One of my favorite companies is REI. Some may have heard of them. I'm big into hiking, climbing, skiing, and other "outdoorsy" activities. REI is one of the world's largest retailers of outdoor gear. When I first saw that we were on our own this week for a topic, I immediately thought of REI. Most of the outdoor industry has yet to catch on to social media marketing. Not REI!!! They have utilized several components of social networking/marketing to engage their customers and spark interest from new ones. I want to talk about three of them:
First, is their blog page. They have a first rate blog page where members can log in and comment on dozens of blogs that are posted by staff members and blog writers. I have used this feature many times to find information on new products and advice for various activities. With just a click of mouse, you can share their blog posts and Expert Advice pages on Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon, Myspace, and Digg. Pretty cool, huh?
Secondly, REI has a their own Youtube page that they use to promote new product lines and give tips and how-to advice to customers. This is very different from most companies in their industry.
Finally, they have an engaging Facebook page that has 151,991 fans. This page has regular posts on their wall about all kinds of interesting topics that people can comment on and learn from. I have seen several times where people have made friendly wall posts on REI's wall, and REI makes sure to leave them a comment back. They make it a point to use Facebook not as just another advertising page, but as a way to connect with their fans.
I believe that REI is doing a great job with the use of social media marketing in an industry that is lagging behind on this trend. Keep up the great work!!
Check out this blog on Social Media Answers that discusses the use of blogs in the outdoor industry!!!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Great and Not So Great Campaigns...
I will admit that this assignment was easy to research. Google had a plethera of examples of social media campaigns that worked great and just as many campaigns that did not work. Here is an example of each and why I believe that they were a success or failure.
Toy Story 3
When Pixar and Disney wanted to promote the lastest addition to the Toy Story saga, they went beyond the standard billboards and movie previews. They jumped on the latest trend...Social Media Marketing!!! They used short videos that went viral, an iPhone app, and a Facebook Page. It worked!! The movie was a great success, and the ticketing buying app on the Facebook page was a hit!
I believe that one of the reasons that it worked is because it utilized word of mouth marketing and Facebook. Each social media tool is better at some applications than others, and I believe that the choice to use Facebook, as opposed to Twitter or a blog, was great. Facebook allows for more variations of interaction (photo, wall posts, video, etc.) with users than many other channels of social networking. Why do you see so many bands, organizations, etc. using it???
Walmart
This article/blog that I found gave the contrast between Target's successful Facebook campaign and Walmart's failed campaign. I want to just discuss Walmart's failed campaign. Walmart thought it would be a great idea to market itself using Facebook/social media. However, it did not understand how to or what the purpose for social media marketing was. It did not allow freedom of interaction with follower and fans. It also had a bad plan for handling bad or negative comments. It limited comments from users so that it could present itself in a positive light. The other huge problem was that it was focusing on 'style.' Everyone knows that Walmart is all about low price. The problem goes back to our blog topic from last week. When you are going to advertise on social networks (whether a company or yourself) you need to be true to yourself. You can not promote yourself as something you are not. Like we discussed last week, be honest. You will attract the people you want to if you just promote yourself the way you are.
Toy Story 3
When Pixar and Disney wanted to promote the lastest addition to the Toy Story saga, they went beyond the standard billboards and movie previews. They jumped on the latest trend...Social Media Marketing!!! They used short videos that went viral, an iPhone app, and a Facebook Page. It worked!! The movie was a great success, and the ticketing buying app on the Facebook page was a hit!
I believe that one of the reasons that it worked is because it utilized word of mouth marketing and Facebook. Each social media tool is better at some applications than others, and I believe that the choice to use Facebook, as opposed to Twitter or a blog, was great. Facebook allows for more variations of interaction (photo, wall posts, video, etc.) with users than many other channels of social networking. Why do you see so many bands, organizations, etc. using it???
Walmart
This article/blog that I found gave the contrast between Target's successful Facebook campaign and Walmart's failed campaign. I want to just discuss Walmart's failed campaign. Walmart thought it would be a great idea to market itself using Facebook/social media. However, it did not understand how to or what the purpose for social media marketing was. It did not allow freedom of interaction with follower and fans. It also had a bad plan for handling bad or negative comments. It limited comments from users so that it could present itself in a positive light. The other huge problem was that it was focusing on 'style.' Everyone knows that Walmart is all about low price. The problem goes back to our blog topic from last week. When you are going to advertise on social networks (whether a company or yourself) you need to be true to yourself. You can not promote yourself as something you are not. Like we discussed last week, be honest. You will attract the people you want to if you just promote yourself the way you are.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Social Media and Your Career: Hurt or Help???
As I begin, I would have admit that I have zero experience on this topic. As Dan Schawbel mentioned in his blog, most of us are "content consumers" and not "content producers." I am one of those. I used social networking not as a means to brand and market myself but as a way to enjoy others' content and profiles.
However, I still know how social media/networking is affecting the job market these days. Schawbel mentions how one in five hiring managers use social networking to do background checks on applicants. Also, Anne Fisher says in her blog that according to a survey done by Jobvite, 83% of employers are using Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter for finding new hires. That is an impressive number! So whether you look at it as negative or positive, you can not deny that social networking is playing a large role in the search for employees. On the flip side, this gives us a huge opportunity to use these sites and tools to market ourselves and snag great jobs!!
