Market Research on a Digital Dime
September 3, 2010
By: Steve Toth - Copywriter, Front60

Through the use of free tools you can do thorough market research in a matter of hours; the same research would have been less accurate and cost thousands of dollars not less than 10 years ago. It's a great time to own a business!

Market research allows entrepreneurs/businesses to learn about their prospective customers before they begin to invest the time and money in starting a new venture. Online tools have emerged that allow anyone to perform market research.

In July, we featured Vanessa Fox's book Marketing in the Age of Google. Perhaps one of the most interesting excerpts found in the book is Fox's hypothetical look at a company trying to create a better digital camera using the web as a primary market research tool. First the company "BetterCamera," must uncover the top searched-for digital camera features and find a point of differentiation: underwater cameras.

In the example, BetterCamera discovers that searches for waterproof/underwater cameras spiked over the summer months. They also realized that the most popular searches came from Hawaii and Florida, and ranked third, an unexpected contender: Alaska. With a little bit of research they surmised that searchers from Alaska were likely planning vacations to tropical destinations.

Armed with this knowledge BetterCamera set out to design an inexpensive waterproof camera housing so that the average vacationing scuba diver can use their existing camera to take underwater pictures two weeks out of the year.

Market research tools used:

• Google

• Google Keyword Tool

• Google Insights

These tools can help point your business in new and profitable directions. They also help to determine the size of the market(s) you're entering, overall searcher interest, and geographical and seasonal trends. These tools garner customer data and insights we could have only dreamed of a decade ago.

 

Try it Before You Buy it: Online Shopping's Biggest Hurdle
August 27, 2010
By: Peter Pietrzkiewicz - CEO, WebCanada

It's a reality; every year retailers work harder to make it easier for consumers to shop online, and at the same time consumer confidence in shopping online continues to rise.

A June 2010 IMRG study found that "online retail sales have increased 22% year on year," and that "this is the highest rate of increase in more than two years."

So why is this happening? Is it because there's more selection online? Is it because it's more convenient? Is it because retailers have become smarter and are giving consumers fewer reasons to say no?

I would argue it's a mixture of all of those reasons, but primarily it's because of the latter. So what have the leading online retailers done to give consumers a reason to buy online instead of in-store?

1. Reviews. If the well-informed consumer isn't going to read a review directly on your site, they're going to read it somewhere else. So why drive traffic away from your site? The best example of reviews done right is on Amazon. The ratings are averaged, you can comment on reviews and there is a nifty little side-by-side comparison of good vs. bad reviews.

2. Specs. The best online stores give consumers all the information they could ever want: accurate sizing charts for clothing; dimensions and weight; every possible spec for electronics. I have seen online shoe stores with print-off sizing charts, a great tool for converting skeptics!

3. Pictures and video. This may be the closest we can get to try it before you buy it. Pictures with a zoom feature and hi-res video of the product in action can help to convince the skeptic that the product is of the quality they expect.

4. Free Returns. Advertise free returns; just about every product sold on TV does, so why shouldn't online retailers? And many do; even though some consumers may opt to return a product they are dissatisfied with, free returns have an overwhelmingly positive effect on easing consumer hesitation.

5. Free Samples. This of course isn't going to apply to kitchen appliances and high-end electronics, but it will apply to a lot of digital media. An excerpt from a book, a preview of an mp3 or a trailer to a movie; all of these in essence let consumers try it before they buy it.

There is one emerging technology on the frontier of online shopping that promises tremendous gains for eCommerce: 3D visualization. Simply put, the ability for you to take a virtual product and spin it around.

A June 2010 survey conducted by Infogroup's Opinion Research Corporation found that:

• More than 80 percent of consumers say online 3D images make them more likely to purchase a product.

• 65 percent say they would be less likely to return a product after viewing it in 3D online.

• 78 percent say 3D images make them "comfortable" that the product they are viewing is high quality.

• About 60 percent say they would be more likely to purchase if they had 3D instructions showing how to assemble and use a product.

• Though consumers say 3D makes them more likely to buy and less likely to return products, only 31 percent say they would pay more for a product they see in 3D online. In other words, they prefer 3D and expect to see it.

• Preference for 3D images online increases with income: half of those with annual incomes below $35,000 prefer 3D images of something they are interested in buying, while 70 percent with annual incomes of $100,000 or more prefer 3D.

