This week, American Express announced an enhancement to its Card Sync technology that attempts to close a gap in social ecommerce for Twitter users.
First, some history: When Card Sync launched in March 2012, American Express cardholders could sync their credit card accounts to receive couponless savings by tweeting specific hashtags from participating merchants. When a hashtag was tweeted by a Twitter member who had synced his American Express card to his Twitter account, the savings would automatically be added to the card account. When the cardholder made the actual purchase tied to the hashtag through a retailer, the savings would be refunded on his next American Express statement.
With the launch of the new Card Sync feature, people can make a purchase by tweeting specific hashtags. For example, an American Express cardholder who has synced his account with Twitter can tweet a special offer hashtag and automatically receive a verification from American Express (via @AmexSync). That verification which will contain a verification hashtag that the user must tweet within 15 minutes to confirm the purchase. Once the purchase is confirmed, the item will be shipped to his home. Shipping typically occurs within two days, and it’s free.
You can see how it works in the video from American Express below:
This is the first time that consumers can make a purchase simply be tweeting a hashtag, and if consumers catch on and start buying with hashtags, you can bet this type of brand promotion and direct marketing will explode in popularity. However, making sales is just one benefit of Card Sync and making purchases via hashtags. American Express also gets free brand promotion every time someone tweets one of the special hashtags or confirms a Card Sync purchase.
Adding the ability to make a purchase to Card Sync is a natural progression for American Express. Will other credit card brands follow? They’d be crazy not to, don’t you think? It’s 2013, and brands that aren’t finding ways to sell via social media are going to fall behind the more tech-savvy brands very quickly.
Image: American Express
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
