IES86340Y1 - Social network that generates revenue - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT A system is disclosed for generating revenue from social interaction between a plurality of participants of a social network marketing system. The system includes electronically recommending a link to a brand page or a brand product page, registered within the social networking system, from a first participant to a second participant, wherein the second participant is a member of the personal network of the first participant. The system also includes the brand electronically rewarding the social network provider if the first participant purchases at least an item within the system, and the social network marketing system rewarding the first participant if the second participant purchases any product upon recommendation.

Description

Social network that generates revenue” The present invention relates generally to a social network website for promoting brands on the social network within the users, and generating revenue for the users and the provider of the social network itself.

Social networking systems generally consist on an online social network which is represented by a map of the relationships between individuals. The social network, or map of relationships, indicates the way in which such individuals are connected through various social familiarities ranging from casual acquaintances to close familial bonds.

In general, social networks allow users to create a profile for themselves. In at least some social networks, a first user invites a second user to join a friend group in order for the users to be linked.

Some social networks have additional features, as the ability to create groups that shares common interests or afliliations, upload videos and hold discussions in forums.

Examples of social networking systems may be found at “facebookcom”, “buzz.com”, “myspace.com”, “friendster.com”, “foursquare.com” and “beebo.com”.

Usually, social networking and e-commerce have become two important, but distinct, applications of the internet. Generally, e-commerce refers to commercial transactions that are consummated electronically i.e. via the intemet.

While early e-commerce activities were possible only between the consumer and the Vendor, recently some e-commerce websites have begun to function as portals; thus a consumer may use these portal sites to purchase simultaneously a variety of products from a variety of difierent vendors. 8863 886340 While the portal site functions as a clearinghouse for transactions in this model, it is noted that the network remains essentially a vendor-consumer marketplace, without the participation of any third parties.

Thus, the social networking system has the potential to provide business services, such as resource sharing, that become more powerful to all the participating businesses and brands.

Indeed, researches have shown that some consumers prefer and are more likely to be influenced by marketing efforts provided by access to persons familiar with the marketed goods and brands; consumers are also heavily influenced by the consumption preferences of their social peers, and retailers, service providers and advertisers seek improved means of marketing goods over the internet.

In recent years, social networking systems have gained immense popularity and attracted miliion on individual users. In order to generate revenue to support the operation of such online activity, a number of social networks publishes banners advertisement within portions of the user interface.

At this time, no means exist for the brand to compensate the provider of the social network for facilitating communication between the user and the brand itself‘.

In addition to this, there is no currently available system by which the users of a social networking system may generate revenue from their participation to such networks. Thus, there is also a need for systems that enable users of a social network to generate revenue from their participation in such programs.

As the following will demonstrate, many of the foregoing needs and market demands are provided with the present invention.

This invention provides therefore mechanisms whereby businesses encounter both social networking and economic benefits through an approach which implies a shared network.

A key requirement is that the user publishes a link on their personal page embedding their unique user code so that the social network monitors the traffic on the brand web-pages through this unique referral link and may count the real purchases inside the social network system, and the social network may then reward the users with a revenue scheme.

An apparatus system for facilitating intemet trading by combining trading network information and social network information is disclosed in WO2006/ 105250 but this system facilitates the connection and notifications between user and brand without implying a revenue system.

The patent publication US2007/0150359 describes a social marketing network for marketing digital content in which the user of the social network sells through a pyramid system some goods to other affiliates of theirs, getting a revenue on any item sold.

In this case, the user is asked to spend a fixed monthly amount of money, to create a digital content and sell it to its friends, rather than subscribing for fi'ee, and rather than publishing a free link on its personal page. The revenue is generated on the items sold which have to be exclusively a digital contents, and the social network doesn‘t get a revenue from the content sold.

The patent publication US2007/015053? discloses a method of advertising social networking systems and individualized profiles located within social the networking system, wherein the social networking system provides each of its users with individualized profiles, and at least one social network e-commerce and advertisement tracking system that promotes a particular good or service.