• Consumers under 65 prefer viewing 3D website images of products they are interested in buying, while consumers over 65 prefer print brochures.

It's clear that 3D visualization will inevitably become the new norm for online retailers. In conjunction with the other tips outlined in this blog, online retailers can actively make strides towards increasing their online revenue.

If you're looking to create a full-featured online store complete with 3D visualization, WebCanada in partnership with Front60 provides an out-of-the-box solution that can be fine-tuned to fit your business.

 

3 Word of Mouth Success Stories
August 20, 2010
By: Steve Toth - Copywriter, Front60

We all want to join the ranks of brands that have succeeded in creating buzzworthy marketing campaigns that drive word of mouth and impact sales. Unfortunately, there is no magic answer, no silver bullet. But what we can do is be inspired by what other brands have done and try to learn from their ways of thinking.

This week a co-worker told me a story about a marketing campaign she felt was worth talking about, one that she actually participated in. The idea was simple: Banana Republic held a photo shoot outside of their Toronto store on Bloor Street. The twist was that Banana Republic shoppers were the stars of the shoot. A photographer took pictures of customers dawning outfits fresh off the racks of Banana Republic - complete with music and a large crowd of onlookers. This is a perfect example of a simple, engaging marketing idea beautifully executed.

Or, there is the now classic example of the IKEA store in Malmo Sweden that created a Facebook profile for the store's manager. People were encouraged to befriend the store's manager in hopes of tagging a photo he uploaded with the correct product name. The first person to tag the item correctly won it. The campaign generated huge buzz and culminated in the successful launch of the store and plenty of free press from the blogs and news outlets that picked up the story.

The last idea I'll highlight was a recent campaign for Trident Layers gum. Trident honed in on the power of Twitter by publishing real tweets about their new product on a full page ad in major newspapers. The ad contained (for all intents and purposes) mini testimonials on how great the product is, and of course generated organic word of mouth driven by those featured in the ad and all of the internet and mainstream press that surrounded it.

These examples gave consumers a reason to interact with the brand, when you do that, you give people a reason to talk and share their experiences, spread word of mouth.

 

Branding Beyond the Logo
August 13, 2010
By: Ian Walker - Creative Director, Front60

You've got a name, logo, business cards and a letterhead, but do you have a brand? A brand in its simplest form is a noun, a thing. It's not simply the name of your company, or a way for people to identify you against another; although it serves those purposes. A brand should make you feel something, make you aspire to be like them, identify with and trust them.

Brands have characteristics the same way people do; most, if not all major brands have brand strategy guides that are meant to be followed closely across all communications. This includes everything from the layout of a banner ad, to the social media, to the way customer service representatives conduct themselves.

A well-targeted brand is ascribed a set of related characteristics in their brand manual. This can include corporate values, keywords, examples of tone of voice, sample phrases; also included is what not to do - examples that go against the brand. But where do we look when determining the character of a brand?

You could look at your ideal customer and simply assign some of their most positive attributes, but do I want to be ‘friends' with a brand that's exactly like me? I would argue no, people seek to be like the brands they choose, and don't always look for something that matches their current aesthetic to a tee. They want something better, something to elevate their status and aspire to.

Then where do we find these values, characteristics, personalities? Perhaps it's in the people who make up your organization. A company's most valuable asset is its people; they shape the products, they know their customers, they create and live the corporate culture, and the brand should reflect them.

Maybe that influence trickles down from the top, but if you're not paying attention to what your employees are experiencing on the ground floor, you're probably missing out on valuable insights that could shape your brand for the better.

WebCanada's creative and branding arm Front60 creates insight driven communications that elevate brands. To learn more visit Front60.com

 

Keywords That Drive Traffic
August 6, 2010
By: Peter Pietrzkiewicz - CEO, WebCanada

The success of modern companies is heavily determined by how easily their brand and their services are found online. Discovering the search terms potential customers are using and gearing your website content to return results for those terms is a proven method for generating online leads and driving revenue.

It all starts with selecting those crucial keywords. It should be noted that a keyword can refer to a single word or whole phrase, for example "WebCanada has great clients" can be considered a keyword.

There are a number of free tools out there that will help you determine which keywords to use on your website and which to use on your Pay-Per-Click campaigns.

This blog will cover five free keyword tools:

• Google Keyword Tool
• Word Tracker
• Keyword Eye
• Google Wonder Wheel
• Google Analytics

Try them out for yourself and feel free to filter them down through your organization.

