance the offer (big, big things afoot in FB-land with music, movie and TV sharing)?
- Facebook Credits create friction-free purchases, could you use them as rewards that fans can spend on premium digital content (that you can create/stream) (download useful FB Credits White Paper here)?
- Global reach is more economical than ever; can you sell or stream to fans on Facebook around the world?
- Fan-count doesn’t equal fan awareness; do you have an advertising strategy in place to drive fans to your fan-store or fan-screening?
- Reward fans with exclusive content; fans want to be treated special for liking you – the want a good deal, a unique offer or exclusive content. How are you using your fan-store or fan-screening to reward your fans?
We’re particularly interested in tracking the fortunes of Facebook fan-commerce in movies and TV (as well as music and sports), because if it can’t work there – it won’t work anywhere. On the other hand, if it can work in these sectors where the term ‘fan’ is meaningful and more than just wishful thinking, other sectors may be able to learn about what what works and what doesn’t – independent of what’s being sold.