In this embodiment, the revenue is rewarded on a flat-fee upon incorporating an advertising object and/or a pay-per-click basis, therefore incorporating a digital content rather than a link.

The user is payed by the vendor for hosting an advertisement or for publishing a digital content on its own profile, rather than on real purchases.

The commission, payed to the afiiliated user, is payable by check or deposited into the user's bank account: no cashier section on the social networking system is conceived, nor any online transactions fi'om and to the social network account are made possible.

Finally, the vendor may pay an advertising fee to the provider of the social network, but no revenue scheme, based on actual purchases, is involved between the vendor and the provider of the social network.

The patent publication US2008/0172344 presents a social network for business—to-business platfonn, using an e-commerce platform and system consolidating a tiered vertical market place which connect multiple vendors to a target audience of consumer class through an afliliate network.

The user is targeted by the vendor through the social network which works as an affiliate network. This embodiment implies at least three different parties: the user, the vendor and an affiliate site, all connected in within the social networking system. The user reaches the vendor through an afliliate site. The social network communicates the account information to the affiliate website which then pays the consumer.

Finally, the user may shop only through the affiliate website and not from the user account.

Program product, systems and method of providing to social network websites advertising and incentives fiom an electronic retailer are provided in patent publication US2009/0164323.

This system includes a social network website displaying social network content and also a link that reroutes the consumer to an electronic retailer website when the consumer clicks on the link. The system can also include program products for tracking purchase and other information about the consumer by the electronic retailer and generate a commission for the provider of the social network website based on the tracked consumer information.

In this embodiment, the affiliation and revenue scheme are contained in the retailer website, thus the social network is afiiliated to the retailer. The affiliate program and rewards on the social network system are administrated by the retailer, and the consumer cannot refer the brand to anyone and no revenue is provided to the consumer on a referred purchase. Also, the link redirects to an external retailer website, not to a dedicated retailer website in within the social network itself. Finally, the tracking information is collected by the retailer and not by the social network.

In the patent publication US2009/0222303, a service provider facilitates consumption of goods, brands, or services on an interactive network using characterization of consumers, behavior, brands, consumable goods and advocates to determine a three-way match between a consumable good, a consumer and an advocate.

In this method, no user-to-user referral scheme is contemplated and no link has to be published on the user's personal page. The connections between the users are established by algorithm calculations on similar likes and amnities, rather than on a free choice made by the users.

The items are filtered and proposed accordingly through a matching with the user's profile specifications rather than through the user's spontaneous choice.

Finally, the revenue system is based on matching info, rather than on real purchases.

A system and method for generating revenue from social interaction is described in the patent publication US2009/157497. In this arrangement, a method for a marketing network through social network is disclosed, based on a pyramid system which involves promising participants payment for enrolling other people into the scheme just simply commenting on an item, rather than from any real investment or purchase.

The revenue, in this arrangement, is generated by comments rather than by a link, and the communication tools (chatlinstant messaging/email) are offered mainly for marketing purposes, rather than for reasons of social interaction. Moreover, the system is to reward both the first and second participant if a third one purchases a product upon referral made through a comment.

System and method for providing a referral network in a social networking environment is disclosed in patent publication WO20l0/ 129966. A user content generated network is provided for presenting business listing as well as commentary and reviews of businesses by participants of the network. The network can track and monitor referrals that individual businesses receive as a mechanism for promoting the business to other users in the network's user base.

In the embodiment of this idea, the revenue scheme is generated on referrals listings and reviews rather than on real purchases. The possibility to conclude a real money transaction on the social network is not part of this embodiment.

The commission is paid for the registrations made through referral links and for the reviews/ratings provided by the users, rather than on the mere iinks published by them.

Also the commission is not payed to the provider of the social networking website, but only to the involved users, and it's paid in form of vouchers, free discounts and credits or points: no real money is involved because a cashier section on the user account is not conceived.

It is an object of invention to provide the use of a social network marketing system in which the system tracks the user information and ailows the user to shop online directly from the account, with the means of an e—commerce website, rewarding the user for any purchased item by its followers, within the system, upon using its referral link.