Google Keyword Tool

Google Keyword Tool gives you a snapshot of related search terms and how much you should expect to pay per click on Google AdWords. Type in a search term and it will give you a list of related keywords, the number of monthly searches, the competition for the keyword and the suggested bid.

Word Tracker

Word Tracker is not as feature-rich as Google Keyword Tool, but it's still worth using because it provides a thorough list of related keywords and ranks them in order of popularity.



Keyword Eye

Keyword Eye will recommend a wide range of related keywords; it also calculates the average monthly volume for all those searches on Google. It can also be tailored geographically to show searches and keywords relevant to your country. Keyword Eye also offers a 2D and 3D view (3D view pictured below):



Google Wonder Wheel

Next up is Google's Wonder Wheel. To Access Wonder Wheel perform a search in Google and click on "more search tools" in the left hand pane; it will be under "Standard View" entitled "Wonder Wheel." Wonder wheel lets you take your search term in different directions based on relevance and popularity.




Google Analytics

Lastly there's Google Analytics. First you'll have to embed Google Analytics code on your website, for instructions click here.

Google Analytics is not the best tool for determining keywords if you're launching a new website. But if you have an established site it proves enormously beneficial by showing you which search terms people are using to find you. The key is to bear in mind those keywords and focus your content in that direction.

To learn more about WebCanada's Organic SEO and Pay-Per-Click services visit: WebCanada.com/seo

 

Design tips for PowerPoint Presentations
July 29 2010
By: Ian Walker - Creative Director Front60

When it comes to preparing a PowerPoint presentation it's tough to find a balance between being too simple or too fancy. We want to keep our audience engaged, but we don't want transitions and animations to distract from what's most important: the presentation. We surveyed the Front60 design team and came up with the following tips for creating the perfect PowerPoint presentation.

• Use logical flow: this may seem obvious, but it's often overlooked; order your slides so they tell a story and make an argument.

• Keep it simple: use graphics and media that convey the message. Clutter confuses, when in doubt take it out.

• Limit your bullet points to key details: use these points as a reference for further discussion.

• Use animations sparingly: if the animation has relevance and doesn't distract the viewer then use it, just be sure not to overdo it.

• Choosing transitions: limit transition styles to one or two types to maintain consistency.

• Customize one template: avoid creating custom slides for each page.

• Use graphics related to your content: avoid bad clip art, diagrams are always better.

• Use an opening and closing page: frame your presentation with your company/brand, name of the presenter and name of the presentation.

If you're looking to take your presentation to the next level, try an app that will turn your mobile phone into a remote control. We like iClickr for iPhone which connects to your laptop via WiFi. We haven't tried any PowerPoint apps for BlackBerry, but their Presenter app + hardware provides an all-in-one ‘laptopless' solution.

 

Marketing in the Age of Google
July 22, 2010
By: Gary Collins - Advisory Board Member, WebCanada

Former Google employee and founder of Google Webmaster Central offers her expertise on how search data can help you improve your overall business and product strategy.

Vanessa Fox's Marketing in the Age of Google is not written from a technical standpoint; rather it's designed to give the business reader a better understanding of how search marketing can affect their bottom line.

The book focuses on organic, rather than paid search. Organic search meaning unsponsored results vs. paid results which appear as a sponsored link. In the book Fox states that "88 percent of search dollars are spent on paid search results, even though 85 percent of searchers click on organic results."

This is not to say that PPC (or Pay Per Click) search doesn't work hand in hand with an organic search strategy: "Numerous studies have found that when a site is visible in both paid and organic search results, the brand receives more clicks than if either appeared alone."

The perception is that seeing a brand in both places makes it appear more reputable, not to mention that seeing the brand twice in a search result automatically makes us more susceptible to clicking through.

Another mantra of Fox's is that content is king. If a website remains stale it will lose its relevance with search engines and that a natural way to prevent this is to start a blog. She goes on to elaborate:

"The largest expense associated with organic search tends to be content creation, which can have long term benefits for both search acquisition and overall customer engagement. Not only is focusing on content creation good for search, but it's also good for users and the business overall because you're creating content that consumers find valuable and that helps you build a more sustainable business over time."