So, we as potential employees have a job. We need to brand ourselves using social networking in order to find the jobs and careers we want and get hired! All of the material we read gives great insight into how we can use sites like Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter to get jobs. A lot of the material says that everyone needs to atleast be active on Linkedin and Twitter. These sites allow you to build profiles and connect with hundreds of people in many different professional settings. The other large area (and argueably the most important) is blogging. Schawbel says that by launching a blog that presents yourself as an expert will bring jobs to your doorstep.
One of the biggest points that all the readings make is that you need to brand yourself. Its great if you are using all of these social networking tools, but you need to make sure that you are using them all as one marketing scheme for yourself. In Schawbel's How To: Leverage Social Media for Career Success, the first two steps in using these tools are focused on determining how you want people (and possible future employers) to perceive you. Focus on your strengths and your expertise. Use your blog and your Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter accounts to present a unified message about yourself to the world.
I do not have any personal stories about people being hurt/helped by social media. I also have not been affected myself. However, I can testify that there is great potential in all forms of social networking to connect with hundreds of people, meet potential employers, and find the job of our dreams!!
However, I still know how social media/networking is affecting the job market these days. Schawbel mentions how one in five hiring managers use social networking to do background checks on applicants. Also, Anne Fisher says in her blog that according to a survey done by Jobvite, 83% of employers are using Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter for finding new hires. That is an impressive number! So whether you look at it as negative or positive, you can not deny that social networking is playing a large role in the search for employees. On the flip side, this gives us a huge opportunity to use these sites and tools to market ourselves and snag great jobs!!
So, we as potential employees have a job. We need to brand ourselves using social networking in order to find the jobs and careers we want and get hired! All of the material we read gives great insight into how we can use sites like Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter to get jobs. A lot of the material says that everyone needs to atleast be active on Linkedin and Twitter. These sites allow you to build profiles and connect with hundreds of people in many different professional settings. The other large area (and argueably the most important) is blogging. Schawbel says that by launching a blog that presents yourself as an expert will bring jobs to your doorstep.
One of the biggest points that all the readings make is that you need to brand yourself. Its great if you are using all of these social networking tools, but you need to make sure that you are using them all as one marketing scheme for yourself. In Schawbel's How To: Leverage Social Media for Career Success, the first two steps in using these tools are focused on determining how you want people (and possible future employers) to perceive you. Focus on your strengths and your expertise. Use your blog and your Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter accounts to present a unified message about yourself to the world.
I do not have any personal stories about people being hurt/helped by social media. I also have not been affected myself. However, I can testify that there is great potential in all forms of social networking to connect with hundreds of people, meet potential employers, and find the job of our dreams!!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Social Media Marketing: Fad or Permanent???
As we begin this class, the question I asked above is very relevent. As a student, this class is not going to give me any working benefit if social media is just a fad. However, if it is not a fad and continues to grow, then myself and my classmates will have a wealth of knowledge and, hopefully, experience in this new frontier of advertising and marketing.
As a marketing minor, I want to be able to market my future company in a way that is able to reach my potential customers. The newest way to do this is in social media marketing. This new means of marketing is under close watch by some to see if it will last. Why invest in a form of marketing that will not bring you any customers in the next 2,5,7 years? So the question is, will it last?
I believe that the answer is 'permanent.' What I mean by that is social media marketing is a fixed, established form of advertising. No one can deny that impact that the internet has had on world culture in the last fifteen years. People are usting the internet for everything. In terms of business, one of the ways people are using this vast resource is solving problems. We learned this lesson in the first chapter of Scott's book. With millions of people of using the internet every day to search for goods and services, that is where you need to engage them!! We have also learned according to Gillin, that in 2004, there were one million blogs on the internet. This study (by technorati) said that by 2008 that number had sky rocketed to 112 million!!! According to Gillin, "Some people still believe that social media is a fad, a bubble that will burst as suddenly and dramatically as the first Internet bubble did. They are very wrong."
It is clear (just from short material we have studied so far) that social media is here to stay. Yes, it is a very young business. However, the evidence shows that we are seeing a new and exciting generation of marketing and advertising that will continue to grow.
Additional Reading: http://whattoknow.org/19-social-media-marketing-is-not-a-fad/
As a marketing minor, I want to be able to market my future company in a way that is able to reach my potential customers. The newest way to do this is in social media marketing. This new means of marketing is under close watch by some to see if it will last. Why invest in a form of marketing that will not bring you any customers in the next 2,5,7 years? So the question is, will it last?
I believe that the answer is 'permanent.' What I mean by that is social media marketing is a fixed, established form of advertising. No one can deny that impact that the internet has had on world culture in the last fifteen years. People are usting the internet for everything. In terms of business, one of the ways people are using this vast resource is solving problems. We learned this lesson in the first chapter of Scott's book. With millions of people of using the internet every day to search for goods and services, that is where you need to engage them!! We have also learned according to Gillin, that in 2004, there were one million blogs on the internet. This study (by technorati) said that by 2008 that number had sky rocketed to 112 million!!! According to Gillin, "Some people still believe that social media is a fad, a bubble that will burst as suddenly and dramatically as the first Internet bubble did. They are very wrong."
It is clear (just from short material we have studied so far) that social media is here to stay. Yes, it is a very young business. However, the evidence shows that we are seeing a new and exciting generation of marketing and advertising that will continue to grow.
Additional Reading: http://whattoknow.org/19-social-media-marketing-is-not-a-fad/
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