In a first preferred aspect, there is provided a social marketing system, the network comprising: - aprimary user account — at least one follower account — at least one brand account The brand pays a registration fee through a fee registration page to access the social network site and register a brand account within the social network marketing system, entering brand information such as company details, type of business, and retailers location, and choosing between a variety of templates to customize the brand account.

Once the brand account selects the customized layout, the social media content and the product advertisement are combined and formatted in the social network website in a dedicated section on the brand account.

In a second embodiment of this idea, the brand account pages on the social network may have exactly the same structure and content of the brand oficial website, or may display different content, specifically targeted to the social network users.

The brand account is provided with an “add brand” and a “post from brand” fimctionality, and a store section.

The “post from brand” fimctionality is provided with features such as “share pos ”, “recommend post” and “buy item”.

The store section contains a product listing section and a cashier area through which transactions are completed.

Once the brand has chosen the visual layout of the brand account and payed the registration fee to the social network provider, the system includes the brand account on the list of recommended brands for the users of the social network to View it and recommend it.

In addition to this, the brand receives from the system monthly reports on the users’ interaction with the specific brand pages, with details of revenue generated by the users, and of the total amount of commissions payed by the brand to the social network provider.

The embodiment of this idea proceeds with user registering for fi'ee a user account in the social network marketing system, providing user information such as personal details and location, and selecting the brands fiom a brands list recommended by the system, according to a system match between the location provided by the user and the retailers location entered by the brand during the registration process.

Each user account is provided with a unique user ID, an “add friend”, an “add brand” and a “recommend brand” functionality, a “share post” fimctionality, a “recommend brand post” and a “tag brand” functionality, and a cashier area to track the purchases and manage the earnings from the referrals.

When the user account adds, through the “add a friend” functionality, a second account (referred herein as “follower account”) to the account connections, the second account becomes a follower of the primary user account.

When the primary user account adds a brand to the list of recommended brands, the system generates and tracks a unique code which embeds the data related to the ID of the primary user account and the ID of the added brand account, and it starts displaying the post fiom brand (i.e. in form of sales/discount offers/promotions/events/competitions/surveys/new releases) on the user account profile. The primary user account can decide whether to click on the post or to share the post on its profile with its followers, through the “share brand post” functionality available on the brand post, or to recommend the brand post, through the “recommend brand post” functionality, in order to navigate the brand account, or to click on the “buy item” feature available on the post from brand, to eventually purchase the item advertised on the post through the brand store.

Anytime the primary user account shares the brand post, or recommends the brand post, a user code is created by the system, embedding the data related to the ID of the primary user account and the ID of the shared/recommended brand post.

Similarly, anytime the primary user account recommends the brand, tags the brand or adds the brand to the favorite brands list, a user code is created by the system embedding the data related to the ID of the primary user account and the ID of the recommended/tagged/added brand.

Anytime a follower account clicks on the brand post shared by the primary user account or on the brand post recommended by the primary user account, the system generates and tracks a referring code which embeds the ID of the primary user account, the ID of the follower account and the ID of the shared/recommended brand post.

Similarly, anytime a follower account clicks on the brand tagged by the primary user account, or accepts the primary user account's recommendation, adding the brand account to the favorite brands list, the system generates and tracks a referring code which embeds the ID of the primary user account, the ID of the follower account and the ID of the tagged/added brand.

The follower account can choose whether to accept the recommended brand and add it to its favorite brands list, or to navigate the brand account, embedding, in both cases, the primary user account referring code.

If the follower account shares or recommends a brand post that was referred by the primary user account, and a secondary follower clicks on that brand post, a new referring code is created which embeds the ID of the follower account, the ID of the secondary follower account and the ID of the shared/recommended brand post.

If the follower account tags or recommends to its followers a brand that was referred by the primary user account, and a secondary follower clicks on that tag or adds the brand upon recommendation, a new referring code is created which embeds the ID of the follower account, the ID of the secondary follower account and the ID of the tagged/recommended brand.