Marketing in the Age of Google encourages us to think practically about search engine optimization; if you dedicate time to building quality content, inbound links and a higher page rank will follow, but it takes time. Search engines are perpetually getting smarter - jamming keywords into a webpage will not work. What will work is actively creating new content and promoting yourself through social media communities, using a variety of different media to promote your brand i.e. YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Digg, Yelp, Google Places etc.

The last point I will touch on, is Fox's core strategy of letting search queries help to guide the direction of your product development and the services you offer. Much like in the face to face business world, it's more effective to discover what your customer's needs are, rather than simply selling to them. Analyzing search data with popular tools like Google Analytics lets you discover what your customers are searching for - find that out, fill the niche and you may find yourself with a whole new set of clients.

 

Yahoo! Style Guide for the Web
July 15, 2010
By: Steve Toth - Copywriter, Front60

Last week Yahoo! released "The Yahoo! Style Guide: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Writing, Editing, and Creating Content for the Digital World." For someone like me who writes about the Web all day, this book piqued my interest because it promises to improve your ability to write for and about the web, (not to mention that it provides an authoritative resource on how to spell words like email and website).

In blogs to come I will outline some basic tips covered in each section, and hopefully persuade you to buy the book: about $17 from amazon.ca (the eBook version for kindle costs about $12).

Part 1: Writing for an Online Audience.

As stated in the book and by recent studies: people read slower on computers than they do printed text. With this in mind, try gearing your web content to say more with less:

• Put your most important information up-front where people will find it fast.

• Make your text "scanable" short paragraphs, bulleted lists, bold when necessary, keep your pages short. People are more likely to scan the top of the page than the bottom.

• Include no more than two ideas per paragraph.

• Test your copy's readability. Go to http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/ and enter some sample text to test the Grade Level and Reading Ease Score of your website. You can also do this in Microsoft Word (search for "readability" in Word help for how to do this).

• Write for a worldwide audience. Don't shut out the world by writing text that will only be understood by native English speakers, make your site accessible!

Those are some basics for writing online, stay tuned for more Yahoo! Tips on writing for the Web!

 

Shopping Cart Abandonment
July 9, 2010
By: Peter Pietrzkiewicz - CEO, WebCanada

A May 2010 report by Forrester Research offers some interesting insights about online shopping behaviour, and particularly, why so many people abandon their online shopping carts before making a purchase.

The report entitled Understanding Shopping Cart Abandonment found that nearly 88% of web buyers have abandoned shopping carts at some point. If online retailers can convert only a small percentage of these lost sales, the effect on their bottom line could prove significant.

"Cart abandonment highlights the opportunity for retailers to recover lost sales by clearing the path to purchase, clarifying shipping prices and delivery times up front, as well as testing various checkout scenarios."

The report found that consumers who abandoned shopping carts are extremely valuable, they often have higher incomes and are more tech savvy; they also spend more online than those who have not abandoned shopping carts.

A surprising take-away from the report is that a poor shopping cart experience is not always to blame. So then what causes shopping cart abandonment? The answer is multi-faceted, but it's rooted in consumer behavior. Here are a few key points that help us to understand more about this phenomenon.

Comparison shopping: those who abandon shopping carts are 84% more likely to search the web for better deals. Many go through the order process just to ascertain the final cost e.g. shipping, taxes, extra fees etc. They use this knowledge to do comparison shopping.

Cost of shipping: 44% of customers cited that high shipping costs prevented them from going through with their online purchase.

Unprepared to purchase: 41% of those who leave items behind in their shopping cart are not firm on their plan to make a purchase.

Saving it for later: 24% of respondents disclosed that they leave items in their shopping carts for later consideration.
(It should be noted that respondents to the Forrester survey were able to provide more than one reason for why they abandoned online shopping carts.)

So how can we minimize the lost sales online retailers incur every time someone decides to leave right before they enter their credit card number?

• Be upfront about delivery time, shipping costs and extra fees.

• Accept different currencies and be prepared to calculate the taxes for each.

• Research your competitor's pricing and offer a better price or at least one that compares. You may find that the extra sales you garner from a lower price will mitigate the initial hit from a lower margin per item.

• If you are priced competitively, consider incorporating your shipping costs into the price of the product, free shipping can often be the incentive that triggers a consumer to make their purchase.

• Send a reminder email to those who leave items in their shopping carts.

• Make your shopping cart more efficient, eliminate unneeded steps. Try including separate steps onto one page.

