Tesco has some of the best social media campaigns and so does West Jet, IKEA, and Lowes. However, these are big accounts and have mammoth budgets.
This means they also have many social tools at their disposal and have access to data and insights on what will work for them.
On the other hand, local businesses don’t have that kind of resources, and yet somehow some of them manage to impress us with their awesome social media campaigns.
Here are some examples of campaigns of local and small businesses that are rocking social media. Let’s see what makes them so good!
Red Mango
If you like frozen yogurt and smoothies, chances are you have been to a Red Mango store for their all natural yogurt and juices. Apart from their delish yogurts, Red Mango is also well-known for their social media presence.
They have over 76.4k followers on Facebook and 58.9k followers on Twitter and highly engaged followers at that! Now let’s look at some of their posts to see what they are doing right.
1) Subtle product promotion
Social media provides a great platform for brand and product awareness. However, in their bid to appear funny, witty, or human, most companies lose focus of this purpose.
If you are spending your time and resources on building a social media presence, you need to utilize it in a way that it affects your bottom-line.
We often see Tesco’s funny tweets being shared on social media. However, it is their product knowledge posts that win them their bread and butter. Red Mango is straddling the line between social and branding quite competently with their subtle product promotion posts.
2) Customer engagement
Nothing works more effectively than a visual testament to your brand’s popularity. Red Mango utilizes these opportunities (Read more...) effectively by reposting their customers’ pictures and posts from various social media platforms.
However, you need a powerful social listening tool to be able to do this. If you have many fans who vociferously show their love for your brand/products, you must invest in a social listening tool.
3) Newsjacking
Whether it’s Trump vs Hillary debate or a90 movie release, newsjacking provides a great way to use trending hashtags. Even if you have planned your social media calendar in advance, make room for newsjacking as it will lead to greater visibility and affinity.
Takeaway
Red Mango social media is a work of art with striking visuals and clever marketing. However, these three points really stood out when we were going through their social media accounts. You can begin by incorporating these points in your social media campaign if you haven’t already.
Ministry of Villas
Ministry of Villas is a Singapore-based travel agency run by a couple who is constantly on a run to find the best premium villas in Asia.
Ministry of Villas co-founder and CEO Alastair Loxton was recently interviewed by CNBC, which shows they are making the right kind of noise. Here are a few things you’ll love about their campaign.
1) About us section
They have a featured about us video titled Our Story. In this 2-minute video, they talk about the important bits about their business. The stunning visuals of the villas they have on offer, make their about section really great!
2) Transparent and honest
Not only do they mention the prices of most villas, so that you don’t have to visit their website to check out whether it fits in your budget or not, but also they are pretty honest about the villas.
For instance, they are pretty forthright about the nearby construction work in the following post. With that kind of honesty, you know you won’t have a holiday in hell when you book with Ministry of Villas.
3) Informative posts
I wouldn’t imagine myself stepping out of those exquisite luxury villas, but many would. So they share informative posts and tips that relate to travel. If you are maintaining a website and a blog, don’t forget to share all your posts on social media.
Takeaway
Ministry of Villas is no Airbnb but their social media campaigns and rising popularity have certainly gotten a specific section (affluent but not absurdly affluent class) of the society talking. Their campaign is a textbook example of how to play it safe on social media.
Cutting Edge Haunted House
Cutting Edge is the largest haunted house in the world and is loved by everyone for all the right reasons. With over 5k positive reviews, 160k Facebook fans and 19.3k Twitter followers, the people at Texas-based Cutting Edge Haunted House know exactly how to give goosebumps to their social media fans.
1) Post behind-the-scenes photos
They post a lot of pictures from the event, giving you a glimpse of the scary things happening at their haunted house. They also have a few videos that show what happens in the scary house and behind the scenes. If you haven’t been to this amazing place, the video can lure you to the lair by itself.
2) Inject a dose of relevant humor
It is great to be funny and witty on social media but sometimes some jokes can go awry as found by many an unlucky brand. It is important that the humor is relevant to your business. If you thought Cutting Edge campaign would be gory and scary, think again. Their campaign contains a healthy dose of funny posts.
3) Timely updates about upcoming events
If you are not using social media to spread awareness about your upcoming events, you are missing out on a great opportunity to bring visitors to your event. Apart from advertising and local PR, it is important to keep building excitement about your event with the help of timely tweets.
Takeaway
Every local business should learn how to pepper social media posts with humor, wit, and subtle self-promotion like the Cutting Edge. Don’t restrict yourself to a singular tone that suits your business. Bakeries can talk about unicorns and rainbows and local opticians can talk about food.
Harsh Agrawal, a blog scientist, CEO of ShoutDreams Media and contributor to ClickZ. You can read his blog here: Shout Me Loud.
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