You see the biggest brands in the world winning the social media war and are left wondering: How can my business get the most out of social? This presentation explores how to leverage best practices from the biggest and best social brands in the world for your company (that may not have a big budget). This 2013 round-up of social media anecdotes offers 10 actionable recommendations to help your business go to the next level. It was originally presented at Hubspot's INBOUND 2013.
15. #inbound13
âThe continued proliferation of media
messages may be impacting how well
they resonate with their intended
audiences on various platforms.â
Randall Beard
Global Head
Nielsen Advertiser Solutions
29. MANCHESTER UNITED
For a long time, Man Utd fans
were only able to follow their
favorite team on Facebook (and to
some degree, Twitter).
When the brand doubled down
with proïŹles on Twitter, Google+
and Instagram, it didnât just
assume fans would ïŹnd the new
proïŹles organically. Instead, it
launched the âWE ALL FOLLOW
UNITEDâ campaign, activating all
channels (not just social) to build
its followings.
Today, it boasts followings of well
over 35 million fans.
30. AUDIENCE ACQUISITION
REQUIRES ACTION
LESSON #1
Stop posting without a meaningful audience! Put a plan
into place to acquire followings on social media
presences. Leverage email upload tools to audience
match and follow. Use other channels to communicate a
value proposition to contacts that makes it worth their
time to follow you. Hope is not a strategy.
33. KITKAT & OREO
If youâre truly going to be a social
brand, wouldnât it make sense to
socialize with like-minded brands?
By listening to a fan bemoaning
the fact that she follows both
@KITKAT and @Oreo, KITKAT saw
an opportunity. The brand initiated
a battle for @Laura_elllenxxâs
affection with a tongue in cheek
game of tic-tac-toe.
The team behind Oreo saw an
opportunity to be playful in return,
allowing both brands to tap into
each otherâs followings and
expand reach for the two iconic
sweet brands.
34. PARTNER UP FOR
EXPANDED REACH
LESSON #2
Identify âparallel brandsâ for your company -- that is,
like-minded, non-competitive brands who share your
audience. Reach out to that brandâs community
manager in order to consider a co-promotional
partnership as casual as exchanging a couple tweets or
as complex as a content distribution partnership.
37. JETBLUE
A lot of brands spent a long time
thinking about what Aprilâs Fool
joke they could post on their social
media presences to trick users.
JetBlue spent more time thinking
about what they could do for their
customers that was worth
customers posting themselves. The
brand came up with âAprilâs No
Fool.â
Anyone named April ïŹying on
April 1st was given a JetBlue
credit for the amount of her fare.
Did it end up all over social? Yes.
Did it start as social media? No.
Itâs just a great idea.
38. SOCIAL MEDIA WITHOUT
SOCIAL MEDIA
LESSON #3
Donât get so focused on the next post that you lose sight
of what really matters: brilliant ideas. Whatâs the last
one you had? To be effective in a world of social
media, brands shouldnât think itâs just about posting to
proïŹles. Think about what you can do for consumers
that they think is worth talking about.
42. DOVE
In an exceedingly low interest
category, Dove has dug deep to
understand the mindset of its
audience.
Along the way, Dove learned that
only 4% of women globally
describe themselves as beautiful.
Based on that insight, the brand
launched the Real Beauty
campaign, which has been
running for over 7 years.
This year, Dove struck an intense
cord with its audience around the
world with its Real Beauty
Sketches video. It became the most
viewed online ad of all time and
was translated globally.
43. THE POWER OF
AUDIENCE INSIGHT
LESSON #4
Understanding your consumer shouldnât begin and end
with buyer personas. Audience insight that goes
beyond how and why people buy can connect brands
and consumers deeply and viscerally. Find an issue
connected to your brand and create content so
meaningful your audience canât help but share it.
46. EATON
In an industry that completely lacks
differentiation, Eatonâs Power
Quality division has created
unique value for its customers.
An active member of the popular
IT professional community
Spiceworks, Eaton has built
relationships by putting its product
experts forward as helpful
ambassadors within the
community.
In order to drive further familiarity
with the brand, Eaton launched
Claw OâMatic, a promotion that
engaged players around Eatonâs
brand endlessly and paid off its
community connections.
