Gift Ideas From The Web

Published on 12 Mar 2013 at 10:57 pm.
Filed under Informative,Social Media.

Need to find that perfect gift for someone special? Here we discuss how you can use the web and social media for gift ideas.

We all have those times where we need to get a gift for someone but just can’t think of what to get them. At those times you need to do your homework to see what they want. You may discover something that they don’t know they need.

Gift Ideas from Amazon

Screenshot from my Wish List. As you can see Amazon lets you list notes for each item.

Make Amazon the first site you hit for gift ideas. You can use Amazon Wish List to find a present that you know they want because they are asking for it. Simply Add To Cart and complete the order and you have your gift.

Side note: Amazon will display your real name, and might also display your birthday, on the Wish List results page. I cannot find a setting that would hide this info. If you’re concerned about your privacy you should create a nonsensical email address that you configure to forward messages to your primary email. Then change your Amazon account to use that as the primary email.

Gift Ideas from Social Media

Gift ideas from social media are more difficult. Social media can give an inaccurate view of a person. For instance, a person may share many cat videos from YouTube to Facebook. That just means they think the videos are cute or funny. That doesn’t mean they would like to own a cat. Additionally, it’s harder to find information from a user unless you are already connected to them. If you send a friend request to connect you run the risk of tipping them off to your plans.

Foursquare

Use Foursquare to find locations that someone frequents. With this knowledge you can get them gift receipts for places that they frequent. If you’re connected to the person you can view their last 5 check-ins. Regardless of your friendship level you can view their mayorships, tips, and badges. If a person is the mayor for a place that means they frequent it more often than anyone else on Foursquare. If they’ve left a tip that tells you that they have frequented that place enough times that they feel they can recommend something about it. Badges tell you about specific types of interest a person may care about. Badges come in levels based on the number of unique check-ins a user has made. Someone with a level 8 Fresh Brew badge really likes coffee. That person probably won’t frown on a gift certificate to Starbucks.

Pinterest

Pinterest gives you direct feedback on things a person’s interests. Users may create boards on topics such as Jewelry or Clothing. They will then pin items to that board. If a person recently pinned four pairs of boots in a similar style than you know that they want boots in that style. Pinterest includes a link to the original page that a user pinned that image from. If the link sends you to an ecommerce website you can search the site for similar items, or directly order the item.

This post was originally published as Gift Ideas From The Web for The BrandBuilder Company.