How 1-800 Flowers Is Beating You and Beating You Bad

1-800 Flowers has struck gold this week in being the first large scale internet retailer to hit the Facebook App scene. What is so great about this?

1. They now occupy both Second Life and Facebook, making them leaders in new media marketing and advertising.
2. They have used these spaces to expand their rewards program. A rewards program is only as good as the people it rewards and how they reward them. With this new application, customers can receive real bonuses for getting their friends to click on the links, send virtual flowers or buy real flowers through the widget.
3. From the makers of the Application: “Customer evangelists are a brand’s best friend. By bridging their loyalty programs to social networks, brands can make it easier for their customers to spread the good word around,” said Mark H. Goldstein, CEO of Loyalty Lab. “By adapting our best customer management platform to Facebook and other social networks, we make it easy for brands to acquire their next buyers.”
4. They are reaching a new demographic that can actually benefit from seeing their ad. College students, high school kids, young workers, etc can always send flowers to girlfriends or holiday situations; they just need an easier way to send them. This is it!
5. Viral marketing is happening without anyone realizing it. One feature of the widget showers users with points and discounts every time someone clicks on a flower widget on their site, turning each user into an ad seller of sorts. Viral baby, viral!

So go 1-800-Flowers, even though I’m not a fan from a fiasco a few Valentine’s Days ago, they look to be well ahead of the retail pack when it comes to social media promotions.

What are you doing to capitalize on this situation?

-g-ro