The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project reported today that 72 percent of online adults use social networking sites. Not surprisingly, 18 to 29 year olds are the most likely users, but in a nice twist, those ages 65 and older have tripled their presence on social networking sites in the last four years.
Understanding your market, buyer personas and their evolving needs is ever important, and several companies are finding unique ways to engage with their audience while also empowering them to share experiences.
Let’s take a look at some of the more creative campaigns we’ve seen, and why they work.
Via @mbusa on Instagram
#CLATakeTheWheel: Mercedes-Benz launched an Instagram campaign titled Take The Wheel, in which they cherry-picked five of Instagram’s best photographers and gave them 5 days behind the wheel of the new Mercedes CLA. In addition, anyone can enter to be the sixth and final photographer in the series and win a CLA (lucky duck).
Why This Works: Mercedes has a nicely built Instagram following with 18K followers, and this campaign helps them to expand their reach to the more than 2.7 million followers of the #CLATakeTheWheel photographers. It doesn’t look like they picked the photographers in haste, either; the two photographers that finished the challenge have amassed more than 570K likes on CLA photos, showing that Mercedes looked beyond follower count to find photographers whose audience matched their market. Any smart social media campaign should encourage followers to learn more info on a company site, and Merecedes created a landing page where there’s information on the car, campaign and more.
Amazon Answers: Brilliant. Simply Brilliant. I received this email from Amazon shortly after I bought a phone on their site.
Why This Works: Instead of just asking me to review a product, they’re asking me to answer a specific question a potential buyer is asking. An answer seems more credible coming from someone who owns the phone instead of an Amazon employee, and they’re empowering users to share their thoughts; plus, it gets consumers on the site.
Courtesy of HBR
Harvard Business Review: I visit HBR.org on a regular basis and was recently asked to take a survey on the site’s content and features. 99 percent of the time I don’t respond to surveys, even if there is a chance to win a prize. I filled out HBR’s survey because it not only offered me a chance to win an iPad, it offered me a free ‘article collection,’ which retails for $17.99.
Why This Works: HBR came at me with a deal I couldn’t resist; I already appreciate its content and by offering my time and opinions, they gave me an immediate value. Give your audience value and they will come back (or take your survey).