• Integrate a coupon code with your shopping cart, this way the consumer will have the added incentive of cashing in when the move toward completing the checkout process.

These are just a few of the things you can do to help reduce the number of customers who create a shopping cart but don't buy anything.

If you're looking to create a full featured online store, WebCanada provides an out-of-the box solution that can be fine-tuned to fit your business.

 

All Play & No Work: The iPad!
June 30, 2010
By: Ian Walker - Creative Director, Front60

So when I sat down to write a blog about the iPad I thought, should I write it on my iPad? In a word: no.

This is not to say I haven't enjoyed the iPad immensely. It's a great device, and it does live up to Steve Jobs' promise of doing key things better, namely web browsing, email, photos and ebooks. But on the other hand, for actual work, my advice is: stick to your laptop.

Curiously, but perhaps not surprisingly, Apple thinks different. For an extra $30 one can opt to purchase the completely redesigned iWork Suite, think Apple's version of Word, PowerPoint and Excel. Pages, Keynote and Numbers can be purchased for $10 each, but are they worth it?

As with most Apple products, the demos will woo you, I mean who are we kidding? Nobody sells technology better than Jobs. But in reality, the iPad still has a 9.7 inch screen and for all intents and purposes, no keyboard. For writing a quick email and casual typing, the on-screen keyboard will suffice, but when it comes to actual word processing it fails. It obviously lacks physical response, and in most cases numbers are only displayed horizontally (typing in postal codes can seem like a chore). In Pages many of the features that normally appear on a toolbar are hidden; it takes 3 clicks to change font size for example. When typing in landscape mode you're left with the screen space of about two iPhones - not enough if you'd like to read a paragraph of this size. And lastly, one of my major gripes with typing on the iPad, and iPhone for that matter, is not being able to move through the text with forward and back arrows; instead you are forced to drag a magnifying glass to the exact point where you wish to type.

So what's cool about the iPad?

• Books! Although as of when this blog was published, the iBooks store is strictly public domain books (meaning free). Hopefully the true iBooks store will be coming to Canada soon; in the meantime there is the Kindle store and app which, although lacking in a few cosmetic features found in iBooks, does a sufficient job.
• Browsing: I can honestly say that I do not miss the absence of Flash. I haven't run into a video that I haven't been able to watch, and most players now have an html5 option.
• Email: The client is easy to set up, and it's a refreshing way to read through your inbox.
• Photos: It's the world's most beautiful picture frame and it's a great way to share albums with friends and family.
• Speed: It's faster than your iPhone 3GS; boot time is about 20 seconds and an app like Pages loads in about 5.
• Apps: There is a lot more screen space to play with, so the future looks bright for developers and iPad owners alike.

 

Farewell College Park
June 19, 2010
By: Steve Toth - Copywriter, Front60

It happened so fast. In mid-2008, we moved into our new office at 2 Carlton Street right in the middle of Downtown Toronto. A few months later we took over the office next door. Now summer 2010 has arrived and we're moving again.

Construction has been underway for the last several months. The team at Gow Hastings Architects have gutted, designed and built a gorgeous new space from what was once an old industrial building on King Street, just east of Sherbourne in downtown Toronto.

The aged, familiar, cramped quarters of our old office will not be missed. A few other things that won’t be missed: the incessant ringing of broken elevators, jamming three people into a space designed for one, and especially the Friday afternoon bagpipping busker that can be heard from ten storeys high.

We will however miss the great food, our neighbours, and the subway stop at our doorstep, but all told… bring on the new office!

Here are some pics that document its progress from start to finish. Enjoy!

 

Back to Basics: SEO
June 11, 2010
By: Peter Pietrzkiewicz - CEO, WebCanada

Organic SEO strategies that every website should adhere to: page names, titles and headings. We all know that content is important, it gets your site passed around, linked to and revisited. Content is the main piece of the puzzle, think of the next four tips as the supporting cast that will help your site gain a coveted first page ranking.

1) Page Names. It’s a good idea to a descriptive vanity URL like “about-us”.
By doing this your URL will appear www.yoursite.com/about-us. When you do this Google and other search engines will recognize it as part of the content. Using a content management system like Live CMS has certain advantages, like not having to worry about file names, and automatically assigning “vanity URLs” like “www.yoursite.com/about-us”.

