Chirpify化网络谈笑为真金白银

    门上没有任何标记，窗帘半垂，墙上也没有多少装饰。——站在Chirpify位于美国俄勒冈州波特兰市的总部大楼所在的街道对面，这样的画面很难让人觉得，这栋大楼的底楼办公室里起码还是有人在的。反倒是它的左邻右舍——MTV频道真人秀《现实世界》（The Real World）即将启用的下一班人马——吸引了外界投来的全部目光。不过，Chirpify就是在这里，说服它的用户们发布“购买”、“捐赠”、“支付”等推文，利用Twitter完成现实世界当中的金钱交易的。

    Chirpify为企业及消费者创造了在特定的社交媒体上进行交易的可能。用户只要用键盘输入“支付@jppullen 30美元的餐费”这样合理排序的命令句，便可借助简单的语法结构——Chirpify创始人克里斯•特索称之为“交谈式商务”（conversational commerce）——完成购买、捐赠、支付等一系列围绕着购物车展开的动作。这项服务自2012年2月上线以来，注册用户人数已达10,000名，完成交易逾3,000次。

    过去的两个月里，这项服务的增长势头十分迅猛，一定程度上要归功于那些富有远见的用户，如利用它销售音乐MP3、T恤衫及其他同类商品的绿日乐队（Green Day）和阿曼达•帕摩尔等。这家公司的目标并不仅限于Twitter上的名人用户。特索称：“我们的长期愿景，是要实现社交网络商务流程的去中心化。”就在今天，Chirpify又发布公告称，他们将为图片分享服务Instagram带来同样的服务。

    《货币的终结》（The End of Money）一书的作者戴维•沃尔曼表示，如果将Twitter看作是一场规模庞大的鸡尾酒舞会，那么Chirpify就是要让消费者连手中的酒水都不必放下，便可以完成对交谈中所涉任意一款商品的购买。“如果你清楚自己想要哪种商品，你要做的不过是点一下鼠标，或是用键盘输入‘购买’二字，”他说。“就未来的商务形态而言，这是个十分了不起的创意。”

    沃尔曼的著作探讨了我们即将迎来的无现金（cash-free）社会所带来的影响，正是一款适合通过Chirpify销售的产品。由于Twitter交谈拥有可为用户带来意外收获的特性，沃尔曼察觉到，这在他与他的读者之间，在他与他在别处无从觅得的一群人之间，架起了一道桥梁；但他也同时注意到，他在Twitter上销售的商品是本实体书。（Chirpify对电子图书销售的影响应该会更大。）

    但它的重大意义并不仅仅在于迅速获利。估算社交媒体投资回报率的问题素来让CMO（首席营销官）们感到棘手。Chirpify通过精简整个购买流程所包含的环节，将发布在社交媒体上的一条条信息和它们所带来的购买量直接联系了起来。“人们与这些（Chirpify推文）的互动速度甚至超过了Twitter官方向用户推送的特定推文，因为这些Chirpify推文确实能够发挥出实际的效用。”

    举个例子来说，9月6日那天，绿日乐队在MTV电视台主办的音乐电视大奖（VMA）颁奖典礼上演唱了一首新歌。演出结束后，这支乐队的Twitter账号发布了下面这样一条推文：“#VMA 特价！喜欢这首新歌吗？欢迎购买新曲＋3张绿日新专辑，促销于明日结束。用@Chirpify 回复‘购买’，只需29.99美元。”回复购买者则会收到一封私信回复，内容为恭喜购买成功、下载链接在此云云。实际上相当于只用了两条推文，就完成了听歌、付款、成交这一整套流程。

    There's no sign on the door, the shades are half drawn, and there's little art on the walls. Standing across the street from Chirpify's Portland, Ore. headquarters, you'd hardly think its first-floor office was even occupied. Its neighbors -- the upcoming cast of MTV's The Real World -- get all the attention. But Chirpify is there convincing users to tweet "buy," "donate," or "pay," to make real world transactions over Twitter.

    Chirpify enables businesses and consumers to make in-stream transactions over social media. Using simple grammatical construction -- or what founder Chris Teso calls "conversational commerce" -- users can make purchases, donations, or transfers that circumvent the shopping cart, simply by typing out a properly ordered command like "Pay @jppullen $30 for lunch tab." Since the service's February 2012 launch, 10,000 members have signed up and more than 3,000 transactions have been made.

    Over the past two months, the service has gathered momentum thanks, in part, to high-visibility users such as Green Day and Amanda Palmer using it to sell MP3s, T-shirts and the like. The company's goals go beyond celebritweets. "Our long-term vision is to de-centralize the commerce process across social networks," says Teso. Today, Chirpify announced the addition of its services to Instagram.

    If you think of Twitter as a giant cocktail party, says David Wolman, author of The End of Money, Chirpify allows consumers to buy whatever is being discussed without even putting down their drinks. "If you know you want something, it shouldn't take more than a click, or typing the letters b-u-y," he says. "That's a pretty powerful idea, when it comes to the future of commerce."

    Wolman's book explores the implications of our impending cash-free society, an apropos product to sell through Chirpify. Because of the serendipity of Twitter conversations, Wolman felt that he connected with readers with whom he wouldn't have found otherwise, but he also notes the Twitter sale was of the physical book. (Chirpify would likely influence e-book sales even more.)

    More than a quick profit is at stake. CMOs have long labored to measure return-on-investment from social media. By reducing the steps to purchase something, Chirpify creates a direct correlation between individual social media posts and the amount of purchases they generate. "People interacted with [Chirpify tweets] at a rate that was much higher than even Twitter's promoted tweets because there's actual utility in the tweet," says Teso. "It wasn't just a redirection somewhere else."

    For example, on Sept. 6, Green Day performed a new song at MTV's Video Music Awards. After the show, the band's Twitter account tweeted: "#VMA special! Love the new song? Get it now + all 3 new GD albums, deal ends tmrw Reply "buy" for $29.99 via @Chirpify." The purchase was delivered back as a direct message that says congratulations on the purchase, here's your download link. It is, in effect, a listing, payment, and fulfillment process, all wrapped up within two tweets.