When it comes to social media, American Express (NYSE:AXP) has been an innovator. For example, back in March it launched its Twitter Sync program, which gave discounts to customers who tweeted certain hashtags.
Well, it looks like the strategy has been a success. Now, Amex is expanding the program — that is, customers can pay for products with hashtags! It’s a seamless process because the person’s Amex card is tied to the person’s Twitter account. So far, users can purchase products from companies like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has shown that social commerce has lots of potential, as with its Gifts feature and the recent deal with Discover (NYSE:DFS) to create a real-world card. No doubt, it looks like Twitter sees a profit-making opportunity as well. And having the support of a marquee partner like American Express should be a great way to jump-start hashtag sales.
Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook, a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He is also the author of “How to Create the Next Facebook” and “High-Profit IPO Strategies: Finding Breakout IPOs for Investors and Traders.” Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
A long-time follower of the IPO scene, back in 1999 Tom started one of the first sites in the space called WebIPO. It was a place where investors got research as well as access to deals for the dot-com boom. Tom also wrote the top-selling book, Investing in IPOs. In it, he covers all the aspects of analyzing an IPO, such as reading the prospectus, detecting the risk factors and understanding some of the arcane regulations. But don’t worry — if that process is too intimidating for you, thankfully Tom will do the legwork for you right here in the IPO Playbook blog.
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