A major new trend in our social media-driven marketing landscape is the rise of the “taste graph.” A taste graph is a web tool by which marketers can connect with consumers and connect consumers to each other via their interests and tastes. It is being hailed as the once and future engine for social commerce, as well as an incredible tool for cultivating and tapping into niche markets.
Essentially, taste graphs cull data from social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. and create “mash-ups” of consumer opinions. In a way, it is a form of social data mining. At its core, it is a mechanism by which to present products and services to the people most likely to consume them. Here are a few of the ways taste graphs are expected to figure into social commerce in the near future:
Encouraging the embrace of social early adopters—“Tastemakers” have always been depended upon in the traditional marketing sense as the early proponents of a new trend. In the social media landscape, the rise of social commerce makes it likely that merchants will foster, encourage, and reward reliable tastemakers in the same way that place-based messaging networks harvest brand ambassadors and “mayors.” These tastemakers could become to social commerce what viral videos are to YouTube.
Targeted Discounts and Rewards—Before social commerce, deals and discounts were sent out based rather blindly upon geography and demographic. It had virtually nothing to do with the kind of optimized, targeted marketing now being perfected with neuromarketing. By using taste graphs businesses will gain the ability to hyper-target deals based upon consumer interests, making lucrative marketing tactics more efficient than ever.
Creating a community of social recommendations—The best people to take recommendations from are people who share your interests and tastes. If you’re a horror movie fan, you obviously want recommendations from horror movie buffs, not people who only watch comedies. The refinement and customization of social recommendations is expected to reach a critical mass this year and taste graphs will ideally help to make the social commerce world a friendly environment for marketers and advertisers to connect with consumers.
The rise of the taste graph is not a shocking development. It plays directly into the trend of more customized and personalized online consumer interactions. Companies, marketing agencies, and entrepreneurs everywhere stand to benefit from understanding and integrating this vibrant new web to
Mike Brewer
#gameon – We own and manage apartments in #STL, Missouri and have been kicking around the idea of interest based apartment leasing. That is to suggest building out apartment building personalities that would appeal to the interests of the people we are looking to attract. [All within Fair Housing guidelines].
My question – does the creepy factor stall this trend or does this become socially acceptable.
Thank you in advance for any time you give to responding and have a compelling weekend.
HexColor
Unnecessary pseudo-intellectualization of a fairly simple and ancient human truth: that we like people who share our affinity. It’s that simple. “Emo whatever” or “xyz graph” and such terms can fascinate you until you’re pink in the cheeks behind that beard, but they’re confusing simplicity behind silly jargon.
Johnson
This is a new dynamic based on preference and how people online are proven to share what they find interesting. epos systems should take aware of this direction for social commerce.