Social Media Marketing Success Stories and Shortcomings

Interested in social media and its marketing potential, but not quite sure the best way to go about it? What makes a social campaign successful versus lackluster? What is the best way to interact with and engage consumers?

AdWeek recently conducted a comprehensive analysis of how leading brands are utilizing Facebook to achieve marketing success (or how some are falling short of the social network’s true marketing potential), and separated the winners into eight different categories. Facebook is often used as a measuring stick because it’s a popular gathering place for an extensive general audience; through September 2009, the site hosted 300 million members with an average visit time of six hours per person monthly. Businesses also keep flocking to Facebook for its large consumer base and because its social networkers have been fairly receptive to the brand invasion; in fact, Facebook has conducted campaigns for 83 of the top 100 brands, and 15 of the most popular Facebook pages belong to the corporations Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Skittles.

Just as marketing campaigns need leads for sales conversions, social marketing requires brands to attain more friends, fans or followers, although the value of a brand fan is unknown. While “there is no standard framework for measuring the importance of a brand fan…, nearly everyone agrees it has value.” According to AdWeek, “this virtual popularity contest has been joined by advertisers, who are scrambling to build fan bases they hope to mobilize on behalf of their brands.” By racing to obtain more fans, brands hope to create an “army” of advocates that will engage in word-of-mouth marketing (often regarded as the most influential form).

While no-cost brand pages are effective and less invasive, many companies are finding the quickest way to achieve a large fan following is through paid advertising on Facebook. For example:

Old Spice sent paid invitations that read “Turn up your man smell” in an effort to increase its fan base of 55,000. Through October 12, the brand had 175,000 fans.
Little Debbie’s standard fan page wasn’t achieving desired results, even though it hosted status updates and videos of old commercials. On October 8, Little Debbie targeted an ad to Facebook users 21–49 years old for a chance to win a Smart car, prompting 120,000 more fans and 6,000 comments.
TGI Friday’s experienced an influx of fans after airing paid television commercials that drove consumers to its Facebook page to become fans of a character named Woody.

But creating a loyal fan base is only half the job. Once fans have been enticed to follow your Facebook activities, you must keep them interested and engaged. “Many brands take a page out of news organizations and set up editorial calendars that include new products, brand content and polling.” And to effectively communicate with fans, brands need to find a voice that speaks well among consumers and also represents the company. These factors (and a few others) helped AdWeek determine the social marketing winners and losers, who “might be missing some prime opportunities to interact with their current and potential customers.” While some brands may fall short, I give them credit for trying and embracing social media. The social space is still a relatively new and untapped market, and marketers are still gauging the most and least effective tactics for social engagement. With some attention and revisions for better consumer interaction, the brands that have fallen short can increase their fan followings, too.

The Winners

Consumer/Packaged Goods: Coca-Cola

3.7 million fans.
Page actually started by two fans, who have since been invited to headquarters to continue running the page.
Showcases a promotion for consumer videos with a chance to appear in a commercial.

Retail: Best Buy

842,000 fans.
Features “Shop and Share” and “Gift Ideas” applications.
Allows social shopping, as fans can browse products from the site.
Promotes general and product-specific feedback from Facebook fans.

Restaurant/Foods: Starbucks

4.5 million fans.
Hosts ice cream and pastry giveaways that have resonated well with fans.
Page is experiencing three-percent growth per week.
Ranked the most-connected brand by Altimeter Group.

Technology: Microsoft

300,000 fans.
Features different fan pages for each product line, from Internet Explorer to Windows and from Surface to Bing.

Apparel: Adidas

2.1 million fans.
Page is refreshed with photos, videos and updates throughout the week.
Has a “Your Area” tab for local content.

Insurance: Aflac

161,000 fans.
Page is built around the famous duck character.
Combines daily updates with charity campaigns and contests.
Page has crossed over to Twitter for 3,000 additional followers.

Automotive: Ford

370,000 fans.
Mixes Ford, Mustang and Fusion pages.
Combines product and event information with photos and videos.

Airline: Southwest

80,000 fans.
Showcases characters Lindsey and Christi, who serve as your virtual hosts.
Features promos and frequent polling for high customer engagement and interaction.

Needs Improvement