The method, therefore, includes a primary user account recommending a brand through a post or through a recommendation functionality, redirecting at least one follower account to the brand account profile or to a specific item displayed on the brand account store, through the embedding of a user referring code.

The embodiment of this idea includes a transaction system allowing purchase between a primary user account or a. follower account and a brand account, through a cashier area provided on the brand store section.

Thus, the transaction system here described allows the transfer of fimds between a primary user account and at least one brand account, or between at least one follower account and at least one brand account.

Before finalizing a purchase, the user account is asked to confirm the payment method details in the cashier area. Payment details can be tracked and stored by the system on the user account cashier area to ease future transactions.

Each time a primary user account completes a purchase on a brand account in the system, the brand account automatically credits a commission fee for the finalized transaction to the social network provider, based on the generated user code.

Anytime a follower account completes a purchase upon recommendation on a brand account in the system through the primary user account referring code, the brand account automatically credits a commission fee to the social network provider for the finalized transaction, and the system credits the primary user account with a commission for the followers purchase, based on the generated referring code.

Afier any transaction is completed by a follower account upon recommendation, the primary user account cashier gets updated by the system with the commissions payed by the system for the referrals.

The balance on the user account can be spent by the user on other purchases within the system or it can be withdrawn at anytime.

The method continues with the social network marketing system obtaining and storing brands accounts and users accounts data to implement social interaction tools, and tracking the generated user codes and referring codes for statistic purposes and revenue payouts, in order to determine whether the recommendation has affected the purchase, to quantify the amount of effective purchases and to credit the referring accounts.

Moreover, the social networking system gathers and stores the users activity and user browsing history related to the brands accounts on the database, i.e. time and duration of logins, number and type of visited brand pages, shared posts, browsing duration per single webpage, and other information as understood by those skilled in the art.

Consequently, the system runs reports on the database and provides the brand account with monthly reports, in order for the brand account to monitor and implement the interaction with the users within the social network marketing system.

Referring to the drawings, Fig.1 is a diagrammatic view of the registration procedure of the brand account within the social network marketing system.

Fig.2, is the diagrammatic view of the registration procedure of the primary user account and connection to follower accounts.

Fig.3 is the diagrammatic view of the brand account fimctionality.

Fig.4 is the diagrammatic View of the primary user account functionality and data traffic generation.

Fig.5 is the diagrammatic view of how the user code and referring code are created through a post from brand in respect to the interaction between the primary user account and the follower account.

Fig.6 is the diagrammatic view of how the user code and referring code are created through the “add brand”, “tag brand” and “recommend bran ” functionality in respect of the interaction between the primary user account and the follower account.

Fig.7 is the diagrammatic view of how the referring code works in the interaction between the follower account and a secondary follower account.

Fig.8 is the diagrammatic view of the transaction system and payment system between the brand account and the primary user account.

Fig.9 is the diagrammatic view of the transaction system and payment system between the brand account and the follower account.

Fig.10 is the diagrammatic view of data traffic generated within the system on the user interaction with the brand account.

Fig 11 is the screenshot of the user account graphical user interface.

Fig 12 is the screenshot of the brand account graphical user interface.

Fig 13 is the screenshot of the brand store graphical user interface.

Fig 14 is the screenshot of the store check out page graphical user interface.

Fig 15 is the screenshot of the store thank you page graphical user interface.

As shown in Fig.1, the brand (1) accesses the registration page on the social network (2) and providing company information (3) such as company details (4), retailer location (5), and type of business (6). The brand is to choose from a selection of customized webpages (7) which includes options for a customized brand profile page (8) and a brand store section (9), comprising of a list of products (10) and a brand cashier area (11). Thus, the brand selects the visual layout of the brand account on the social network marketing system (12).

The brand pays a registration fee (13) to the social network provider and gets included on the list of brands recommended by the system (14) to the users. The “add bran ” (15) functionality is activated by the system on the brand account so that the users can add the brand account to their favorite brands list (16). Also, once the brand account is connected on the social network (17), the users accounts visit the brand account (18) and view the post from brand (19); at the same time, the “post from brand” (19) functionality is activated by the system and the user account adds the brand account to the favorite brands list (16), receiving the post from brand (20) on its account.

