the proof is in the viral…
I was confronted with a great question the other day, “can social media really increase my revenue?”. To answer this in a mere paragraph or blog post would be a futile attempt to entertain even my notion of fun.
Gary Vaynerchuck, Brian Solis and Chris Anderson would be the best people to talk about this in depth, and in fairness they are the gods of the marketing mainstream.
What I can do however is point to some examples which have had positive business results because of social media engagement.
1. Old Spice
The Old Spice campaign is the archetypal social media activity that creates great interest, prompts interaction and just recently proved how it can increase sales.
The concept whilst simple, is ingeniously executed. To view the original video, click here. What has been great about this campaign is the level of interaction, and the lengths both Old Spice and the actor have gone in really making it a personal tale. People have proposed, others have flaunted their sporting achievements and there have been birthday wishes galore.
£100 says that this is going to appear in every presentation for the next year.
2. Starbucks and Foursquare
Starbucks threw their flag into the geo-tagging market very quickly, they could see the benefits, I admittedly couldn’t. (Lucky for Starbucks hey) The concept was simple, check in 10 times, and your tenth coffee is free. I mean it’s so simple, that according to some market researchers, the first two coffees have paid for the free one.
So two may not be many for now, but great examples of how social media can add value to the balance sheet, and get your brand discussed thoroughly in the market place.
Can you think of any more great examples of a brand getting discussed and then turning this discussion into profit? DM or comment directly.
