Marketing and Social Commerce

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Consumer behavior is something you want to keep on top of as a business owner and technologies are having an impact here. One of my partners and founder of The Health Club for Women, Herb Lipsman. sent a note yesterday asking "Bryan have you heard about Groupons?" He was meeting with the Faust Group during the week and was curious to discuss the trend. I appreciate Herb's curiosity and his many contributions to the fitness industry.

He asked a good question and was touching on something that I've been researching and speaking about - particularly in the fitness industry. The "commerce of social media". Brian Solis recently touched on it as well in his article: The Rise of Social Commerce. As a big fan of Brian's - I want to thank him. The post it was more great content. Here is an excerpt:

500 million Facebook denizens are plotting their social graphs.

145 million Twitter users Tweet and ReTweet.

3 million people are checking-in on FourSquare.

Brands are flocking to social networks, some with strategies and others simply experimenting with community building. What’s clear is that the 3F’s (friends, fans, and followers) are not created equal. Those brands who examine the composition of their existing community will find that many are simply seeking access to exclusive specials and content.

According to a recent comScore report, 23% of Twitter users follow businesses to find special deals, promotions, or sales. 14% of Twitter users reported taking to the stream to find and share product reviews and opinions.  Earlier this year, Chadwick Martin Bailey published a study that showed 25% of consumers connected to brands on Facebook did so to receive discounts. But here’s where things get interesting, in the same report, comScore found that Facebook and Twitter visitors spend 1.5x more online than average Internet users. Herein lies the opportunity for brands looking to add yet another “C” to the many C’s of Community – commerce.

So how do you embrace Social Commerce to help achieve success given what Brian Solis observed ? Check out Groupon's video below and watch Brian Solis's terriffic video below with Phil Kaplan to learn more. In the interim - contact me, Bryan O'Rourke, and let me know what you think and if you'd like to discuss integrating social media into your strategic planning or marketing execution.

 

The Transformation of Customers and Organizations

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Josh Bernoff just delivered his latest book Empowered, with co-author Ted Schalder, and its worth a read. Included in his writing are views on how customers of ALL industries have been transformed and more importantly how organizations must deal with it.

Technology has empowered individuals so that the manner with which organizations must interact and deal with them as customers has fundamentally changed. They have the power and so the world has shifted to a sort of "social chaos" and organizations must avoid being fearful and instead take advantage of these technology tools. Doing so, however, requires redefining leadership and control, among other dna of traditional businesses.

Watch this interview with Brian Solis as he explores the book's various themes with Josh Bernoff. Reach out to me, Bryan O'Rourke, to let me know your thoughts on Empowered.

"Wellness" - The Next Big Thing in The Fitness Industry

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If you attended my recent IHRSA webinar on the changing bricks and mortar fitness industry you'll recall how I mentioned that a big opportunity for fitness facilities will be wellness.

Most fitness facilities and traditional gyms are not in the wellness business. These businesses and organizations generally provide recreation and fitness opportunities without offering proven means for achieving health outcomes . Initial health assessments, behavioral counseling and lifestyle monitoring combine to change the way people live and greatly impact their health. Often times, as research has shown, these programs can reverse diseases like diabetes. Check out this deck on the changing fitness industry to learn more.

The increasing availability of inexpensive technologies that enable the monitoring of activity are creating more opportunities for fitness facilities to realize the potential of wellness. The recent release of new technologies like Wahoo shown above are becoming quite mainstream. This combined with the surge of smart phone devices is creating the chance for fitness businesses to become wellness coaching businesses, thus changing the business models and the true role the fitness industry can play in impacting the health care crisis.

Reach out to me, Bryan O'Rourke, and let me know - "what do you think" about the fitness industry morphing into more of a wellness industry.

How The Bricks and Mortar Fitness Business Is Changing in the U.S.

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How the fitness industry is changing and what to do about it

 

The deck above addresses key trends in the U.S. Bricks and Mortar Fitness Industry. Parts of this were shared in a recent IHRSA webinar I conducted. You can still get the recorded version of the IHRSA webinar on the www.ihrsa.org site.

Reach out to me, Bryan O'Rourke, and let me know what you think.

What Is The 1 Thing Businesses Can Do To Achieve Success ?

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Its a word of mouth world. Just like you can't buy friends - you can't buy customers. So the "one thing" every business and in particular fitness businesses must do to be successful is "CARE". Watch Gary Vaynerchuk share the view that "caring" is THE most important aspect of achieving success today.

Reach out to me, Bryan O'Rourke, and let me know "what do you think"?