As shown in Fig.2, the user (21) accesses the registration page on the social network (2) providing user information (22) such as personal details (23), location (24), and selecting some brands from the list of brands recommended by the system (14) based on the system match between the location (24) previously entered by the user and the retailer location (5) registered by the brand during the registration procedure. The user, through the “add brand” (15) fimctionality, adds the brand account to the favorite brands list (16).

Once this registration procedure has been completed, the user account is connected on the social network (25) and starts receiving the post from brand (20), while, through the “add -14. follower” (26) fimctionality, the user gets connected to other accounts (27), herein called “follower 1” (28) and “follower 2” (29).

As shown in Fig.3, once the brand account is connected on the social network (17), the system activates the “post from brand” (19) functionality, through which the users accounts visit the brand account (18) and View the brand profile page (8). Moreover, the users accounts may add the brand account to the favorite brands list (16) through the “add brand” (15) fimctionality.

The “post from brand” (19) functionality is provided with features such as “recommend brand post” (30), “share brand post” (31) and “buy item” (32) which allow the user to buy the item advertised on the post. Once the user clicks on the “buy item” (32) feature, it is redirected to the brand store section (9) which includes the list of products (10) and a brand cashier area (11) that facilitates the transactions between the primary user account and the brand account, and between the follower account and the brand account (33).

Through the brand cashier area (11), the brand account can also manage the payment of commissions by the brand account to the system (34) and the reports provided by the system to the brand account to implement the brand account activity (35) within the social network marketing system.

As shown in Fig. 4, the primary user account connected on the social network (25) creates traflic data generated by user code and referring code (38), traffic data generated on transactions tracked by user code (43), and traffic data generated on transactions tracked by referring code (44).

The primary user account ftmctionality which creates traffic data generated by the user code and referring code are the following: add brand (15), tag brand (36), recommend brand (37), recommend brand post (30), share brand post (31), and buy item (32). -15..

The trafic data generated on transactions tracked by user code (43) and by referring code code (44) is reported and displayed by the system on the primary user account cashier area (39), through information such as: revenue and balance (40), bonuses and orders (41), and reports on follower's purchases (42). The trafiic data generated by the user code and referring code (3 8) and by transactions tracked by the user code (43) and by transactions tracked by referring code (44) creates traffic data generated by the user on the interaction with the brand account (45).

As shown on Fig.5 once the post from brand (19) is published on the social network marketing system, if the primary user account ciicks on the post (46), a user code is created (47) and the user is redirected to the brand account embedding that primary user code (48).

If the primary user account shares the post (49) on its profile through the “share brand post” (31) fimctionality or recommends the brand post (5 0) through the “recommend brand post” (30) fimctionality, a user code is created (47) and the post appears on the primary user account embedding that primary user code (51). If the follower account clicks on the primary user account's post (52), shares the primary user account's post (53) or recommends the primary user account's post (54), a referring code is created (55) and the follower browses the brand account embedding that primary user referring code (56). If, browsing the brand account, the follower account adds the brand account through the “add brand” functionality (15), the follower account adds the brand account embedding the primary user referring code (5 7).

If the primary user account clicks on “buy item” (58) using the “buy item” (32) feature available on the post from brand (19), a user code is created (47) and the primary user account browses the brand store embedding that primary user code (59).

If a transaction is finalized and tracked by the user code (60), a commission is debited by the system to the brand account (61). Alternatively, if the transaction is not finalized (62), data traffic is generated by the user on the interaction with the brand account (45).

As shown in Fig.6, through the “add brand” (15) fimctionality, the primary user account adds the brand account to the favorite brands list (16) creating a user code (47).

If the primary user account browses the brand account embedding that primary user code (48) and accesses the brand store section (9) to make a purchase, the finalized transaction is tracked by the user code (60).

