Which Companies Have Great Social Media Strategies?

For brands, there is no substitute for social media presence. Millennials are one of the largest consumers in the world, and they consider social media as part of their shopping experience. It’s where everything happens nowadays and brands would be left behind if they’re absent from the most commonly used social media platforms.

Consumers take it for granted that brands are on social media. If they can’t see you there, they instinctively distrust your brand. Most consumers check the brand’s social media before deciding whether to make a purchase or not, whether to use the service or not… This is true to a high extent for brick-and-mortar stores, but for online businesses, if they want to be successful, having a social media page is a must!

Before we start…

Before we go into detail and showcase some of the best social media strategies brands use to make their online presence worthwhile, let’s take a look at some of the social media trends.

SEO strategy in focus

Search engine optimization is a great tool to bring consumers to social media pages. Social media profiles rank in search engine results, so in order to increase visibility and drive more traffic, they need to be optimized. While it’s a good idea to use hashtags, descriptive captions with carefully chosen keywords, relevant to the content, will ensure greater discoverability and better organic ranking.

Video content

YouTube was the giant that started it all, Facebook quickly made video content an integral part of the platform, Instagram Stories evolved into Reels and TikTok made going viral easy. Every platform loves video content and this trend isn’t going away.

Live streaming

The last couple of years “social distancing” became a household phrase. The world was forced to adapt to the new “normal”. Virtual meetings, work from home and lack of social events resulted in the rise of video communications. This is a new trend and it’s only getting bigger.

Social networking becomes a social marketplace

The other side-effect of the new “normal” is the popularity of online shopping. Social commerce generates billions of dollars each year and this trend is on a constant rise. 87% of consumers use social media to research and make buying decisions.

Social responsibility is the norm

People care more about the brands that show their human side. It has become a deciding factor whether they would choose one brand over the others.

Humanization of the brand

Social is the number one channel for brands to connect with consumers. People tend to engage more with the brands they can connect with. Humanization of the brands is essential for companies that want to nurture good relationships with their customers, through public posts and private messaging.

It’s worth mentioning that communications with consumers shouldn’t be limited to customer service. A simple, hearty dialog can go a long way.

Best brands on social media

From brand storytelling to marketing opportunities, social media platforms offer brands the chance to communicate and nurture relationships with their customers. Here are some of the most effective and inspiring examples of social media strategies.

1. Nike

With 184 million followers on their Instagram account, 35 million on Facebook and 8.8 million on Twitter, Nike is obviously doing it right. Their out-of-the-box strategy doesn’t directly promote their products, but the athletes using them. This has drawn both loyal consumers and sports fans to their social media channels.

Nike is positioned as a brand that both celebrates champions and supports the underdog. This reinforces their humanization and drives consumers and fans to connect with the brand on a more emotional level.

Interestingly, Nike’s Facebook page has been quiet since January 2018. This is probably Nike’s reaction to Facebook’s reduced organic reach in order to force brands to pay for their visibility.

2. GoPro

GoPro has attracted 18.6 million followers on Instagram, 10.9 million on Facebook and 2.1 million followers on Twitter with their visually appealing content. The hashtag #GoPro has become so popular that it’s been used not only by the brand itself but also by its audience. It has become a synonym for action sports and adventure.

Most of the content they publish is videos with outstanding quality and user-generated content that showcase their products. The main platform they use is, understandably, Instagram. Here, GoPro often engages with their audience through competitions and “Photo of the Day” series.

Instagram doesn’t allow posting external links on the platform. The only available option to show a link is in the profile’s bio. And, while many brands put their website here, GoPro uses this field to promote discounts and to generate sales.

When you visit GoPro’s Facebook page, you’ll notice, what they publish is a combination of adventure stories, user-generated content and digital marketing for the promotion of their products.

User-generated content is a great practice for brands to build relationships with their fanbase. GoPro uses this content to develop social media campaigns and Facebook ads.

3. Zoom

When the world went under lockdown, this brand came to the surface. Over the last couple of years, it has become the go-to app for audio-video meetings.

When you take a look at their Facebook page, followed by half a million fans, you can notice, they take their social community management very seriously. The brand is actively listening to its followers and those insights are a great inspiration for their content and social media marketing.

Zoom has two-way communication with its followers, actively answering their questions and reacting to their comments. This gives them a human touch, crucial for tech companies who want to establish a connection with their customers.

