Business 2 Community#ShareACoke & Personal Social Media Strategy
When your company name is a word so famous it’s known by non-English speakers all over the world…. how do you get personal? Whether or not Coca-Cola asked themselves this precise question, they appear to have come about as close as you can get to an answer with this summer’s #ShareACoke campaign.
In case you haven’t strolled the soda aisle of your grocery store or stepped into a gas station this summer, the basic concept behind Coca-Cola’s Summer 2014 campaign is this:
Let’s make a list of the 250 most popular first names among American teens and Millennials, and then replace our logo with those names.
After test-driving the campaign in other countries, Coca-Cola set to work in creating their multi-channeled, all-out U.S. campaign, weaving the entire effort into a cohesive whole through the #ShareACoke hashtag.
The Social Media Strategy: #ShareACoke
For a lot of brands – no matter the size – getting social and personal can be a big challenge. It’s not always the most natural feeling. After all, traditional American business instinct says to guard your secrets and maintain a professional image at all times. In some ways, social media is the direct antithesis to these (supposed) fundamental principles. But, in order to be social and personal, you sometimes have to share your secrets and break down those boardroom walls.
While the #ShareACoke social media campaign doesn’t speak much to sharing secrets, it does serve as an excellent model for getting personal – a marketing strategy that isn’t just likeable. It produces results. Analytics firm Networked Insights is tracking this summer’s online conversations surrounding beverage companies. Here’s what they found:
12% of social conversations about Coke are attributed to the “Share a Coke” campaign.
11% of social conversations about Coors Light are attributed to the “Live Summer” campaign.
8% of social conversations about Bud Light are attributed to the “Whatever USA” campaign.
Creating Your “Personal” Social Media Campaign
So, how can you get personal like Coca-Cola with your own social media strategy?
Ask without asking. Coca-Cola has asked users to promote the product directly to their friends on the company’s behalf. But, phrased that way, the proposal doesn’t sound very enticing, does it? So, Coca-Cola asked without asking. In order to get users to market Coca-Cola to their friends, the company created a special feature that allows users to share a customized (digital) Coke bottle with their friend’s name.
Make the user feel important. Instead of creating a campaign where users are simply there, Coca-Cola makes them active. Makes them important. The #ShareACoke #SelfieSweeps campaign requires 500 users to post “selfies” to Twitter or Instagram using the two tags. Once the 500 mark is reached, summer concert tickets are unlocked and given away. Also, the first 10 users to post each day get a free month of Spotify Premium. Through this aspect of the campaign, users are personally recognized and involved.
Is Your Social Media Strategy Personal?
What can you do to make your social media strategy more personal? I’d love to talk in the comments section below.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: #ShareACoke & Personal Social Media Strategy
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