2. 2
Many companies’ social media efforts are not designed to actually
increase sales, or even to facilitate socializing. Fan pages and brand
communities many times look more like broadcast vehicles than
interactive social vehicles. The bottom line is that companies may
need to revisit their social media strategy to refocus investments
to generate engagement and move from pure social listening
capability to derive actionable insights across departments.
Engagement takes many forms. Co-creation contests and games
on social media engage consumers and give them a vehicle to
voice their opinions. From voting on new product flavors to
participating in video competitions in support of the brand, to
offline scavenger hunts launched online, social media has a
distinctive ability to generate engagement. Ideally companies
could create one-to-one relationships with consumers or one-
to-many interactions among consumers over a shared pursuit.
Either way, social media can increase the flow of conversation
and consumers’ engagement with the brand and with each other,
making it a uniquely cost effective way to generate input and
influence new products, offers and marketing approaches.

6. 6
In the CPG industry, the traditional approach of relying heavily on
retailer data or surveys to understand consumers’ expectations is
not the only or most effective option anymore. CPG companies
should add social media insights to that point-of-sale (POS) data for
a more complete view of target consumers. Social media enables
CPG companies to not only learn more about consumers, but
also engage directly with them and have an ongoing dialogue.
It should come as no surprise that our study found CPG brands like
adidas, Coca-Cola, Ferrero, Kit Kat, Nike, Oreo, Pringles and Red
Bull to be among the 50 most active social media brands in the
world during the holidays. Retailers, such as Amazon, Walmart,
Target and Macy’s, also made it on this top 50 list. But our study
found that the different brands are at varying levels of maturity in
terms of having a two-way dialogue with consumers. The specific
social media tactics the brands implemented to engage with
consumers remains the key factor driving their engagement scores.
The Research Findings
Finding #1
Consumers engaged more actively with
social media tactics focused on one CPG
brand versus retailer posts focused on
multiple CPG brands offered in their stores.
Finding #2
Campaigns focused on social and charitable
causes created more conversation around
the holidays compared to posts offering
a discount, requesting a survey response
or making a general statement.
Finding #3
Working the holiday theme into brand posts
proved effective. Holiday- or Santa-themed
posts, such as those implemented by Macy’s,
received a higher response than posts on
other topics during the holiday season.
Finding #4
Campaigns including multimedia content
– such as high-quality video, or clear
product images like those posted by
Dove hair oil advertisements – were more
effective than simple text or photo posts.
Finding #5
An effective way to engage consumers is
to make them a part of the social media
campaign, such as idea-or story-sharing and
innovation sourcing. For example, birthday
celebration ads from Oreo, Christmas
tree sharing by Monster Energy fans,
and a call to design the future Heineken
bottle were effective campaigns.
Finding #6
Do not implement a discount campaign
without being 100 percent ready to deliver
on the promise. Address supply chain
fulfillment issues up front and describe in
detail the process for redeeming vouchers.
For example, a few CPG companies offered
discounts without confirming voucher
fulfillment processes in all local participating
stores. And some did not clearly articulate
which stores were participating in the
program. This resulted in a lot of noise
throughout the social communities where
consumers complained about stores refusing
the vouchers, and therefore, doubted
the credibility of the brand’s offer.
Finding #7
If you run a social media campaign that
could go viral, ensure you have a Social
Media Management System in place to
deal with the amount of conversations that
could occur. For example, several consumers
complained on brand pages, stating that
their queries were going unanswered despite
repeated attempts. These queries ranged
from campaign questions to dissatisfaction
with in-store services during the holidays.
Finding #8
For CPG brands, ensure you have a digital
strategy that includes ideas for capitalizing
on “earned media” resulting from your retail
partners’ social media campaigns. Traditionally
CPG brands make significant investments
in trade promotions to influence good
product positioning in retail stores. But in a
multi-channel world, that approach should
evolve to also include tactics focused on
how retail partners promote your products
on their websites and social media pages.
Finding #9
Incomplete campaigns or unplanned tactics
are not effective. Engage with people when
you have a clear strategy, message and goals.
In our study, irrelevant messages from a few
brands resulted in zero “likes” or shared posts,
therefore, wasting that opportunity to turn
a social media post reader into a customer
or fan. Throughout the study, all brands we
monitored saw an uplift in their social media
fan base . A few brands saw some existing
fans being replaced with new fans. This
poses a question for brands to answer when
they formulate their social media campaign
strategy. Do you spend time on new customer
acquisition, or focus on retaining a loyal base?
Finding #10
Be simple, genuine and relevant with social
media posts. A concise, simple post, such as
“What’s your snow day song?” by Smirnoff had
2,064 replies and generated more engagement
than a discount or coupon post, which is only
applicable for some products and in some
stores. Discounts and coupons could be more
effective through more targeted channels
like email or direct mail, where you can
deliver them to target audience segments for
particular products in particular regions. Use
of the advanced personalized offers engine
on social media fanbook/Twitter pages is
another option to drive targeted campaigns
to different audience segments. Social media
posts potentially reach a very broad audience,
so brands should use messages and tactics
that are effective for one-to-many marketing.

14. 14
This Research Was Conducted By...
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Project Contributors:
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