CaseStudiesOnline.com

Best Buy: Twitter promotion

Best Buy was seeking a way to give added value to their customers outside of their physical store locations, so they decided to develop a running promotion on Twitter to answer an array of electronic and computer related questions. They expected that by finding a service that their competitors could not provide and essentially giving it away for free, it would vault them into a much higher overall market share within their industry.

• Qualified employees were asked to volunteer to answer questions on Twitter
• Each response was catalogued so that other users could find information faster
• Over 2,900 employees have answered 40,000 questions since the program launch

While it is tough to gauge the productivity of a free service, Best Buy has seen their @twelpforce account skyrocket with followers over the past twelve months. It also had an unexpected side-effect of boosting employee morale by making average workers the voice of the company; all on an extremely limited budget. You can read more about this case study here.

Flagler Bariatric: Boosting Surgery Numbers

Describe the business problem or objectives of the campaign
Flagler Hospital Bariatric found they could not accurately track new leads or new surgeries by using traditional marketing (TV, billboards, etc.). They came to XE Corporation to explore using a social media campaign to gain awareness of their services and increase the numbers of their surgeries.

Other areas in need of improvement included:

• Increase new patient counts
• Increasing the number of attendees to their free seminars.
• Increasing referral rate to both seminars and Flagler Bariatric.
• Increasing past patient participation/engagement on social channels and at events.
• Increasing fan counts/participation on Facebook.

How were the business challenges / campaign objectives addressed?
XE Corporation formulated a comprehensive social media campaign that utilized offline and online tactics to create buzz around their brand, establish an on-going conversation around their services and engage members of their community to refer their friends to attend Bariatric seminars and then become new patients of Flagler.

Tactics:

Customize Facebook Landing Page
Re-branding of the Facebook page via landing pages and other customization to better control the experience for users.

Create Online Invitations for Events
Promotion of Flagler Bariatric Events using social networks to gain more attendance

Launch a Referral-Based Giveaway
Created a referral-based Wii Fit Giveaway requiring entrants to “like” the Facebook page and to refer a friend to attend one of the Free Seminars held by Flagler Bariatric.

Online Surveys
Designed and promoted surveys to gather feedback specific to social efforts from the Bariatric community

Fan-Favorite Recipe Module on Website
Creation of Fan-Generated “Menus”, where current and past bariatric patients shared their favorite recipes/meals to eat that are bariatric-approved.

“Spotlight Fan” Facebook Contest
Patient submitted Before & After pictures as part of “Spotlight Fan” Facebook Contest to increase support and conversation among fan community.

Want your own success story featured here? Tell us about your social media campaign!

How JVC Gained 35,000 Fans In 30 Days

JVC U.S.A. is halfway through their Like It To Win It Facebook campaign, with a new giveaway each day for 60 days. Fans that “like” the daily giveaway post are entered to win that day’s prize– headphones, iPod docks, video cameras, speakers, and TVs. All Facebook sat down with RFI Studios, the digital arm of PR agency Ruder Finn, to understand how they were able to take a page that had only 1,000 fans to 35,000. Read All Facebook‘s Case Study

Lessons Learned from the “Best Job In The World” Campaign

Okay, I applied for the job. So did everyone I know last year when Queensland, Australia conducted a highly visible marketing campaign aimed at increasing awareness of, and visits to, the region.

It was, essentially, a contest. But it was packaged as a job — for six months, the winning “applicant” would be flown first class to the Great Barrier Reef from anywhere in the world, where your only tasks would be to feed the dog, clean the pool from time to time, and blog about how amazing it is being there. All expenses paid. Oh, and a salary of USD$8,800 per month.

While traditional advertising and public relations supported the campaign, this was one that was won in social media.

The Wanderlust Report has a great set of lessons learned from this campaign.

• User-generated content will challenge your intestinal fortitude
• Social media costs more than you think
• It takes more effort than you can imagine
• Don’t try to make it viral
• Planning and execution are key
• Set goals so you can measure success
• Don’t try to fake it: you’ll get caught

My favourite job application (and not just because this guy is from Canada too):

<h2>Campaign Results:</h2>

• 34,680 job applications
• $390 Million AUD of publicity
• Australia tourism down, but Queensland tourism up 20%
• 50% of Australia trips now include a Queensland component

Don’t forget to check out Wanderlust’s complete resources on the topic:

1. Using Social Media In Destination Marketing
2. Queensland: Social Media or Integrated Campaign?
3. Key Takeaways from the Queensland Case Study
4. Social Media Best Practices in Destination Marketing

A Texas Bakery and Rice University Mix the Right ROI Ingredients

Note: Transcript of interview now available for download.

There are hundreds of social media evangelists out there who’ll tell you that your business absolutely needs a Facebook Fan Page, or you’re all but watching dollars slip away. Problem is, ask those same people what return you can reasonably expect from, say, creating and keeping a Facebook Fan Page updated, and the talk about return-on-investment starts going soft. Suddenly, it’s all about “return-on-influence.” Or maybe it’s just something you need to trust.

In the business world, at least where I stand, the only real proof is hard, cold, ROI numbers:

• Is my business earning more money?
• Have I reversed member attrition?
• Has my cost to obtain a client gone down?
• Are the numbers of customers walking through the door increasing?
• Are customer complaints going down?

According to new research from Rice University‘s Jones Graduate School of Business, there may very well be gold — measurable gold — in those Facebook clicks.

The study “How Effective Is Facebook Marketing” is being featured in this month’s issue of the Harvard Business Review. Utpal Dohlakia is an associate professor of marketing Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business and Sara Brook is the owner of Desert Gallery Bakery and Café in Houston TX [Facebook Fan Page]

Case Studies Online publisher Tod Maffin interviewed them both about the company’s social media marketing campaign’s results.

* For the record, I do own a real license for eCamm’s Call Recorder for Skype. Never do software reinstalls just before doing a Skype interview! {grin}

So what about the numbers?

Researchers in the Rice study claim that Facebook Fan Page membership changed customer behaviour for the better. The study involved surveys of more than 1,700 respondents over a three-month period. As for the results, the bakery’s Facebook fans:

• Made 36 per cent more visits to DG’s stores each month;
• Spent 45 per cent more of their eating-out dollars at DG;
• Spent 33 per cent more at DG’s stores;
• Were more likely to recommend DG to friends;
• Had greater emotional attachment to the company.

Still some caveats: Only about five per cent of the firm’s 13,000 customers became Facebook fans within three months. This could indicate that Facebook fan pages may work best as niche marketing programs targeted to customers who regularly use Facebook. “Social-media marketing must be employed judiciously with other types of marketing programs,” admitted the study author.

Has your company or client achieved similar real-world ROI success from a social media marketing campaign? If so, CaseStudiesOnline.com wants to hear about it! Please let us know about your success.

Iowa’s First State Lottery: The Numbers Talk

It took some convincing, but when the state finally jumped aboard, Iowa’s First State Lottery had built an interactive, digital footprint to support its brand, improve customer engagement, drive ticket sales and extend its reach, including to a younger demographic.

And the numbers panned out: Social media statistics for Iowa State Lottery included more than 18,000 YouTube video views, 1,600 Twitter followers and 1,700 Facebook fans. Source Case Study (hat-tip to Michelle C.)