47. COMMUNITY FIRST,
THEN BUSINESS
LESSON #5
The worst time to build relationships with new prospects
is when youâre asking them to buy. Instead, focus on
becoming an active member of key communities to
build a bank of trust with audiences. When itâs time to
move people down the funnel, those communities can
become your biggest supporters.
50. MINI USA
While most brands understand the
importance of data when it comes to
selling products and services, few
have created a sense of community
by releasing data about their
consumers.
Prior to the Royal Baby being born,
MINI USA asked its fans to predict
whether it would be a boy or a girl.
Beyond that initial engagement, the
brand then followed it up --
releasing the MINI fan prediction
results.
It make for compelling content, but it
also created a hyper-relevant sense
of community among MINI fans.
51. REAL DATA
RESONATES
LESSON #6
In an era all about transparency, real data (even if itâs
playful) resonates with consumers. What new
information can you reveal about the use of your
product or service that your customers didnât know
before? The right data point can increase use, drive
new use occasions or even be the ïŹnal sell-in.
54. PAULA DEEN
The Paula Deen brand may not be
doing too well these days, but
what it has done right is
understand its Pinterest Audience.
Wired reports that Deenâs Aunt
Peggyâs Cucumber, Tomato and
Onion Salad recipe is a perfect
example of knowing the perfect
type of content for Pinterest: no
human faces, little background,
multiple colors (including red) and
portrait orientation.
Itâs been repinned 363,000 times,
liked 8,000 times, and
commented upon 300 times.
55. KNOW THY
PLATFORM
LESSON #7
Whether itâs a salad recipe or a slideshow,
understanding intimately the functionality of the social
media platform you are using makes a big difference.
Optimize your posts to perform based on platform best
practices -- posting times, image sizes, CTA positioning
and embed options make a difference.
59. COTTON
When it came time to plan
Cottonâs annual 24 Hour Runway
Show, the brand wanted to extend
the event well beyond the 24
hours it would be taking place.
Cotton engaged 6 fashion
inïŹuencers well in advance of the
show in order to conduct a
nationwide search for styles that
represented each of the
inïŹuencersâ regions.
The inïŹuencers not only engaged
themselves, but also guided the
content of the show so that it
would best engage their followers.
60. INVITE
INFLUENCERS IN
LESSON #8
Increasingly, inïŹuencers cannot be an afterthought. By
building your brand around inïŹuencers and inviting
them into the process early, brands can ensure that with
a brand launch, theyâre surrounded by advocates.
Consider an advisory board, content partnership or
crowd-funding as a ïŹrst step.
63. LOWEâS
One of the things consumers love
about Loweâs is the level of support
the brand provides through its staff
in-store. But with a dispersed sales
force, the brand canât always
distribute its best expertise evenly
across all its locations.
When Vine launched, Loweâs was
one of the ïŹrst brands to hop on
board, offering an entire series of
6-second video tips for basic
household problems
(#lowesïŹxinsix).
Not only did customers appreciate
the advice, but they shared the tips
generously with their followers.
64. SHARE
YOUR EXPERTISE
LESSON #9
Sharing your expertise means ïŹnding great ways to
showcase it to current customers, but also publishing
your expertise in a shareable way. In doing so, your
brand stands to beneïŹt from increased credibility and
the added reach of your current audience sharing with
their own spheres of inïŹuence.
67. COCA-COLA
For a brand that has historically
been all about top-of-the-funnel
awareness, Coca-Colaâs Open
Happiness campaign has given the
brand a rare chance to begin
adding value to its consumersâ lives.
Instead of dispensing soda, the
brand created an airport
installation that dispenses Danish
ïŹags to passengers arriving in
Denmark (and their loved ones). A
perfect tie to the brand, given that
Denmark is ranked as âthe happiest
country in the world,â Coca-Cola
found it in its heart (and logo) to
give people a warm Danish
welcome.
68. BE ON THE WAY,
NOT IN THE WAY
LESSON #10
Consider how your brand can provide a moment of
positivity, productivity or other form of value in
consumersâ lives... beyond your core product or service
offering. By being on customersâ way, instead of in their
way with marketing, spend efïŹciency increases and
people begin to want your brandâs messages.
69. 1. Why Social Matters
2. Integrating Social With
Inbound Marketing
3. 10 Social Best Practices
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