5 Companies Crushing Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing has become an equalizer for marketers who want to build their brand but don’t have the budget to spend on commercials. Even the largest enterprises have been riding the wave of social media marketing. In order to be successful, businesses must be creative with their ads and know their audience. Competition is stiff as platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have rapidly evolved in such a short span of time. Smart Insights reports that users only have an 8-second attention span when scrolling through over 300 feet of content every day. To run a successful campaign, companies need a strategy to catch people’s attention instantly, or their money will be wasted.
PEEL
The company continues to establish the brand through their Instagram feed as simple, yet visually appealing.
Peel uses Facebook video ads to display their smart phone products above competitors. Portraying their phones cases as stylish and functional in the form of short videos has resulted in an increase in percentage of revenue and higher ROI. The company continues to establish the brand through their Instagram feed as simple, yet visually appealing.
Their posts emphasize on the brand’s motto, “less=more,” with black and white themed coloring and strategic product placement. The feed’s cohesiveness to PEEL’s website reiterates simplicity to match their products being minimal, but tasteful. Customer service is vital for a business to achieve a successful campaign, so Peel’s quick responses to consumer questions have boosted ROI. Customer recognition PEEL’s selling points reinforce the brand’s motto on social media platforms and exemplify the brand’s commitment to their beliefs.
IKEA
Augmented Reality is a technology released by Apple where developers can design apps with real-world imagery, featuring digital and augmented objects. IKEA took initiative of the software to improve its customer shopping experience. For example, say you want a new chair for your living room, and you find one at IKEA, only to come home and realize it doesn’t coordinate well. The IKEA Place app resolves this problem by letting users look at IKEA products in the comfort of their home and virtually move furniture or preview other items until they find the perfect fit. The interactive and persuasive technique engages customers, turning users into buyers, increasing IKEA’s conversion rates.
Superdrug
Content marketing plays an imperative role in social media marketing. Superdrug, a health and beauty retail company, wanted to raise awareness about a prevalent issue: female body image. Buzzfeed and Huffington Post published “Perceptions of Perfection”, a study performed by Superdrug that features one model pictured to fit with different cultures’ ideal beauty standards. The model was Photoshopped by eighteen graphic designers from around the world to fit their country’s beauty norms. Some edits remained close to the original photo, while others were so drastic, it exemplified a woman with an estimated BMI of 17.5 or lower, the typical BMI of a woman suffering from anorexia. The study gained a lot of buzz from celebrity endorsements, including actress and model, Sofía Vergara, who posted the article on her Facebook page. The campaign also resulted in international news coverage as well as placements within the New York Times, The Telegraph and Business Insider. The original study racked up three million views, about one million social shares, and within five days, Superdrug had more than 700,000 views on their website.
Tena
Not all industries are social-media friendly because people are uncomfortable talking about certain topics online. Tena sells incontinence products; an issue people are rather private about. Instead of letting that problem prevent the company from being relevant on social media, they decided to use platforms like Facebook to promote their brand and their ‘My Pelvic Floor Fitness’ app. Tena created a social media contest, challenging participants to post a selfie while doing the exercises that were featured on the app. The “#EZSQUEEZY” challenge encouraged their target audience to normalize their condition and help them feel safe talking about it online. By using content marketing to generate audience awareness, Tena indirectly sold products, promoted their brand and inspired their target audience. The campaign proved Tena to be a company that its audience can trust and engage with to empower and unite women to normalize a common condition.
Wendy’s
“THROUGH TWITTER, THE FAST FOOD CHAIN HAS RECEIVED AN ABUNDANCE OF FREE ADVERTISEMENT JUST FROM FANS MENTIONING THEM AND GOING VIRAL. “
Well-known for their frequent jabs at McDonald’s and other competitors on Twitter, Wendy’s uses social media to engage with fans differently from competitors. Implementing humor into their posts has put the fast food chain in the social media spotlight this past year. People have found Wendy’s comebacks and roasts to be undoubtedly hilarious. Through Twitter, the fast food chain has received an abundance of free advertisement just from fans mentioning them and going viral. For instance, a fan tweeted asking Wendy’s how many retweets they would need to get free chicken nuggets for a year. Wendy’s decided to give the user a definite number, creating a challenge for the user to acquire eighteen million retweets. Although the user didn’t reach the goal, the tweet went more viral than Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars selfie, becoming the most retweeted tweet in history. Thus, Wendy’s rewarded the user with free nuggets for a year for achieving that accomplishment. All Wendy’s did was respond with “18 million” to get waves of Twitter users talking about the race for free nuggets effectively without having to say anything to promote their food.