Embracing the challenges of social media

Using social media effectively can prove problematic. Some brands find engaging customers a challenge whilst others let their campaigns die out leaving a page inactive and unappealing to visitors. However, there are some success stories that we can all learn a thing or two from.

Topshop and Red Bull have both seen their online popularity reach stratospheric heights in 2012. Despite having nothing in common their fan bases have soared thanks to their cleverly executed social media campaigns.

Thanks to its ‘Wish You Were Here’ campaign being a runaway success, Topshop received a year’s worth of activity in just four days on its Facebook page. To top that, Topshop became the number one fashion retailer on Instagram and reached over 7.5 million unique internet users across 11 days.

Red Bull’s partnership with Felix Baumgartner and the resulting Stratos Jump broke records for a variety of reasons, not least because of the astronomical social media figures. Over eight million live YouTube viewers witnessed Felix’s daring plummet towards Earth with the jump causing social media to go mad with 2.6 million unique mentions on Facebook and Twitter in just 24 hours.

Both of these campaigns used the most appropriate social media platform for their campaign, as well as constantly updating the pages with photos, videos and posts. Vitally, for Topshop at least, they encouraged participation from both the people in store being featured and fans of their Facebook page.

Importantly, the respective campaigns reflected the brand that the public were already familiar with. Red Bull, known for being adventurous and sporty, embraced the daredevil challenge and has been reaping the rewards ever since with the continued coverage and Felix’s world tour.

The bold campaigns run by the two companies have led to positive outcomes on both sides, proving that taking a risk can definitely pay off when it comes to a social media strategy. However, it is no use trying to use social media if you are not going to engage with and interest customers, no matter how daring the campaign may be, because you might just find you end up freefalling through cyberspace.