Tag Archives: marketing for a social world
May 20, 2013
Buyer (and Diner and Traveler) Beware the “Customer” Review
As a consumer, I often rely on reviews from other consumers when making my purchasing (or dining or vacationing) decisions. And as a social media marketer and content provider, I also rely on reviews, feedback and public opinion found online to help my clients better understand where they stand with their customers (and potential customers), and how they can build positive relationships with these audiences. Because of this, I know a lot about the various review sites and forums out there, and I know which ones I can trust more than others.
Posted in Retail & Consumer, Social Marketing
May 17, 2013
How Banks and Credit Unions Can Establish Customer Service Protocols for Social Media
We recently noted two basic elements financial institutions often overlook in their social media marketing: community guidelines and customer service protocols. Our blog post “How 13 Banks and Credit Unions Handle Community Guidelines on Facebook” explained the importance of community guidelines to the brand experience and provided several examples. Just as important is establishing fan and follower expectations about customer service.
All brands – especially heavily regulated financial institutions – should state their social customer service protocols clearly, and the path to assistance should be fast and easy. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. For those who need to update their profiles to contain information about customer service, here are some examples from banks and credit unions…
May 6, 2013
Chase Sapphire Uses Social Media to Put Brand Values into Action
Chase Sapphire re-launched two golf-related promotions for 2013, including one with a fun social element that brings the Sapphire brand to life.
Beyond the Tee is a Facebook app that allows customers to make their own pegboards, which are part wish list and part travel log. The boards are lists of well known courses like Kapalua, Bethpage Black and Pebble Beach, and Likers can indicate “I want to do this” or “I have done this” for any of the locations listed. A few Sapphire Golf Experience Packages are highlighted, and cardholders can select golf achievements or aspirations like “I hit the green on my first try!” Likers can add comments to items on pegboards and share their boards with friends.
May 3, 2013
Taco Bell Sends Snapchat, Young People Freak Out
Taco Bell has done it again. The brand, known for embracing new marketing technologies, used a Snapchat to announce the return of the Beefy Crunch Burrito to a cluster of consumers who added the brand on the mobile app.
Posted in Retail & Consumer
Tagged marketing for a social world, mobile apps, mobile marketing, Snapchat, Taco Bell
May 3, 2013
How 13 Banks and Credit Unions Handle Community Guidelines on Facebook
In March, The Financial Brand published “7 Ridiculously Simple Social Media Fixes for Financial Marketers,”which addressed oversights by financial institutions. We agree with the piece and its sentiment; you’d be surprised how often financial services companies (and all brands, really) overlook the fundamentals. In addition to what The Financial Brand outlined, Media Logic is often astonished when financial institutions and brands fail to provide two very basic – and extremely important – items: guidelines for their Facebook communities and protocols for customer service on social platforms.
Community guidelines for Facebook
Every Page on Facebook should publish community guidelines. These “rules of the road” put financial institutions and brands in charge of tone and content. Since an organization’s Timeline in its entirety (including comments and “posts by others”) affects both branding and the customer experience, this must be a priority.
Common elements of community guidelines include requirements about playing nice (and all its variations, such as restrictions on obscenities, fraud and disrespect), warnings about sharing personal/financial information (such as social security numbers, passwords and account details) and explanations of consequences for violating the guidelines (removal of comments, blocking/banning, etc.). For those without any posted guidelines and those in need of updating, here’s a sampling of how some banks and credit unions lay down the law.
May 1, 2013
Attention Hospitals: Establish Social Channels Now
One of the biggest ways the Boston-area response to the marathon bombings impressed me was how the local hospitals reacted, both immediately as events unfolded and how they continued to act in the days that followed. And I’m not just referring to the speed at which they took in the victims or the efficiency with which they processed what was happening: I’m speaking specifically to how well they communicated with the public about what was going on.
Indeed, these hospitals could serve as models for the health care industry on the importance of having good communication in a time of crisis. More than that: they can serve as a model for how important social media can be for health care systems in times of crisis.
April 30, 2013
So You Want to Grow Up to Be a Social Media Manager? What. Ever.
Recently at the hair salon, I overheard someone say to her nail tech, “I’d offer to run your Facebook page and Twitter stream, you know, like be your social media manager, but I can’t manage my own social media accounts even though that’s probably what I’m going to end up doing with my life.” Sigh.
I really wanted to be that lady at the shop, the (slightly) older one who tries to set straight the dreamy ideas everyone else has about the way the world works, the one who instead comes across as crotchety and jaded. “You can’t just grow up to be ‘social media manager,’ dear,” I wanted to say. But I kept my mouth shut.
I held my tongue for a very good reason: I grew up to be a social media manager.
Posted in Social Marketing
April 26, 2013
Motivational Hashtag at Core of Retailer’s Social Media Campaign
Since 75% of social media users now use hashtags, it’s no wonder retailers are using them in social marketing efforts (check out 9 Ways Retailers Use Hashtags to Promote Branded Content). For example, at the core of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ (DSG) “Every Runner Has A Reason” campaign is the #RunFor hashtag.
April 24, 2013
8 Engaging and Innovative YouTube Campaigns for YouTube’s 8th Birthday
Incorporating YouTube into a social strategy is not only recommended for most brands… it’s necessary. In 2005, the video-sharing site launched its first video, and just eight years later, YouTube boasts over 1 billion monthly users. In honor of YouTube’s 8th birthday, here are eight creative, memorable and innovative ways that brands have used the platform to launch campaigns, spread a message and go viral.
Posted in Retail & Consumer, Social Marketing
Tagged BlendTec, Google, marketing for a social world, Red Bull, Tipp-EX, Volkswagen, YouTube
April 23, 2013
Umpqua Bank Stays Active with Social Promotions
Umpqua Bank is running a new social promotion, and we think it’s a big improvement over the bank’s last effort.
In December 2012, we wrote about Umpqua’s Joy of Giving Facebook promotion. For that effort, Umpqua asked Likers to nominate non-profits on its Facebook page, and the bank selected winners randomly for grant awards between $1,000 and $5,000. It was a great feel-good promotion that supported the Umpqua brand and was especially relevant around the holidays. However, it lacked a viral element… and was in violation of Facebook’s promotion guidelines.
We’re happy to see that Umpqua is back, and this time its social promotion is both feel-good and in line with “the rules.”
