Social Media Marketing Strategies and Case Studies in Branding

Fenty Example (Beauty)

Used Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter heavily to launch and grow brand awareness through social media.

Gymshark Example (Fashion)

Built growth through influencer-driven and social-first advertising strategies.

Coca-Cola "Share a Coke" Campaign

Leveraged social media sharing to amplify participation and personalization.

GoPro Marketing Example

Social media-centered strategy relying on user-generated action footage.

Netflix "Stranger Things" Campaign

Leveraged collaborations (e.g., Eggo waffles) and integrated social media storytelling.

Social Media Fails (General)

Mismanagement can backfire; negative virality can harm brands rapidly.

Dave Carroll "United Breaks Guitars"

Viral protest video that severely damaged United Airlines' reputation.

Web 2.0

The social, read-write web characterized by user-generated content, interactivity, and collaboration.

Social Media (Definition)

Content created, shared, and interacted with by a broad community of users (e.g., Instagram).

Peer Production

Collaborative user work creating content/services (e.g., Waze).

Owned Media

Communication channels an organization directly controls (websites, apps, company social accounts).

Paid Media

Channels a firm pays to promote messaging (ads, sponsorships).

Earned Media

Unpaid, organic promotion generated by customers or external attention; the most valuable form.

Inbound Marketing

Attracting customers with compelling, non-interruptive content rather than pushing ads.

Blogs

Online journals with reverse-chronology posts, comments, tags, and persistence.

Blog Advantages

Easy publishing, two-way dialogue, discoverability via links and SEO.

Blog Downsides

Spam, inappropriate posts, long-lived public mistakes, difficulty controlling employee behavior.

Wikis

Websites editable by anyone through a browser; used for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Wiki Features

Version history, WYSIWYG editor, tagging, notifications, searchable pages.

Wikimasters

Individuals who maintain, prune, and monitor community wiki content.

Social Networks (Definition)

Platforms allowing user profiles, content sharing, communication, and feeds (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn).

Feeds in Social Networks

Viral mechanisms surfacing activity updates, amplifying awareness and mobilization.

Instagram Advertising Power

Photo-centric platform with massive advertiser base and reach.

Corporate Social Networks

Internal or external networks used for productivity, collaboration, and talent retention.

Healthcare Social Networks (Sermo, PatientsLikeMe)

Platforms enabling medical collaboration and patient data sharing, leveraging the wisdom of crowds.

Twitter (Microblogging)

Platform for 280-character posts; acts as a discovery engine, news source, and customer engagement tool.

Twitter Hashtags

Tagging mechanism enabling quick topic discovery.

Twitter API Problem (Free Rider Issue)

Third-party use of Twitter data prevented Twitter from capturing value when users didn't visit its site.

Wisdom of Crowds

Diverse groups often outperform individuals in generating insight or predicting outcomes.

Prediction Markets

Crowds aggregated to forecast outcomes; rely on diversity, decentralization, independence, and aggregation.

Crowdsourcing

Outsourcing tasks to a large, undefined group via open call; used for innovation and problem solving.

Example of Crowdsourcing (Walmart)

Used Kaggle contests to recruit top data science talent.

Four M's of Social Media

Magnet, Megaphone, Monitor, Mediate.

Magnet (Inbound)

Draws customers toward the brand with valuable content.

Megaphone (Outbound)

Firm broadcasts messages to customers (announcements, promotions).

Monitor

Firm listens to customer conversations, competitor actions, and best practices.

Mediate

Firm facilitates customer-to-customer interaction and helps resolve issues.

Get S.M.A.R.T (Social Media Awareness and Response Team)

Framework for corporate social strategy and crisis handling.

SMART - Set Policy

Short, simple, clear rules including representation, responsibility, and respect ("3 Rs").

SMART - Monitor

Track internal and external conversations; use tools like Google Alerts, bit.ly, Radian6, HubSpot.

SMART - Engage

Participate meaningfully, respond thoughtfully, escalate when necessary.

SMART - Establish First Responders

Designated staff who handle issues quickly and appropriately.

Domino's Case Study

Employees posted inappropriate content to YouTube, causing brand damage and demonstrating the need for SMART policies.

Sock Puppets

Fake online identities created to manipulate public opinion.

Astroturfing

Masking the source of a message to make it appear grassroots or organic; highly unethical and punishable.

Online Reputation Management

Monitoring and improving online perception; essential for customer support, competitive intelligence, and brand management.

Embassy Approach

Creating consistent brand presence across multiple social platforms.

Social Media Engagement Risks

Firms may face backlash for censoring comments, tone deaf messages, or poor crisis response.

Cisco Fatty Case

Mismanaged public response to an employee tweet; demonstrates need for clear escalation and policy.

Inbound vs. Outbound Clarification

Inbound is requested/consensual content; outbound interrupts or pushes content to users.

Marketing via Messaging Apps

Direct, group, ephemeral, or anonymous communication channels with customers.

United Airlines Viral Incidents

Examples showing how customer videos can create massive reputational damage rapidly.

Influencers in Social Media Strategy

Third-party voices who amplify brand messaging and build trust.

Crisis Response Rule

Silence is deadly; firms must acknowledge issues quickly even if they cannot solve immediately.