2) Page Title. The Page Title appears on the top of the web browser window, either on the top left or in the middle depending on the type of web browser you’re using. The page title appears as part of the link in Google’s search results. It’s a great idea to make your Page Title relevant, not only for search engines, but for the people reading the search results as the title of your website is the blue link that appears in Google search results.

3) Page Heading.  Page Headings don’t necessarily appear in search results, but instead they do act as a summary of what your page is about. Page Headings should be short and concise (no more than 7 or 8 words) and should tell you what the page is about without reading the content of the page. The text within page headings is valued more highly compared to other text on the webpage when search engines crawl your page.

4) Over time, content plays a key role. A good rule of thumb is to insert your keywords 7 times for every 500 words you write. If you write about the same themes over time, this can have a huge impact on how Google understands what your page is about.

SEO is constantly evolving, look for more tips in blogs to come.

WebCanada offers organic and pay-per-click SEO services as part of our online marketing solutions. 

 

B2B Marketing 2.0
June 2, 2010
By: Peter Pietrzkiewicz - CEO, WebCanada

There are many ways to get your company’s name out there. Historically, word-of-mouth, advertising, sales and marketing have driven the way businesses connect. It remains to be seen how effective social media will be in forging B2B relationships, though it’s in no doubt promising. There is however one reliable marketing method that businesses have been taking advantage of for decades: direct mail, or in its more recent form email marketing.

Where do you start?

1) Choose your target audience/industry.

2) If you need to get off the ground quickly and building your own list is not an option, utilize an email list provider such as:

www.cstonecanada.com
www.sales-lead.ca
www.trackibd.com

3) Create an email. Invest some time here: think about the value proposition you’re offering, determine your call to action and most importantly read your email from the “what’s in it for me?” perspective.

Be succinct, don’t go into details about pricing, instead direct people to a landing page where you can provide them with more info. On the landing page allow people to enter their contact information in exchange for a white paper or case study that highlights your company’s value. Here is where you can have people opt-in to receive additional emails. You’ll want to do this because courting a new customer through email can be a lengthy process. This of course requires additional emails to be sent, so have a plan, determine incentives, and tell a story. Show each prospective client how your company will save them money, drive revenue and attract customers. Choose one theme and make sure every sentence hits the same point.

There are lots of don’ts, but here are some basic do’s for email marketing:

•    Send marketing emails from an important person in the company, nobody wants to read an email from sales@yourcompany.com. Research from the PEW Internet & American Life Project shows that over 50% of readers look at the “from” line when deciding to open an email.

•    Make sure your subject line cuts through. List key info first, you don’t have a lot of room; Gmail only gives you 75 characters. A few other rules of thumb: don’t start you subject line with “free” and stay away from too many exclamation points.

•    Be sure to include your contact info, most people would rather talk to someone than reply to an email address.

•    Invest in a graphic designer, even if this means you have to hire someone, it’s a worthwhile investment.

•    If you’re having trouble developing a persuasive story, consider hiring an experienced B2B copywriter.

•    If you’re on social media, give people a link to follow/like you. This is a great way to stay on the screens of your customers even if they don’t opt-in to future emails.

If you’re looking to create multiple email campaigns quickly and easily, WebCanada’s Email Builder let’s you create rich, visually appealing emails from custom designed templates with ease.

 

Like-minded shopping starts here: The Facebook integrated Levi's Friend Store
May 14, 2010
By: Ian Walker - Creative Director, Front60

Facebook's new Like button may not catch on with everyone on Facebook, but Levi's has created a compelling reason for it to catch on with the youth market.

Levi's has added a 'Like' button next to every item on their online store. So not only can you 'Like' a pair of 501 jeans, but when the store loads, you'll be able to see which items your friends like. It will be interesting to see how this plays out between different age groups. Where teens may bow to peer pressure and buy what their friends like; those of us who are older will probably steer clear from buying clothes similar to that of our friends.

While still in its infancy the 'Like' button's uses are sure to evolve, its success lies in how freely people will click. For it to be successful the 'Like' button must add value to the browsing experience, in the case of Levi's they've done just that.

And they did so with relative ease, being able to integrate Facebook's API into their online store a week after the 'Like' button was announced.

Ultimately, the goal of ubiquity will be determined by how creatively the development and marketing community will utilize it for the benefit of the consumer and themselves.

Creating an online store can be a challenge. WebCanada's e-commerce solutions offer an out-of-the box online store that can be fine-tuned to meet your specific business needs.

Check out this video to see it in action: