Pros & Cons of Social Media Marketing by Coca Cola by Kevin So

After I done the case study of Coca Cola, I would like to talk about the Pros & Cons of Social Media Marketing.

Pros.

1. The operation cost is relatively low when compare with the traditional media, it is almost free. Even like Coca Cola Facebook website, it is managing by their Fans.

2. Two way communication, a good place to do market research and collect customers' comment.



3. Faster Feedback. It could use for testing the message.

Cons.

1. Heavy work load. You have to always update your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

2. Less control. You cannot expect all comment from the user is positive. It is a difficult issue when managing the comment.



3. It may not in result to increase your sales. According a report from Consumer information company,show that 83% of the Internet population (ages 13 – 54) participates in “social media”, less than 5% turn to social sites for advice pertaining to a purchase decision.

I hope that this few articles can help you have a better idea what social media marketing is. And wish all of you have a great success when using it.

Source:
http://www.helium.com/items/1631045-website-marketing-seo-is-social-media-marketing-right-for-your-company

http://www.digital-clarity.com/blog/general/social-media-marketing-is-it-really-worth-the-effort

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The Cons of the Visa 'Go Fans’ Campaign using Social Media Marketing by Vivian Lo

It is very time consuming to maintain and monitor a social media platform. Visa needs to spend a lot of effort managing the content and comments. Otherwise, viewers will quickly lose interest in the promotion.

This social media marketing campaign will only help Visa to build public awareness and brand loyalty. Since the ‘Go Fans’ YouTube channel did not lead the viewers to Visa linked call-to-action.

Return on investment is not immediate and direct. Social media marketing requires a long-term commitment; it takes time to build the connections with customers. However, the social media marketing campaign of Visa lasts about one month; it may not able to generate long-term sales.

Although social media brings in lots of traffic, it may attract the ‘wrong crowd’ of friends. Traffic and ranking are important, but sales, profits and conversions are the ultimate goals of marketing campaign.

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The Cons of McDonald’s using of Social Media Marketing by Carmen Chong

Less easy to control. Since Facebook and Twitter are opened to public, customers can leave comments easily. It may destroy the brand image if customers leave some negative comments on Facebook or Twitter. For example, there are some negative comments on YouTube that related to McDonald’s post, people would have negative impression of brand.



More time for monitoring. Since Internet is 24/7 (24 hours per day and 7 days per week), McDonald’s need spend more time to monitor the online platform and share the news frequently to keep update customers.

Unable to reach mass audience. Traditional marketing is easy to reach public by commercials and print advertisements. However, Social Media Marketing only targets a niche audience through online platform.

Restrict to enter country. Facebook and Twitter are blocked by Mainland China. That means social media marketing restrict to enter in Mainland China. People can’t see the updated news or corporate information of McDonald’s when they are in Mainland China. It is difficult to build closed relationship with customers.
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Source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZdALTZ6aA8

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Supplementary about Coca Cola Social Media Marketing by Kevin So

Although Coca Cola have a specific office handling the social media(and having the second most fans in social media area(see the above pic), they did admit social media failing by the Vice President, Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence at the Coca-Cola Company, Jonathan Mildenhall.

As this is just a supplementary article, I wouldn't talk too much about it, if you are interested, please read this.

It also come along with a interesting story about the Coca Cola Facebook page. The current Facebook Fans page is not created by Coca Cola, it is created by 2 person(not official staff)who like Coca Cola and has group up rapidly. Here is the story detail.

These story shows that the control is very important in social media marketing and social media is customer-oriented.

At the end, I would like to share a video by Adam Brown, Coke’s Director of Digital Communications, outlined how they use social media to promote their brand.

Coca-Cola: Sharing What Matters, Adam Brown; presented by GasPedal and the Social Media Business Council from GasPedal on Vimeo.

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Source:
http://www.wsi-ebizsolutions.biz/blog/cocacola-social-media-story/2009/12/
http://www.famecount.com/all-platforms/Worldwide/all/Brand
http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20881:coca-cola-admits-social-media-failings&Itemid=7966
http://wearesocial.net/blog/2009/07/coca-cola-social-media-case-study/

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Havaianas- The cons of using social media marketing by Joyce Lai

Havaianas already have many physical selling points all over the world and many countries already have their official distributor. The establishment of online shop may not in result to enhance the sales; on the other hand, it may cost Havaianas to maintain the operation for the online shop as it needs frequent update.


Moreover, the use of social media like facebook, Youtube are not easy to control, you can not expect all the comments or shares on these social network platform are positive, sometimes negative consequences will be extreme as message spend so fast through social media. For example, there was recall of some Havaianas for kids’ flipflop category in 2009 and a time that the sales of Havaianas brand in recalled area slowed down because of the hurt of creditability. Finally, Havaianas had made a voluntary pull out and promote a series marketing campaign to stop the impact.


Recall of Certain Havainanas Flip Flops

REF:
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=470402&publicationSubCategoryId=108
http://www.aguavivausa.com/recall.htm

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The Pros of the Visa 'Go Fans' Campaign Using Social Media Marketing by Vivian Lo

Visa has launched its Go Fans campaign on YouTube from June 1 through July 11. This social media marketing campaign allows Visa to reach customers that traditional marketing misses, the potential for reeling in new leads is unlimited.

Visa has organized a lucky draw which allows viewers to have a chance to win various prizes if they find a goal call video with a golden tint treatment. This canincrease the click through rate and improve its search engine rankings.

Visa’s World Cup Match Planner on Facebook provides a unique platform for fans to express their views and connect with friends from around the world. By encouraging open communication, Visa not only can build brand loyalty, but also can interact and establish relationship with customers.

Visa can learn more about its target audience through their comments and study visitor analytics. This information can prove invaluable when planning other marketing campaign.

The extensive promotion via social media enables Visa to generate and boost sales. According to Visa, their credit card spending up 65 percent over 2009 levels with 51,000 transactions on average a day in the first half of the tournament.

Source:http://corporate.visa.com/media-center/press-releases/press1029.jsp

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The Pro of McDonald’s using of Social Media Marketing by Carmen Chong

Enhance the interaction of customers. McDonald’s posts news on Facebook or Twitter, customers can express their opinions on immediately. Therefore, McDonald’s can get the feedback accordingly.

Build relationship with customers. It can show social responsibility to public when McDonald’s post corporate news that related to community or sponsorship on Facebook or Twitter. Customers may have good impression of McDonald’s.

Reach of niche market. Using of Facebook and Twitter are relatively low cost method of directly reaching a niche audience or a mass audience. It can reach a niche audience that use Internet frequently.

Relative low cost. Establish Facebook and Twitter account are free of charge. It is a low cost method to promote the brand and build close relationship between McDonald’s and customers.
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