If the primary user account, through the “tag brand” (36) functionality, tags the brand account (63) in a post, and the follower account clicks on the primary user accounts tag (64), a referring code is created (55) and the follower account browses the brand account embedding that primary user referring code (56), generating data traflic on the interaction with the brand (45).

Subsequently, if the follower account accesses the brand store section (9) to make -a purchase, the finalized transaction gets tracked by the system through the referring code (67).

Similarly, if the primary user account recommends the brand account (65) to the followers through the “recommend brand” (37) functionality and the follower account clicks on the primary user account's recommendation (66), a referring code is created (55), and the follower account browses the brand account embedding that primary user referring code (56), generating data trafiic on the interaction with the brand (45).

Subsequently, if the follower account accesses the brand store section (9) to make a purchase, the finalized transaction gets tracked by the system through the referring code (67).

As shown in Fig.7, when the follower account browses the brand account embedding the primary user referring code (56), and through the “add brand” (15) functionality, the follower account adds the brand account to the favorite brands list (57), a referring code is created (55) and the follower account browses the brand account embedding that primary user referring code (56). If the follower account accesses the brand store section (9) to make a purchase, the finalized transaction gets tracked by the system through the referring code (67).

If the follower account tags the brand account (68) on a post, through the “tag brand” (36) functionality and a secondary follower account clicks on the fol1ower's tag (69), the system creates a referring code (55) and the secondary follower account browses the brand account embedding that follower referring code (72), generating data trafiic on the interaction with the brand (45).

Similarly, if the follower, through the “recommend brand” (3 7) fimctionality, recommends the brand account (70) to a secondary follower, and the secondary follower clicks on the followers recommendation (71), a referring code is created (55) and the secondary follower account browses the brand account embedding that follower referring code (72), generating data traflic on the interaction with the brand (45).

If the secondary follower account accesses the brand store section (9) to make a purchase, the finalized transaction gets tracked by the system through the referring code (67).

As shown in Fig.8, if the primary user account browses the brand account embedding the primary user code (48), and there is interest in purchasing a product (73), the primary user account visits the brand store embedding the primary user code (59) and, after viewing the list of products (10), it can select the product (74) and complete the check out process (75) through the brand account cashier area (1 1) on the brand store. The finalized transaction is tracked by the user code (60), a commission on the purchase is debited by the system to the brand account (61) and data traffic is generated on the transaction tracked by the user code (43). If, instead, there is no interest in purchasing a product (76), the primary user account can either keep browsing the brand account embedding the primary user code (48) and generate data trafic for the interaction with the brand account (45) or it can leave the brand account (77) to continue browsing the system (78), or leave the system (79).

As shown in F ig.9, if the foilower account browses the brand account embedding the primary user referring code (56), and there is interest in purchasing a product (73), the follower account visits the brand store embedding the primary user referring code (80), and after viewing the list of products (10), it can select the product (74) and complete the check out process (75) through the brand account cashier area (11) on the brand store.

The finalized transaction is tracked by the referring code (67), a commission on the purchase is debited by the system to the brand account (61), the system credits the revenue generated by the user to the primary user account (81) and the account balance gets updated on the primary user account cashier area (82). Moreover, trafiic data is generated on the transaction tracked by the referring code (44).

If, instead, there is no interest in purchasing a product (76), the follower account can either keep browsing the brand account embedding the primary user referring code (56) and generate data traffic for the interaction with the brand account (45), or it can ieave the brand account (77) to continue browsing the system (78), or leave the system (79).

As shown in Fig.10, the trafiic data generated by the user on the brand account interaction (45) is tracked by the system through the users browsing history on the brand account (83) and through the users transaction history with the brand account (84). This traffic data tracked and coliected by the system is sent via reports by the system to the brand account to implement the brand account activity (35) within the social network marketing system.

The user browsing history with the brand account (83) is tracked by login data (85) and by user codes and referring codes data (91).

The users browsing history with the brand account (83) is tracked by login data (85) such as: login time and date (86), login duration (87), login location (88), type of device used (89), and type of business selected by users within the list of brands recommended by the system (90).

