Week 13 - 2nd Case Study

Ok, So Who Doesn't LOVE Hershey's?!?!

My second case study is going to be on Hershey's. In looking at their main web site I see that they are on Facebook and they have a Twitter account, but oddly they have no tweets. They also have a Hershey's Kisses Twitter account and that one seems to be the active account. Their Facebook page is very interesting and they have 5,646,823 likes!! They really seem to have a lot of interest going on on their Facebook page with recipes, contests & a lot of customer input. They are very interactive with their following and that is something that builds a good relationship, which builds loyalty. They allow and encourage customers to post recipes and to pin up pictures of items they've prepared with Hershey products. An example of a good way for them to continue to gain followers is in this post, "Who does your family trust with all of the baking for the holiday season? Tag them in the comments below and LIKE this post if it is you!". This will get the people who already "Like" the page to tag others who maybe aren't aware of it and most likely cause THEM to "Like" it too. Brilliant!

Christmas Time is Here!

On their Kisses Twitter page there is a flurry of activity for the holidays with recipes and a lot of follower interaction. People are sharing recipes with each other and there are even pictures of the delicious desserts! There is even a cookie swap going on. I think keeping the followers engaged and active on the sites increases the word of mouth traffic and keeps increasing and increasing the sites exposure. I'm sure Christmas is their biggest holiday between all of the baking and the filling of the stockings. I think keeping the name "Hershey" on the lips of loyal customers is keeping their popularity high and keeps people out there buying their products. I, personally, am a self proclaimed chic-oholic so I will be a loyal customer until the day I die;)

Another cool thing they are doing is they are having people RSVP for a specific date & time for a Twitter cookie exchange. I think that's brilliant too! How fun! That will really get people in the holiday mood. 

Things that Make Them Popular

I think the things that make their social media sites so popular are, first of all they are chocolate! Secondly, they keep their customers engaged and involved. The customers are interacting with the company AND with other followers creating a camaraderie that will leave people feeling good and coming back for more. I think a big part of social media success is based on the way it makes people feel. If they are having good feelings and getting good information they are much more likely to return again and again.

Week 12 - Case Study

Well, I was going to do my case study on Hostess, but then they went out of business. Lol! No, but seriously, after hearing of them going out of business I was curious as to whether they were using social media and how they were using it. All I have to say is B-O-R-I-N-G!! Did they go out of business because they didn't use social media well? I doubt that, but it was interesting to see that their social media was very boring and not very interactive and to know they went under.

SO WE ASK OURSELVES;

Do businesses do well because of social media or are the businesses that are already doing well have the best approach to social media because they already have an outstanding marketing department? And a great customer base for a great following in social media? Kinda like the social media version of the question, "which came first, the chicken or the egg?". Clearly in the Zappos example they truly benefited & grew, in part by using social media so well. But how do we judge this for a company like, say, Skittles??

TASTE THE RAINBOW!

Skittles has a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a Google+ account. They are also on Youtube. All the major players of the social media world are included. They use social media in a very fun way and it seems they are trying to keep their name and awareness out there in cyberspace. Part of Hostesses problem was lack of brand awareness. I think they felt everyone knew who they were since they'd been around for 82 years, and we do/did, but unless & until their name is brought front and center it's easy to "forget" about them. Notice the flurry of active sales once people heard the American icon, Hostess, was going out of business?? Skittles is keeping their name out there and keeping their name related with fun. The interaction keeps the brand name on people's minds and that is what helps get the sales. It keeps them from being forgotten. In this day & age we have almost constant stimulation from the time we wake up to the time we go to bed at night. It's a rush, rush world and you either have to roll with it and keep up, keeping people interested or fall behind and be forgotten. 

Skittles was popular long before this massive social media age we're in, but in order to stay popular they need to keep the awareness going. 

Week 11 - Twitter

TWITTER AND SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

First of all my Twitter account can be found here @sandy41692448.

The three organizations I reviewed that use Twitter to market their products are PlayStation, Xbox and Dunkin Donuts. I feel all three are using Twitter very well to market their products, but based on followers Playstation is in the lead (1,450,818), Xbox is second (742,382) and Dunkin Donuts is last (182,887). This could mean popularity or it could just mean Playstation has had a twitter account longer than Dunkin Donuts has. As fair as the content they tweet, I feel all three are doing well. It appears they all post several times a day and the gaming accounts tweet about new games coming out or information about games that are already out and the donut account has free give-a-ways. All the sites have people tweeting their opinions about the brand (I only saw good tweets) and that is valuable as well. I would have to rank the gaming sites higher than the DD site mostly because with gaming a whole different society exists and donuts & coffee are really just donuts & coffee. Not too much to get excited about.

EFFECTIVE USE OF TWITTER

In my opinion some guidelines for the effective use of Twitter are:

• Keeping things interesting & fresh. If there is information people want/need to know they will stay interested.
• Make sure people get something out of it, whether it be a give-a-way or simply information. This will keep them engaged and ready to hear your next tweet.
• Answer questions and address feedback in a timely manner. This will allow the followers to feel like what they think matters and their ideas & opinions count.
• Transparency. In this day & age it's the best practice.

ANSWER TO QUESTIONS

Is Twitter better suited for some organizations than others? Yes I think Twitter is better suited for some organizations than others. Twitter would not do as well for marketing at the company I work for since we offer members-only services. It would help with brand awareness, but there is a process involved in becoming a member and there are bylaws that members must adhere to so the tweets on the site would have to be limited since only members can have certain information.

If so, what about an organization makes it well suited for Twitter? I think an organization that is well suited for Twitter is any organization that targets the general public. Getting their idea or information about their products out there is a good thing when it's not information governed by rules or bylaws.

OTHER SITES

The other pages I'm following are TV show pages and Entertainment pages. These pages offer info for people interested in the show and also a place for fans to gather and speculate on what might happen next. The Entertainment page keeps people up-to-date on what's happening in the world of who's who. A world that is so far away from our own it's almost always interesting. They definitely keep people coming back for more!