Some companies have managed to effectively exploit the huge popularity of social networking tools in their marketing strategies. Some have tried bravely, but failed miserably. We have listed a few examples in trying to outline what works and what doesn’t.
Financial news website, Big Money, has listed the top 50 brands making best use of Facebook in 2009. Various different metrics such as number of fans, page growth, frequency of updates, creativity and fan engagement were used to draw it up.
No surprises at the top – the number one brand in the world is also ranked as number one on Facebook. Coca-Cola’s fan page was created by a fan and, following its huge popularity, later made “official” by the company. Lack of initial strategy has left the page with a truly fan-based, non-corporate feel and is consequently a perfect example of engagement in social media.
Second on the list is global coffee brand Starbucks which is reported to have gained almost 200,000 new fans in a single week (thanks to a pastry promotion) and the third spot is occupied by Disney with its extensive use of colourful pictures and videos.
Coca-cola owned Vitaminwater, sixth on the list, demonstrated how to make use of Facebook as a market research tool. The “flavourcreator” app had users vote for the next drink flavour as well as submitting designs for the label. The brand’s fan-base has since doubled.
What to do
A digital media blog, 360° Digital Influence, recognised four key features of effective Facebook engagement.
Functionality
Apple’s iTunes has mastered the functionality category with, for example, its exclusive iTunes tutorials and iTunes ‘top hits’ section.
Time bound contest/challenges
TGI Fridays got a massive boost for its fan-base thanks to a campaign (featuring TV promotions) that gave away free burgers to every user who became a friend of a super fan, Woody, but only if the fan-base topped half a million by a certain date. The goal was reached weeks before the deadline and the fan-base went on to grow to almost one million.
Recognition
Dunking Donuts’ Facebook Fan of the Week contest is mentioned as a great example of fan recognition. Each week the brand will select a photo of one of its fans and sets it as its profile picture.
Sophisticated apps
Red Bull’s Stash App takes social media engagement to the next level. A real life scavenger hunt was arranged via Facebook to enable fans to search for hidden Red Bulls all over the US.
What not to do
- Social media engagement turned to disaster
Social media can be a double-edged sword. The power of viral marketing via social networking tools doesn’t take a lot to backfire – a bad reputation travels as fast a good reputation. Here are few cases as a word of caution.
1. Domino’s Pizza suffered a social media disaster last year when two of their employers posted a video on YouTube abusing food and breaking hygiene standards in a Domino’s store kitchen. The video attracted about one million views, causing huge damage to their brand reputation. Domino’s reacted by opening up a Twitter account to answer questions, posting an apology on YouTube and filing criminal charges against the duo.
2. Vodafone had to send out a fleet of public apologies after one of its employers used the company Twitter account to send out an obscene message. The post – “VodafoneUK is fed up of dirty homo’s [sic] and is going after beaver” – was received by almost 9000 VodafoneUK followers. It was first thought the message was a result of someone hacking into the company’s Twitter account. However, in a groveling apology, the company admitted this wasn’t the case as the message was posted by its own employee.
3. The Telegraph tried to utilise social media in their coverage of the budget last year. With the best of intentions they decided to include any tweet that had the tag “#budget” in its coverage. The good idea turned into an embarrassing incident as the Twitter users spotted that the system wasn’t moderated and started bombarding the paper with prank tweets such as “Breaking news: Barclay Brothers to pick up your tax bill in unprecedented act of philanthropy. #Budget”
A few tips
- on how to tackle negative social media reaction
Sebastian Barros, writing for the social media marketing blog, Penn Olson, lists a few points to keep in mind for brands still testing the social media waters.
Be honest
“Social media users are savvy enough to expose you if they want to. The social media audience isn’t really very forgiving when it comes to dishonesty.”
Monitor what’s been said about your brand
“When necessary, immediate response should be made and preferably through the same social media channels.”
Educate your employers to minimise pranks
“Whatever little we can do, we should. It is important to educate employees about the use of social media and its impact.”
Feature article
Despite consistent predictions to the contrary, the huge success of social media is not showing signs of cooling down.
Read our feature article on social networking tools
Tags: digital marketing, social media
Posted in Case Studies