The users browsing history with the brand account (83) is tracked by user codes and referring codes data (91) such as: number and type of shared posts (92), number and type of recommended posts (93), number and type of clicked posts (94), number and type of clicks on buy item (95), number of recommendations (96), number of referred followers (97), number of brand tags (98).

The users transaction history with the brand account (84) is tracked by used bonuses (99), revenue creation (100), number and type of purchased products (101), commissions debited by the system to the brand account (102).

As shown in Fig. 11, the user profile displays the user activity (103) with 3 different sections: “my latest activity” (104) contains all the information related to the user's actions within the system, “my follower activity” (106) contains ail the information related to the followers‘ actions within the system, and “my brand activity” (105) contains all the posts released from the brands. Each post from brand (19) is provided with features such as: “buy item” (32) which allows the user to purchase the product advertised on the post, “recommen ” (30) which allows the user to recommend the post (50) to its followers, and “share” (31) which allows the user to share the post (49) on its profile with its followers.

Any of these features (32, 30, 31), if enabled by the user, creates a user code (47) and is listed on the user's activity section named “My latest activity” (104).

Moreover, the “recommend a brand to your followers” (37) fimctionality allows the user to suggest at least one of its favorite brands (16) to at least one of its followers.

As shown in Fig.12, the brand profile is provided with the “Add brand” (15) functionality, through which the user account can add the brand account to the favorite brands list (16), becoming one of the brand fans (107) and starting to receive the post fiom brand (20) on the “My brands activity” (105) section.

The post from brand (19) functionality allows the user account to view all the latest feeds from the brand.

As shown in Fig.13, the brand store section (9) is provided with a list of products (10) and a “buy item” (32) functionality which allows the user to purchase the product within the social network marketing system.

As shown in Fig. 14, afier selecting a product (74), the user goes through the check out process (75) to confirm the shipping address and the payment method details (108).

As shown in F ig.15, once the purchase has been submitted through the brand store section (9), the user receives a confirmation message (109) which redirects the user to the user account cashier area (39).

Claims (1)

Claims

1. A computer implemented social network marketing system comprising: a primary user account with a unique user ID code; at least one follower account with a unique follower ID code; at least one brand account with a unique brand ID code; wherein: — an non-fee paying registration page is provided to the users and followers for access to the social network site; — a fee registration page is provided to the brand account for access to, and display in, a list of products recommended by the system on the social network site; - once registration is completed by the brand account, the “add a brand” functionality is activated by the system to allow users to add that particular brand to their own list; once in the user's list, the “post from brand” functionality is activated by the system allowing the user to receive post from the brand in its account; this “post from brand” functionality activates features in the user account such as “share brand post” (with other users), “recommend brand post” (to other users), and “buy item” (leading the user to a store section and cashier area for purchase); each use of this functionality results in the system generating ID of the added/shared/recommended post; upon the user making a purchase, the brand a user code embedding the user 1]) code and the account automatically credits a commission fee for the finalised transaction to the social network provider, based on the generated user code; — a payment system, in the means of a cashier area, to allow transfer of funds between the social network site and the brand account, and/or between the primary user account and the brand account, and/or between the primary user account and the brand and/or between the follower account and the brand account, is hosted by the social network, this payment system will also manage the individual user/follower's earnings; — a statistical reporting system for generating monthly statistics for each particular 10 I5 20 brand on effective purchases is hosted by the social network. A computer implemented social network marketing system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the primary user account further contains: “add a friend” fimctionality (linking the user account to a follower account), wherein: if the follower adds, shares or recommends a brand post shared by the user, the system generates a referring code embedding the user ID code, the follower ID code and the ID of the added/shared/recommended brand post; upon the follower making a purchase, the brand account automatically credits a commission fee for the finalised transaction to the primary user account, based on the generated referring code; upon a subsequent follower making a purchase based on the recommendation of a first follower, the brand account automatically credits a commission fee for the finalised transaction to the first follower account based on a generated referring a code; and a user activity display which will contain all the information relating to the user's actions within the social network. A computer implemented social network marketing system as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.