Case Studies
Airlines Aim Sales at Impulsive, Twitter Types
The Associated Press says that while airfares generally are higher these days, last-minute sales that ask you to fly at a moment’s notice are popping up everywhere. And, thanks to Facebook and Twitter, those sales should last all summer, according to the AP’s interview with Rick Seaney of FareCompare.com.
Airlines have realized the potential free marketing that social media provides. JetBlue, which has one of the biggest …more…
Farmers Sow Seeds of Social Media
Farmers are getting the hang of social media and it’s helping their sales at local farmers markets around the country. If you follow them on Twitter and Facebook, you’ll get …more…
Twitter is a Marketing and Sales Engine for Staples
Staples, the office supplies retailer, has used its Twitter account to improve customer service, gain marketing insights and boost sales. The tool came to the rescue when a coupon code on its Staples.com site malfunctioned during the holiday shopping season last November. While that prompted a lot of customer anger, the Twitter account became a key asset in damage control and in quelling the concerns of upset shoppers.
Since then, the brand has increased its Twitter reps from a handful to 20 and grown its follower base to 32,200. While not huge, the followers are generating a return on the investment in Twitter, the company says. To encourage people to follow its Tweets, it has employed giveaway promotions for new-to-market technology products like netbooks.
To manage its Twitter account, the company recruited specialists from within its customer care department who had been …more…
Doubling Sales of Organic Tea Via Social Media
After Steaz, a brand of organic teas, got shelf space at 1500 Target stores, it wanted to generate nation-wide awareness and drive sales at Target to show the retailer what a great choice it had made. The only problems were a small marketing budget and the fact that its products were virtually unknown in all the new Target stores nationwide.
The company turned to Chemistry for help and the agency decided to rely upon social media to have an immediate impact at low cost.
Paul Magnani, SVP of Digital Strategy at Chemistry, explains the strategy employed on iMedia Connection. He says that Chemistry felt that the brand (socially responsible, health-focused) and product (natural, organic, healthy) were ideal for word of mouth (WOM) among moms, the primary buyers. …more…
Yelp Works Better Than Twitter for One Restaurant
Garrido’s Restauarant in Austin, Texas has designated manager Nicole Maddocks to monitor and post on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and other social media sites. In an interview with SmartBrief, she says that while she wishes Twitter would prove to be the most useful in driving traffic to the eating establishment because she spends so much time and energy on the site, Yelp has proven to be better.
That’s because for restaurants, most people seem to rely on Yelp for reviews and advice. She monitors comments and responds quickly – though privately – to negative reviews. With complaints, …more…
Papa John's Pizza Launches Facebook Social Media Campaign
What is it about pizza chains that they seem so far ahead of other restaurant companies when it comes to using social media? Domino’s and Pizza Hut have been active for a while and now Papa John’s, the third-largest pizza company globally, is launching a social-media campaign at its Facebook site.
Called “Papa’s Specialty Pizza Challenge,” the campaign asks its fans to suggest a new pizza recipe. Incentives abound. The winner gets free pizza for life, a cut on sales proceeds of the winning recipe plus $1,000 to help market the new pizza during the month the finalists compete to see which taste the public likes best. …more…
Using Foursquare to Drive Sales at a Restaurant
AJ Bombers, a Milwaukee restaurant, is no stranger to using Twitter and Foursquare. Restaurateur Joe Sorge first hosted a party for his patrons to earn the Swarm Badge, which boosted traffic and sales by 110%. Last week Sorge set out to top his previous efforts, this time enabling customers to earn Foursquare’s “I’m On A Boat!” Badge, which requires them to check-in to a location that has been tagged “boat.” Sorge partnered with a local outdoor retailer to have boats at AJ Bombers, so …more…
Did Toyota "Digg" itself out of Trouble?
Looking for a good way to handle crisis communications in light of the negative stories about its recalls in January, Toyota looked to the website Digg for a way to calm consumer sentiment.
Toyota already was an advertiser on the user-voted news aggregator, but the auto company’s executives felt that ads weren’t going to be enough. So it offered Toyota Motor Sales USA president Jim Lentz for one of the site’s Digg …more…
Social Counting: The Census Bureau Reaches Out With Social Media
It’s a big job to try to count some 300 million people one by one, so the U.S. Census Bureau is turning to social media. It has built a presence on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and Flickr.
The Bureua’s YouTube videos include a clip about the Census’s Road Tour that had 1,637 views as of this week; several “Real Life Stories” videos that try to make the Bureau’s work personal (One called “Dave and Breanne” had 1,117 views); and “Trusted Voices” testimonials from community leaders like Jacqueline Johnson Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American …more…
The Roxy Theatre’s Social Media Transformation
West Hollywood’s Roxy Theatre has a storied past, playing host to numerous musical legends like Nirvana and Bob Marley and serving as a hangout for the Johns…Lennon and Belushi when they were in town. But it had fallen a notch or two and its owner Nic Adler was looking for a way to remake the glory and the fans’ excitement.
Enter social media. The venue has built up more than 26,000 followers, making it the most popular club on Twitter. It uses Twitter to reward loyal bands, improve customer service and build up buzz among bands, who want to play there to take advantage of the reach it has on Twitter and Facebook. …more…