Additionally, the brand posts engaging content that their fans on Facebook simply love. By far, their most successful campaign is “Virtual Background Contest”, a UGC (User Generated Content) that has increased the brand’s awareness throughout their target audience.

On Twitter, the brand has the highest growth on social media. Their fanbase is greater than 1 million followers. Here, the content is a mix of short videos, gifs, news on updates and articles that support the brand’s marketing strategy.

Zoom understands that people want to have fun at the end of the day! Since the pandemic, the brand has been present on Tiktok, where they adapted to the fun groove of the platform and continuously post engaging content such as funny tips and tricks on how to use the platform and funny memes showing the silly side of online meetings.

When compared to Zoom’s TikTok account, we can’t help but notice that on Instagram the brand takes on a more professional approach.

Their regular “Pro Tip” posts are helping users with some technical solutions for problems that might occur when using the platform.

4. Chipotle

Chipotle was one of the first brands to rush into TikTok, and it paid off. The brand’s lighthearted social media strategy relies on meme-like content that has resonated in a very positive way with its followers.

Contests are big on TikTok, and Chipotle is utilizing this in a very effective way. Their first challenge, the #ChipotleLidFlip generated 240M video views and their second challenge #GuacDance went even further, with 430 million video views in just six days.

Chipotle knows their fanbase appreciates fun more than anything, so by creating amusing and unique content they were able to connect with their followers on TikTok and Twitter on a very personal level.

“Currently, we use memes in our day-to-day content as well as paid social media. We think about memes as a way to both relate to our customers and tap into specific insights, sometimes even trolling ourselves. We also use memes for social listening as a way to unlock new insights.” - Candice Beck, senior manager of social and digital at Chipotle says.

But, they didn’t limit themselves to just content creation. Their community management is focused on humor as well. When the brand got a complaint on social media, from a dissatisfied customer for the sold-out guacamole, their response was: “We apologize, we didn’t mean to guac in and out of your life like that.”

With this lighthearted response, they were able to apologize in a very likable way, and in the process, they humanized the brand.

5. Booking.com

If you ever considered traveling somewhere, chances are you’ve heard of Booking. They are one of the most recognizable brands in the travel industry with an impressive growth over the years. So, why do you think they need a strong, if any, social media strategy?

The answer is “brand loyalty”. Without it, a brand can’t expect any long-term success. And loyalty is in the Booking’s focus above everything else.

They enforce their marketing strategy through the power of storytelling, and they are doing it masterfully. On their website, they regularly publish travel articles with helpful information for travelers and those planning their vacations.

Their YouTube channel is one of the most innovative travel channels out there. One of the most interesting playlists on the channel, called City Guides by Booking.com tells stories and experiences about different cities, narrated by the cities themselves.

Through this personification of the cities, they are able to tell a more personal story and give character to all different destinations. That way, travelers can make a more personal connection with their offerings, and indirectly, with the brand itself.

“Booking.com Local Guides” series on their YouTube channel feature local citizens that present the best places to visit in the town they live in. Again, storytelling and human touch are the most important ingredients in their strategy.

Booking.com has more than 15 million followers on Facebook, by far the largest social media channel owned by the brand. Here they regularly post content promoting the destinations with images, short videos and articles, you guessed it, in the form of storytelling.

Their community management is on spot! They never miss answering or reacting to their followers’ comments.

The brand understands that fun is part of their business, so a small portion of their content is in the form of memes and engaging challenges, such as this one, below

On Instagram, they have a smaller community of followers, “just” 1.7 million. The content here is clean and simple.

On Twitter, their strategy is similar to what they do on other platforms, with one significant difference—here they regularly post polls to start conversations and “feel the pulse” of the audience.

Overall, their social media activities generate high awareness about the brand among the general public. The competition in the travel industry is brutal, and this brand’s strategy shows us that when you find the most effective way to reach your target audience, you can stand out in the crowd.

Their success was made possible with three important elements: storytelling, engagement and humor.

What Most Successful Brands Have in Common?

• Brands that are rocking their social media activities have clear goals in mind for everything they publish – on every platform.
• They frequently engage with their fanbase.
• User-generated content is a very effective way to show a connection between the brand and the consumers.
• Video content and live streaming rule social media.
• Brands use social media to offer value and to promote their products and services on a more personal level.

No matter if you run a small business or a giant company, you can use social media to elevate your brand and to engage with your customers. Design a social media strategy with your target audience in mind and always be genuine. It pays off.